Fictional Ruthenia & Galicia – and real Ukraine
Twelve years ago I wrote my second novel. The action took place in an Eastern European magic kingdom, superimposed in another dimension over what is, in this world, western Ukraine, …
Read MoreTag: history
Ukraine (updated)
Disjointed thoughts at a tragic time, progressively updated: Putin is invading Ukraine – not just sending “peacekeepers” into the breakaway pro-Russia regions in the east of the country – in …
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20 + 1 Best Books I’ve Read in 2021
This is the last time I’m ever doing New Year’s resolutions. My resolution for 2021 was to read less – not because I hate reading but to have more diverse …
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TDC’s Best Communist Jokes
Dark humour is like food, Stalin once said, not everyone gets it. Well, he didn’t actually say it – it was just a meme. The real Stalin wasn’t a funny …
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Reparate my ass
The other day I have been called a “toff”, “tax dodger”, “ass”, “whataboutery wanker”, “sociopath”, “revisionist”, “bigot”, “sordid”, “tendentious”, “arguer for wrong”, and a genocide apologist who deserves it happening …
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They were for it before they were against it
Another anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe came and went with the now usual disgruntlement bubbling between Russia and all the other participants. This year …
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Happy 1055th birthday Poland!
You might have had some rough times recently, but you don’t look a day older than a millennium. On the Holy Saturday, 14 April 966, Poland had officially entered the …
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The Man in the Low Castle
Nazism, and to a lesser extent communism, continue to fascinate many in the liberal English-speaking democracies. Looking at these totalitarian societies of the past, many have asked the question: “how …
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25 Best Books I’ve Read in 2020
As always with these annual roundups, please note that these are the best books I’ve read last year, not the best book published last year, as I never buy new …
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On discovering a scandal in family history
One of my great regrets in life is not having interrogated my loved ones about their past and their family histories while they were still alive. Now the generation of …
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When Poland saved Europe
A hundred years ago this week, a series of biggest battles that Europe were to witness between the end of the First World War in 1918 and the beginning of …
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Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be oppressed in this racist hell
As many have remarked over the years, it is somewhat of a mystery why millions of people from the developing world continue to migrate to Western countries, which we are …
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We shall fight in the streets
Make no mistake: the attacks, both physical and rhetorical, against the memory of Winston Churchill show that the mask of the agitators in the streets and across the social media …
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Who Won World War Two?
The commemorations and celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War were mooted this year. No obligatory parades or gathering took place at the time of …
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20 Best Books and 19 Notable Mentions I’ve Read in 2019
You know the gig by the now: not the new books that came out last year but the books I got to read throughout 2019. There have been far too …
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That time Poland was wearing a short skirt
The year wouldn’t go past without Vladimir Putin managing to again eschew any role in starting the Second World War and instead blaming Poland for getting invaded: Speaking at a …
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The Man in the High Kolkhoz
If you have Netflix (no chill necessary), there is a Polish series available, in fact the first Polish Netflix production ever, called “1983”. Yes, there is an element of play …
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Where were you when the walls came crashing down
It was a Thursday. I couldn’t remember but just checked it, thanks to the magic of the Internet – something that certainly did not exist in its current omnipresent form …
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Which witch is which?
An interesting Halloween-inspired graphic from “The Economist”* that sheds a lot of light on the history of European witch hunts: The key take-aways in my book: 1) Contrary to the …
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The Decline and Fall of Robert Fisk
If you have been wondering whatever happened to Robert Fisk (I know you haven’t; this is just a rhetorical set-up), he is still alive and writing. His most recent effort …
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