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“Fake News” musings

One of the joys of being ‘being a certain age’ is the sense you has seen it all before even if, on a personal level, that isn’t quite necessarily true. The art of staying personally relevant in the 21st Century is tied to the notion that, whatever is going on, the essential nature of the [...]

January 27, 2020 // 0 Comments

The BBC – it was not ever thus

I am reading an excellent book – Last Hope Island by Lynne Olson. It is an account of how many Europeans notably heads of government, or self-styled ones like Charles de Gaulle, came to the UK in 1940 as it was the only substantial western European democracy not under the Nazi jack boot. The [...]

January 24, 2020 // 0 Comments

Those Angry Days /Lynne Olson

The subtitle of this book is Roosevelt,Lindbergh and America’s Fight over World War Two. Thus it is an account of the years and events leading up to America’s entrance into World War Two. It’s seen through the prism of two of the most significant personalities of the era, Franklin Delano [...]

January 12, 2020 // 0 Comments

Another day, another news story

No doubt one day it was always going to get to this, but for my first post of 2020 I have chosen to address issues of freedom of speech, control of the media (whether by state, narcissist billionaire, terrorist organisation, or indeed anyone else), that fashionable talking point “fake news” and [...]

January 3, 2020 // 0 Comments

The American Civil War/ Ken Burns

Having enjoyed Ken Burns’ documentary on The Roosevelts I bought two more of his on The American Civil War and Vietnam. I decided to watch the US Civil War over the festive period and completed the 9 episode (11.5 hour) series last night. It took Burns five years to make and it features over [...]

December 26, 2019 // 0 Comments

The study of history – not an exact science

Yesterday as a ‘token’ Christmas present from my daughter I received a small paperback book entitled Churchill in Quotes – Wit And Wisdom From The Great Statesman, produced by Ammonite Press with images provided by the Press Association, first published in 2011. To appropriate a [...]

December 26, 2019 // 0 Comments

The Roosevelts/PBS

A radio programme to which I always listen is Great Lives on radio 4 at 4.30  every Tuesday. It is presented by ex-Conservative MP Matthew Parris who has made an easy transition from politics to broadcasting.  Generally somebody well known advocates a Great Life and an expert fills in the [...]

December 15, 2019 // 0 Comments

They keep on coming

Apart from taking the opportunity to wish readers of the Rust all the very best for the festive season and indeed 2020, my purpose today is – in keeping with my ‘brief’ as a columnist – to provide them with links to three media stories of potential historical/archaeological [...]

December 11, 2019 // 0 Comments

Elizabeth I – coming back to us

This week Queen Elizabeth I has hit the headlines twice as a result of recent academic discoveries – a development that I feel is worthy of note on the pages of the organ. I therefore here provide readers with links to relevant articles on the website of The Guardian: Mark Brown, Art [...]

November 29, 2019 // 0 Comments

A sense of perspective

One of the troubles with being over a certain age is that – having necessarily and inevitably lived one’s youth and maturing years in a society with one set of mores – it’s often quite easy to get suckered into raising an eyebrow (and sometimes more, e.g. one’s hackles) at the [...]

November 24, 2019 // 0 Comments

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