Just in

History

Judgment at Tokyo/Gary Bass

Gary Bass, a Princeton historian, has written a magisterial and definitive work on the tribunal constituted by Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur to try the main forces behind Japan’s war crimes during World War Two. The tribunal problems – one might even say flaws – were threefold: [...]

March 21, 2025 // 0 Comments

Greta Scacchi

One of the reasons why I enjoy the repeats of Bergerac is the casting of the young actors and actresses who appear on it. In the first series – made in 1981 – appeared a young actress aged 21. I thought at first she was Liz Hurley because of  her fine facial features. In fact it was [...]

March 20, 2025 // 0 Comments

The Tanner Report : Fulham 2 Spurs 0

The back stories to a dull game – the type you tend to get on an early Sunday kick off at 1-30 – were more interesting than the game itself. Fulham and Spurs’ best option for European competition is the Cup. Fulham might qualify if there are 8 European places in the Premiership but [...]

March 18, 2025 // 0 Comments

A la Colthard / Il Vicolo

On the train to London yesterday I read an article in The Times about ‘In’ restaurants that blacklist you. As I have une horreur of fashionable restaurants, I had not known – let alone visited – the two mentioned: Dorian in Notting Hill Gate and Dover in Mayfair. (That Gary [...]

March 14, 2025 // 0 Comments

Endgame/BBC 2

After a few years it was good to see chess back on our screens. The format of Endgame was a series of lightning chess matches (known as blitzes) between contestants. One of them – known as the Swashbuckler – had discovered chess in prison and was a better talker than player. David [...]

March 11, 2025 // 0 Comments

Eubank v McKenna

Last night was something of a rarity: live boxing on free-to -air television. The Noble Art has suffered from satellite coverage and pay-to-view and I cannot be the only disillusioned fan. There was not much sport to watch so I switched on at 9.00pm for the undercard of Belfast Boy Michael Conlon v [...]

March 8, 2025 // 0 Comments

You could not make this up!

We should have a new topic category on THE RUST called “YOU COULD NOT MAKE THIS UP“. I spoke to a colleague who mistakenly believed that organising the redirection of mail from his partner’s old address to her new one might be a simple matter. It was so badly mishandled by Royal Mail [...]

March 7, 2025 // 0 Comments

Bergerac – classic & new

On Thursday – as is my wont – I watched first classic Bergerac on US Drama and later the new version with Damien Molony playing the Jersey detective. Gone is Charlie Hungerford, necessarily so as Terence Alexander passed in 2009. The relationship between the detective and his [...]

March 3, 2025 // 0 Comments

Manchester Utd 1-1 Fulham (3 – 4 on penalties): FA Cup 6th Round

This was not a classic encounter in the great traditions of Manchester Utd v Fulham games but gosh it was exciting. The game went first to extra time, then penalties and Fulham emerged winners. Although Manchester Utd and their decline was the story, I thought Fulham deserved their win as they had [...]

March 3, 2025 // 0 Comments

On podcasts & history

Podcasts are all the rage now and seem to conform with the addiction to mobile phones. A friend of mine likened them to being caught by bores in the pub. The format is generally a duet who either agree with one another sycophantically or indeed disagree from different viewpoints. The dominant [...]

February 28, 2025 // 0 Comments

1 … 3 4 5 6 7 … 90

Copyright © 2026 The National Rust | Design by Premonition