Clik here to view.
Annabel's: London’s famous members-only nightclub
The Arts Club was founded in 1863 to provide a haven for people who had professional or non-professional links to the Arts, Literature or Sciences. According to the club’s own home page, a small group...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Beersheba 1917, Australian light horsemen and sporting heroes
After thwarting the Turkish attack at Romani in Aug 1916 the Australian Light Horse brigades advanced with victories at Rafa, but were twice beaten at Gaza. There followed plans to capture Beersheba,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Isidor Kaufmann's contemporary genre scenes in Vienna: 1880s and 90s
Art historians often cite rabbinical rulings against all Jewish art in the Middle Ages. But any such restrictions were limited to the geographic community where each ruling was given!! And in any...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Living in grand style on the Titanic
Built in Belfast by the British shipping company White Star Line, the three Olympic-class ocean liners were RMS Olympic (1910), RMS Titanic (1911) and HMHS Britannic (1914). For both Olympic and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Mozart family's music - Leopold, Maria Anna and Wolfgang Amadeus
On 11th of October each year, the United Nations celebrate International Day of the Girl Child, emphasising the needs and challenges that girls face. So this year I was interested in looking over my...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim: the film
After Prince Albert died in 1861, Queen Victoria (1819-1901) was devastated. Fortunately the Queen became very close to her gillie John Brown in Balmoral, a warn friendship that lasted for decades....
View ArticleClik here to view.
"One Nation" in Australia and extreme right wing political parties across Europe
The cultural and linguistic diversity of Australia's resident population has been reshaped over many years by migration. In 2015, 28.2% of the resident population was born overseas (6.7 million...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lenin's epic train trip from Zurich to St Petersburg, 1917
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (1870-1924} was born into a well educated, middle class family in Simbirsk, east of Moscow. The children grew up in comfort but with a strongly developed sense of justice....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sylvia Plath's parents, home life and fatal depression
Otto Plath (1885-1940) was the father of poet Sylvia Plath (1932-63) but nobody seemed to know much about him. Scholars of Plath now have newly discovered FBI files, not knowing that biologist Otto had...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Australian Aboriginal rock art in Northern Territory - a guest post
I have just spent the best part of a week exploring Australia's Northern Territory which has one of the most extensive examples of rock art in this country. There are c5000 sites found so far and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Golden Temple in Amritsar - stunning religious architecture and art
Sacred sites in India have long been associated with water; the Golden Temple at Amritsar seems almost to float in a vast shimmering pool. The pool was created from a forest lake, which the Buddha...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Raoul Wallenberg: a great biography
Ingrid Carlberg’s book RAOUL WALLENBERG: The Biography has 3 parts: the early years; Budapest heroism; and the family’s post-war attempts to get him home. I have concentrated on the first two parts,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
First women in the world to be enfranchised - New Zealand 1893
As in other European societies, New Zealand women were excluded from any involvement in politics in early colonial times. Most people accepted the idea that women were naturally suited for domestic...
View ArticleClik here to view.
V & A Museum restaurants - high Victorian art in London
When a new home for the South Kensington Museum (later the Victoria and Albert) was needed, they used the estate recently bought by the Commissioners for the Great Exhibition of 1851. The Museum was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Annie Oakley - marksman, actress, feminist
For those of you who remember 1956 clearly, Australian television exposed Annie Oakley (1860-1926) for the first time in a fictional American Western series. Featuring actress Gail Davis, each weekly...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The history of youth hostels - from Israel to Britain!
The German Youth Movement, a cultural and educational movement that started in 1896, worried about the health of poor city youngsters. The children needed to enjoy the fresh air outdoors and to be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Borgia papacy, sex, politics and power
Rodrigo de Borja was born near Valencia in 1431; he was the son of a Spanish noble family who lived comfortably in the court of Aragon. The family did even better when Alonso de Borja, Rodrigo's...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tashkent: silk route history... and modern history
The Arabs declared war on the Tang Chinese forces and eventually crushed them at The Battle of Talas 751 AD. This led to the expulsion of the Tang Chinese from Central Asia.While crossing Central...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Poor, tragic, brilliant Franz Kafka
When I met my Czech born boyfriend (now husband) in 1969, I thought I better read some Kafka, listen to Dvořák and Janáček, and eat palačinkas. It all worked well, except for the Kafka. Now the German...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Valletta in Malta - from Roman, Islamic and knightly to European Capital of...
Malta (pop c370,000) is in the mid Mediterranean Sea, half way between Europe and Africa; Spain and Israel. So the country’s strategic position attracted every expansionist nation to take over...
View Article