Clik here to view.
The Aberfan Catastrophe in Wales, 1966
When I was writing about the Halifax Catastrophe of Dec 1917, several Welsh readers thought I was discussing the Aberfan catastrophe of 1966. In each case: 1. the deaths were not through an act of war...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Amazing botanical artist IV: Margaret Flockton
Londoner Joseph Henry Maiden (1859-1925) sailed to Australia in 1880. In 1881, Maiden was appointed first curator of the Technological Museum in Sydney, remaining there until 1896, focusing on native...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Coney Island - was the modern American mass-culture industry born here?
To find an American realm where fantasy was made material and the pleasure principle ruled, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford Cn say visitors should have visited their exhibition, Coney...
View ArticleClik here to view.
American princess, British aristocracy - the Kennedy tragedy
Inspired by the blog bookaddiction, I thought I better familiarise myself with the story of a relatively unknown Kennedy. The book review analysed The True Story of Kick Kennedy, JFK's Forgotten Sister...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In The Footsteps Of The ANZACS - 2017 tours in Israel and France
In Oct 1917 the Australian commander Lt-Gen Sir Harry Chauvel's orders were to straddle the Beersheba-Hebron Road north-east of Beersheba, capture Tel El Saba, then storm Beersheba township. He was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Richard Nixon Vs John Lennon
My most engaged era, both politically and musically, was 1965-1970. It was a blur of getting the Labour Party back into power, women’s rights, abortion law reform, ending the Vietnam War and following...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Melbourne's Winter Masterpieces 2017 - Vincent van Gogh
Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) was known in art history as socially isolated, mentally unstable and having an extremely emotional response to his environment. Growing up in his parents’...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Marcel Breuer - modernist designer/architect in Germany, Britain and the USA
Marcel Breuer 1902-81 was born in Pecs, Hungary in 1902, son of a physician. In 1920, when he was looking for a university, Breuer received a scholarship to study art in Vienna but disliked the Art...
View ArticleClik here to view.
We’re happy little Vegemites ... as bright as bright can be!
The company Fred Walker & Co. was best known for creating Vegemite, a breakfast product that went on to become an “Australian cultural icon”. I am normally a bit wary of that expression. But I know...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cultural cruises - music, art, churches, castles and wine!
From the time my late parents retired at 60, until their 85th birthday, they went on a different cruise each year that was filled with music, literature, art, architecture or history. Thank you to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Esperance and the Islands - pink lakes, white beaches, turquoise water,...
British navigator Matthew Flinders was exploring and surveying Australia’s southern coast on board the Investigator. He knew from other explorers that it would be dangerous to navigate through the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Who was Paul Julius Reuter of the news agency fame?
Frenchman Charles-Louis Havas (1783–1858) founded the modern press agency. He translated information from abroad for the French national press, aware of their growing interest in international...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Art Deco Hotel in Devon, cocktails, gorgeous beach
Bigbury-on-Sea was a small fishing village on the Devon coast. Only 250 ms offshore was a tidal island called Burgh, cut off from Bigbury by the tide twice every day. The skyline at the top of Burgh...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Turning back desperate refugees to their probable death: 1939
The conference on German and Austrian Jewish refugees was held in Évian-les-Bains in July 1938. Foreign ministers from 32 countries and from relief organisations met in the southern French spa-town for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hazel Guggenheim, artist and tragic
Benjamin Guggenheim (1865–1912) was the 5th son to participate in dad's productive mining interests, especially the American Smelting and Refining Co. Benjamin married Florette Seligman (1870-1937),...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Secession - Australia, Czechoslovakia, Canada, Norway and Scotland
Firstly I cited Jack Peacock’s argument (History Today, Sept 2016) about Western Australia’s desire to secede being undermined by Britain’s new attitude towards in Empire. Then I argued that secession...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Quick and cheap weddings - Gretna Green
My first connection with Gretna Green (pop 2,700) came, not via historical texts, but in Jane Austen’s novels. It is a village in S.W Scotland in Dumfries and Galloway, 1.5ks across the border from...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Barcelona's very special art nouveau/art deco Hotel Fuster
The old structures along Barcelona’s Passeig de Garcia were made of wood since they were under the constant threat of demolition by government order. A military law was in force that prohibited any...
View ArticleClik here to view.
spectacular Anglo Saxon warrior art treasures
The Staffordshire Hoard was discovered in 2009 near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, Staffordshire by a local farmer and his metal detectorist mate. At the time of the hoard's deposition, the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sir Don Bradman:The Boy From Bowral and Australia's best ever sportsman
Donald Bradman (1908-2001) must have been the most famous sportsman in Australia, in any decade and in any sport. But he grew up modestly. In the early C20th, Bowral was a service town for dairying...
View Article