1237
John Buchan’s dashing adventurer Sandy Arbuthnot didn’t think much of foreign policy after the Great War.
John Buchan was not only a writer of entertaining adventure tales, but a Governor General of Canada and a first-rate military historian. Here, he gives his take on the break-up of the Ottoman Empire after the Great War through his dashing hero Sandy Arbuthnot.
Picture: Anonymous, from Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted December 20 2016
1238
One of the twentieth century’s greatest pianists, who put himself and his art at the service of his adopted country.
Benno Moiseiwitsch (1890-1963) was born in Odessa in the Russian Empire, but settled in England with his family when he was eight. He became one of the twentieth century’s truly great pianists, and his selfless contribution to his adopted country in the two World Wars went far beyond the call of duty.
Picture: From ‘The Art of Piano’ (2001), available from Amazon (click the picture for more).. Source.
Posted December 18 2016
1239
William Pitt the Elder berates Parliament for treating the public like know-nothings.
In June 1770, the Spanish invaded the Falkland Islands. The Government was inclined to sell the islanders out, and smooth over public outrage with words of assurance from King George III. But veteran statesman William Pitt ‘the Elder’, Earl of Chatham, warned them that such a patronising attitude risked losing public trust.
Picture: © Vogelfreund, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.
Posted December 17 2016
1240
Marko adopts drastic measures to get out of repaying the loan of a penny.
Marko the Rich and his daughter Anastasia enter into other Russian folk-tales, in which he is not necessarily as amiable as he is in this one. On this occasion, he goes to extreme lengths to sidle out of a negligible debt.
Picture: © A. Savin, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.. Source.
Posted December 15 2016
1241
A survivor of the infamous massacre of Chios in 1821 goes to Marseilles, but discovers he has not entirely left the Turks behind.
In the 1850s, Britain was allied with Turkey against Russia. Charles Dickens said all the right things, but felt compelled to remind his British readers of a little recent Turkish history, the brutal massacre of Chios on March 31st, 1821, and then added this modest tale of revenge.
Picture: © Tiia Monto, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.
Posted December 14 2016
1242
The Victorian practice of hanging sugared nuts on a Christmas tree was bursting with Biblical symbolism.
Victorian Christmas celebrations included hanging nuts, typically sugared almonds, on the tree. This symbolic gesture goes back to a Christian interpretation of a passage from Numbers, which was known in England as long ago as the 10th century.
Picture: © Fabio Straniero, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted December 12 2016