Archive for the ‘History’ Category
Do we really live in such a violent age?
November 12th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
This week, I had lunch with a longstanding friend and we found ourselves debating whether we were living in the worst of times (impending collapse of capitalism) or the best of times (record levels of longevity). I mentioned the new work by Steven Pinker called “The Better Angels of Our Nature: The Decline of Violence […]
Posted in History, World current affairs | Comments (6)
Special exhibition at the Royal Air Force Museum
November 2nd, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon in north-west London was opened in 1972 and I visited it regularly in the 1970s and 1980s. However, I haven’t been there for many years, but was drawn back this week for a special exhibition. The exhibition – small but very informative – is called “Brothers In Arms” […]
Posted in History, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Remembering Karel Kuttelwascher (2)
October 7th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
I did an earlier posting explaining how my wife Vee and sister-in-law Mari had gone over to the Czech Republic to attend an event to commemorate the 95th anniversary of the birth of their father. He was the Czech wartime night intruder ace Karel Kuttelwascher. There is now available online a 15-minute video of the […]
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Ever heard of a Potemkin village?
September 30th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
This week, I attend a meeting of a Board on which I serve and on this occasion we were addressed by a very senior civil servant. At one point, he used the term “a Potemkin village”. I have never heard the term before. Once the civil servant had departed, I inquired of my colleagues and […]
Posted in Cultural issues, History | Comments (0)
Portuguese item (1): Martim Moniz
September 25th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
A week ago, I returned from a short holiday in Lisbon with my sister Silvia. The intervening week has been full of meetings, so only now can I share with you a few interesting things I learned on the trip. First, our hotel was located in a downtown square called Martim Moniz. I looked up […]
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Portuguese item (4): the alliance
September 25th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance between England (succeeded by the United Kingdom) and Portugal is the oldest alliance in the world which is still in force. It was signed in 1373. This alliance, which goes back to the Middle Ages, has served both countries. It was very important throughout history, influencing the participation of the United Kingdom […]
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The historic decline of violence
September 24th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
As the Euro zone looks close to collapse and as the British and American economies teeter on the edge a double-deep recession, let’s at least give thanks that historically the level of violence in the world is on a sustained decline. Don’t believe me? Well, the case and the (considerable) evidence is in a new […]
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Remembering Karel Kuttelwascher (1)
September 23rd, 2011 by Roger Darlington
If my father-in-law Karel Kuttelwascher (whom I never met) had not died in 1959 but was still alive, he would have been 95 today. This morning, in the village where he was born – Svaty Kriz, near Havlickuv Brod, in what is now the Czech Republic – a memorial stone was unveiled in the presence […]
Posted in History | Comments (1)
9/11 – as I remember it
September 11th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
It is, of course, the 10th anniversary of the horror that we soon came to call 9/11. In the autumn of 2001, I was working as Head of Research for the Communication Workers Union and I was due to spend the second week of September as a member of the CWU delegation to the annual […]
Posted in History | Comments (8)
Remembering Nicholas Winton
August 31st, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The media has dubbed him Britain’s Oskar Schindler but his story is by no means as well-known as that of Schindler. He is Nicholas Winton and he is still alive, aged a remarkable 102. In the months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, he organised groups of Jewish children from Czechoslovakia on […]
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