croziervision: Recent Episodes
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In this episode – 12 April 1925 – we learn why the Elgin Marbles should remain in Britain while the pound should remain off the Gold Standard. French drivers get better but French students and French politicians do not. An incorrigible rogue gets his comeuppance while a failed Field Marshal gets anything but. And the world says its goodbyes to a Russian Patriarch, the English Grand Jury and the Oxford boat.
The downside of the universal franchise
In this episode we learn about the downside of the universal franchise and the downside of being a husband. A revolutionary new technology gets shown off in a department store while a revolutionary old technology gets a tasteful new home. We learn about the hidden dangers of cricket. The Europeans take on the Americans while the Americans take on Darwin. Neither go well. Bavarians decide that the best way to preserve freedom is to end it – at least in Hitler’s case. And Arabs decide that the best way to preserve an Arab Palestine is “sulky obstruction”. Meanwhile we learn about the number of London buses and a very, very big fraud.
In this episode – 22 March 1925 – we find out what happened when a coal mine closed. It’s not good. Especially, when there’s a new source of energy from far, far away. A couple of prominent people died this week and hundreds of not very prominent people died in the United States. A communist is kidnapped but no one knows who by. My money’s on Ukrainians who have every reason to dislike communists. Madam Tussaud’s suffers a terrible fire but they’d better not rebuild in fireproof steel – the unions wouldn’t like that. Another venerable institution that they’re trying to rebuild is the gold standard. But not if Mr Keynes has anything to do with it.
A catch up of some of what’s featured in the pages of The Times of 1925 since the last episode.
In this episode – 1 February 1925 – we find that some people are in a bit of a tizzy over nightclubs. It turns out for the first and only time in history young people are staying up late to drink and dance. Luckily the London Public Morality Council is on the case. We also learn how America is seeking to corrupt the fine, upstanding if a bit dour denizens of Canada with “luxuries and attractions”. In the news its good news – of a kind – for Herbert Asquith and St Paul’s and Trotsky. But it’s bad news for me and the Irish potato. And what are we to make of London’s attempt at giving itself a motto and Britain’s exceptionally high rainfall?
In this episode – the week ending 25 January 1925 – once again it’s the gold standard. The Times’s City Editor looks back at how Britain went off gold at the outbreak of the First World War and how the standard might be restored. There is also some pause for those – like me – who think that gold is the cure for the inflationary disease. Otherwise, can monopolies really exist in a free market? Twickenham provides a test case and what can North London do to counter the invasion at 9 p.m. every Sunday? In the headlines, it’s bad news for Trotsky, Croatian politicians and daylight in the day time.
In this episode – the four weeks ending 18 January 1925 – Problems at St Paul’s; Mussolini’s position becomes “untenable”; can Londoners finally say goodbye to soggy seats? Problems with communism; and what I learnt about the gold market.
In this episode some British trade unionists return from Russia. They don't appear to have learnt anything. We learn about how to tackle the non-existent crime wave. More seriously we learn about the dangers of bananas and the radio. Plus English manners and the highs and lows of London nightlife.
The Great Depression was – until recently – the greatest economic disaster since the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. And yet we no one seems to know what caused it. At least, no one in the mainstream. Like the First World War we are – often – supposed to believe that it came out of a clear blue sky. In this episode we get a hint – I wouldn’t put it higher than that – of an alternative explanation.
Also in this episode, London’s Mr Transport makes the case for state control, the Estonian President makes a swift exit, The Times makes some very bold statements on the question of immigration and assimilation.
And Geordies go head to head with soft southerners and lose.
In this episode – 7 December 1924 – we’re going to be mainly talking about immigration. The Times is publishing a series of articles on the extent and impact of immigration a hundred years ago. Who came? Why did they come? What did they do? What was the impact on the natives? It is a complicated picture – although – as we shall see – the figure for net migration is not.
We are lucky in that from the perspective of today we can see if our forebears’ fears – and they were mostly fears – were justified or not. So, was the immigration policy of 1924 a success? Let’s see.
In this episode – the week ending 30 November 1924 – why you shouldn’t trust everything newspapers tell you. Why gangsters shouldn’t hang around in florists. Britain issues an ultimatum which has a familiar ring to it. But don’t worry, it’s OK when we do it. A blackmailer sues for the return of his ill-gotten gains and robbers get ever more daring.
In this episode – the week ending 23 November 1924 – we ask just how free were America's railroads a hundred years ago? Turns out, not very. Europeans try to avoid paying their fair share. Marie Stopes is in court again. Also, bad news for Lloyd George, Nazi treasurers, Soho nightclub owners and Russians with two cows.
In this episode – the week ending 16 November 1924 – the brightest and the best gaze into their crystal balls to tell us what the next war will be like. And get it wrong. There is more correspondence on poverty, there is something odd going on in the gold market and we learn about London’s tall buildings. We learn about German Anglophobia and French driving habits. Also, how many Etonians does it take to make a cabinet and what is the best way to pay for theatre tickets: money or chocolate?
In this episode – the week ending 9 November 1924 – Calvin Coolidge wins a landslide in the US presidential election. Winston Churchill gets a promotion - one that he and everybody else will live to regret. The government picks some airship winners. It’s not going well for the Emperor of China and we find out why London up until recently had so few tall buildings. And poverty, the workhouse and the K.O. Club.
This week – the week ending 2 November 1924 – the Conservative/Unionist Party achieves the biggest and least-well-known election victory of the 20th century. Arguably.
Ramsay MacDonald goes very quiet. Churchill is cheered by a crowd. Churchill is not cheered by the Navy.
Russians cause trouble in Britain. Russians cause trouble in British Columbia. And Russians cause trouble for Stalin.
And Zinoviev makes trouble for Zinoviev.
In this episode – the week ending 26 October 1924 – the Zinoviev Letter hits the press. What does it say? Is it a forgery? Does it matter? Did it make any difference? Also in this episode Gresham's Law and the political speech; the Germans go to the polls again; Grand Admiral Tirpitz the Peacemaker; and why you shouldn't trust the Rumanian press.
In this episode – the 19 October 1924 – it's election fever yet again. Manifestoes, speeches, whistle-stops, radio, disruption, Russian interference, Fascist interference. Will the country get it right this time? Probably yes. Or as right as they can. Also Mecca falls, some gun running and should there be preservatives in food and lights on bicycles and where was Columbus from?
In this episode – the week ending 12 October 1924 – Britain faces yet another general election, the third in three years. Will they get it right this time? Meanwhile we get to have fun with national income statistics. Also an Irish republican gets it wrong, and I spot a couple of terms I did not expect to see.
In this episode – the week ending 4 October 1924 – the Labour Party has a communism problem. A big communism problem. And a smaller corruption problem. The Americans have begun dabbling with opinion polls; South Africa has a race problem; Britain deals with an asylum seeker and a man is convicted of "furious driving"
In this episode – the week ending 28 September 1924 – we ask the question who is Zaghlul Pasha? While we get an answer to that, the intricacies of Britain's relationship with Egypt remain opaque. A woman complains about woman drivers. It is a good week for HMS Hood, Winston Churchill London ratepayers and mainline electrification economics and a bad week for Lord Long, communists in the Labour Party and industrial relations.
In this episode, the week ending 21 September 1924, Neville Chamberlain has fun at the expense of the Labour Party, the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo is in court, the dangers of state-controlled healthcare and the dangers of alcohol in the hands of the Finn.
In this episode – the week ending 14 September 1924 – I finally get round to featuring the first Labour Prime Minister in his own words and instantly regret my decision as indeed will you. His Colonial Secretary also speaks. That's a bit more interesting. China descends into civil war earlier than expected. Prohibition turns out to be a failure - shocker. A Fascist is murdered and Londoners find a new use for ink.
Dawes | Anglo-Soviet Treaty | Savinkov | Joseph Conrad | Canton | Mexico Murder | Southern Railway Timetable | Overhead Roads | Film banned.
In this episode - the week ending 3 August 1924 - a correspondent writes to complain about what he describes as a "corrupt tyranny". Is his subject Soviet Russia, Fascist Italy or something quite different? Meanwhile communism and capitalism battle it out for the title of who is best at fish delivery and communists find that they have signed up for rather more than they bargained for.
In this week's episode – the week ending 27 July 1924 – the Olympics appear to be doomed. Only xenophobia can save them. We find out how to eat healthily, what crime is doing and how education has changed or not in the last century. The state discharges sewage into a river and why guns and teachers don't mix.
In this episode, the week ending 20 July 1924, a former housing minister describes 80 years of state interference in housing. An American describes his encounters with British service culture. And it's hot in France.
In this episode – the week ending 13 July 1924 – we find out why the Olympics needs to be slimmed down; why Fulham Borough Council are sadists and why trams are doomed (as if we needed reminding). The Democrats ditch their leading candidate, traffic lights come to New York, metricators set their sights on another target and what does the future hold for the top hat?
In this week’s episode – the week ending 6 July 1924 – the Channel Tunnel is doomed, Everest is doomed, the Democrats are doomed to repeated ballots, the dangers of jazz and why you should believe all fish merchants.
In this episode – the week ending 29 June 1924 – Britain ponders motorways and a Channel Tunnel. The Matteotti affair rumbles on. Some cowboys fall foul of the law and it's not so much bring out the Branston as shut down the Branston.
In this episode – the week ending 22 June 1924 – the news is dominated by the apparent assassination of Giacomo Matteotti the Italian opposition leader. Although it does not appear that Il Duce is directly implicated he deserves a lot of the blame. Meanwhile, a British diplomat is in trouble in Mexico – when aren't they? – and there's bad news from Everest. A US judge demonstrates the correct use of firearms and some senators get gassed.
In this episode the week ending 15 June 1924, Mussolini takes on his critics, girls find that their schoolwork suffers from th need to become home audio systems. The plight of country houses. Stanley Baldwin makes an observation, France gets a new President; the Soviet Union gets a new cult of personality; Albania gets a civil war. Times readers prove that they can argue about the number of angels on a scrap of paper, there are doubts about the number of gorillas anywhere, a man claims he has found a cure for cancer and the war claims another victim. Or is that two?
In this episode the week ending 8 June 1924, Labour’s “solution” to the housing crisis. Is the cure worse than the disease? A priest gets mixed up in politics. A Lieutenant Governor has a good week. There’s chaos on the Underground and in France. Trotsky gets put in his place but not yet his grave and what is the Royal Navy up to in the Red Sea?
In this episode, the week ending 1 June 1924, a man with a history of extraordinary claims claims to have invented a Death Ray. Things are not going well in China. What we can learn from a Citroën advert. And why government can't get anything done.
In this episode, the week ending 25 May 1924, the First World War claims two more victims, a couple of titbits on how that war started, the price of cocaine, Dublin council is closed down, and the importance of an apron with a scalloped edge of diamanté band.
In this episode - the fortnight ending 18 May 1924 - we find out why tanks might not be the future of warfare; what the French think of the English and an admiral comes to the aid of Churchill. Also in this episode election results from France, Germany and Japan, Oswald Mosley's plans and why Downing Street's barriers might be a good thing.
In this episode, the week ending 5 May 1924, Labour's first ever budget is unveiled, the merits of flogging, the Labour/Communist feud, paper money turns out to be even more dangerous than previously thought, German electioneering turns out to be duller than previously thought, even duller than previously thought, we find how much it costs to build a house and buy an Agatha Christie mystery and what happens if you rob a bank to pay for them.
In this episode, 27 April 1924, The Times explains why the American are putting an end to Japanese immigration; Ulster's border remains in doubt; the state messes up housing - not for the last time; we find out how safe trains are and what is threatening the shop window display?
In this week's episode - the week ending 20 April 1924 - for the first and only time in recorded history nurses aren't paid enough; in a reversal of roles communists find police if not under the bed then under the stage; the Americans ban Japanese immigration, the Japanese are not happy; Belgian students battle it out; Haig on shooting and the benefits of the gold standard.
Week Ending 13 April 1924. In this episode Mussolini wins a crushing victory in the Italian general election. Only the slightest suggestion of skullduggery. Waterloo Bridge is to be rebuilt. An admiral gets it horribly wrong on battleships. Neville Chamberlain gets it horribly right on the Liberal Party. Plus the problem with the mail, the problem with Vauxhall cars and the correct use of turtles.
6 April 1924. Hitler and Co. get sent down... but not for long. Some don’t even get that. The British government publishes its accounts. And… they balance! Plus, the Empire Exhibition, the Château general and the front line, Scots and meths and Russians are attempting to annex their neighbours’ territory.
Week Ending 30 March 1924. Also in this episode: Singapore | Bus strike | Munich Trial | Agatha Christie | Waterloo Bridge
In this episode: Japan prepares for war | The speed limit | Roundabout | Tram finances | Machine-gun barrage | Street football |
In this episode: Conservative ideals | William Robertson | GWR in concert | In-train entertainment | Genial Omnibus | The Yarrow Scheme | Teapot Dome Scandal
In this episode: Churchill stands | Hitler: a correction | The end of the Caliphate | Gallipoli | A con woman | Trams | Buses | The Sparks Effect | German unemployment | Race riots in New York | Sugar | Egham vandalism
In this episode: Hitler on trial | Subways | Insanity | Future of war | Churchill the Conservative?| Vagrancy | Vitriol
In this episode: The Underground and The Competition | Poplar | Kahr resigns | Factory disaster | Flyover | River boats
In this episode: The Times reviews a car | Baldwin | Rhineland | Coolidge | Closing hours | Overcrowding | Oil & War | Vitriol
Welcome to "What the Paper Said" with your host, Patrick Crozier. In this episode, we will dive into the pages of The Times from a century ago, sharing some interesting news from the week ending on the 3rd of February, 1924. While the theme of the episode is focused on the gold standard, you will find a selection of unique stories from around the world that took place during this week in history.
The episode begins with some international news; Lenin's funeral which saw Petrograd renamed as Leningrad, and the tumultuous politics of the Soviet Union. Britain made the move to officially recognise the Soviet Union and in Omsk, a rebellion brought a fiery end to a local communist committee meeting. From Russia, we transition to the United States where the Teapot Dome scandal has begun to reveal corruption and greed at high governmental levels.
Moving away from politics, the host, Patrick Crozier covers less-touched upon territories like India, which was at that time a part of the British Empire. The Times carried an article about the political scenario of India, shedding light on representation, power dynamics, and the region's imminent influential figures – Gandhi and Nehru. Also discussed were legal rulings in South Africa that impacted race relations and the ubiquitous annoyance of tram cars.
The episode then dives into the world of finance, as Patrick discusses The Times' Annual Financial and Commercial Review and educates listeners on the ebb and flow of the economy after World War I - the boom and bust that followed - and how the gold standard played a significant role in stabilising the economy during those times. Furthermore, he touches upon a critical aspect of what was then considered a solution to money printing - the Gold Standard - exploring its pros and cons, and dispelling myths associated with it.
This episode offers an engaging journey through history, providing unique insights into international politics, finance, common law, and everyday lifefrom the 1920s. Tune into "What the Paper Said" and enjoy an immersive time travel experience.
In this AI-assisted episode of "What the Paper Said," the host, Patrick Crozier, provides insights into what was making headlines in the Times from a hundred years ago, particularly during the week ending on February 10, 1924. The episode touches on a diverse range of subjects starting with the release of Mr. Gandhi from prison in India to the political developments in the Soviet Union. Major milestones like the appointment of a new Prime Minister and alleged attempts to destabilize Estonia are discussed.
The central highlight of this episode focuses on the recollections of former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's life and contributions, as reflected by the Times. Explore the shifts in diplomatic landscapes, changes in architectural norms, the ebb and flow in fuel prices, gender bridges in the legal field, and the vital lessons gathered from historical events. Patrick concludes with a thoughtful assessment of Wilson's influence and legacy in shaping world affairs.
This show will take you on a trip through time, comparing past events with the present, critically analyzing the implications and outcomes of policy decisions, and drawing some eye-opening conclusions on the way history can impact the present day. Tune in to this riveting episode for a refreshing perspective on history through the lens of a century-old newspaper.
In this episode: Lenin dies | First Labour government | Railway strike | Thames floods | Clerical consternation
In this episode: The motor revolution and Hyde Park Corner | Railway Strike | Ernest Benn on unemployment| Labour leader's gaffe | HMV
In this episode: Britain tackles Foot & Mouth | Conrad von Hötzendorff | Railway turnover | Poison pens | German despotism | Honest politicians
Mussolini according to a press baron; the Ulster border; a new German currency; a coup in Spain; a settlement in Corfu.
Earthquake in Japan | Invaders in Corfu | The poor of Poplar (again) | Plans for the Holocaust | Ludendorff & The Nazis | Asquith & the War
In this episode: the Singapore Naval Base; Haig on Ukraine; the Marie Stopes libel case; the Sir Alfred Douglas libel case; Cambridge University and women; the status of the Bank of England; a German terrorist escapes.
In this episode: Peace with Turkey; the debate on disarmament; the Bank of the England expands; the President abroad, schoolboys and gambling and Nigerians and booze.
Do we need passports?; modern whaling; the future of freedom; extreme weather; 18-year-olds and drink; the end of the 3lb loaf; the death of the Queen Mother's cousin and an air race.
In this episode: Interest rates are up; the new US immigration system; the Glossop murders; the dangers of aluminium cookware; attack on the Met Office; a train crash; a train bomb; Wimbledon and the success or otherwise of the Ruhr occupation.
In this episode: The Versailles Treaty, Prohibition, the downside of Irish independence, the Parchim murder, banning the horse, flammable films, domestic service, prohibition and the Atlantic liner, Fascist violence, Harding goes west, Labour MPs in trouble.
In this episode: London's transport problem; London’s noise problem; some sailors burn to death; some gates fall down; Sunday drinking in Ulster; how to put up the rent; miners’ pay; a tuberculosis statistic; Claude Rains; the duel and the German officer and a concentration camp.
EconTalk on Santiago's buses.
Coup in Bulgaria; Britain's fastest train; General Grierson gets a biography; Dzerzhinsky thinks he can run a railway.
The fall out from the Irish deportations; the limits of states' rights; the right size of underground trains; before the satellite dish.
In this week's episode: A socialist on Churchill; the perils of modern education; the Ulster Irish on the border; Austrian hyperinflation; the great pram race and someone throws an egg at a politician.
In this episode - as well as headlines big and small: FA Cup Final chaos; a banker predicts the Great Depression; Churchill on communism; race relations in South Africa and America.
In this episode; so, who is responsible for the BBC? The confusing Lord Curzon; the realities of hyperinflation.
Professor Barth's YouTube series on money.
In this episode: The Prime Minister is fighting fit; what happens to you if you are found with a gun; the head of Oxford University flexes his muscles; Hitler is on a charge; Parliament defies the will of the people.
In this episode the blessings - or otherwise - of socialism. Also in this episode, how Bulgaria deals with communists, Sunday trading and the slave trade... in Ethiopia
In this episode: When will the robots take over? What is a jury of matrons? What is a bride-elect and do London bus drivers make good nurses?
In this episode: Oscar Wilde's paramour goes bonkers. Also in this episode cycle safety, housing, immigration, air pollution, drugs and an ossuary. Oh, and Andrew Bonar Law is unwell.
In this week’s episode: the Debate on Capitalism. Also in this week’s episode: the man who started the Great Depression is in court; the BBC undermines national defence; is the University of London under attack by Ukraine?; the inventor of the supermarket makes a killing, or so he thinks; London luvvies are a bunch of racists, Top Gear gets trolled by the London General Omnibus Company and some people have gone to sleep.
In this episode I catch up on what has been happening in the world since the last episode.
In this episode: Overhead electrification; the legality of crystal sets; US immigration law; how hospitals raise money; the legality of the French occupation of the Ruhr and Churchill writes a book.
In this episode: Nazis go on a demo; a policeman learns his fortune; Irish houses burn; and I learn that there were two Ku Klux Klans.
Episode dealing with Italian Fascism I refer to is here.
In this episode: von Moltke’s thoughts, Croydon holds a referendum; Opium in China; Education in the Soviet Union; Hitler holds a demonstration and drink driving charges are dropped.
The Annika Mombauer book I mention is entitled Helmuth von Moltke and the Origins of the First World War
The Simon House book I mention is entitled Lost Opportunity: The Battle of the Ardennes 22 August 1914
Sorry to say it but I seem to have misremembered Beadle’s lecture on the Marne. I thought it was on YouTube but I suspect it was part of a Zoom event and never published. Shame. But as a consolation there is this lecture by Beadle on the origins of the Schlieffen Plan.
France can't win; Hitler speaks; William Robertson speaks; the Royal Engagement; Civil Service working hours and a drug user is jailed.
Ross Beadle on Sir William Robertson.
The 8 October Episode
In this episode: France occupies the Ruhr; the FitzRoy case draws to a close; Henry Ford stands for President and The Times examines communist psychology
Britain’s railways are to be forcibly merged into four groups. We learn about the aims of the scheme, what fares were like at the time and the prospects for electrification.
In this episode my further musings on reparations; the President of Poland is assassinated; Another twist in the Fitzroy Affair; Christmas Day activities and the British army leaves Ireland.
In this episode: Reparations. Yup, that's it. Not the normal format but back in 1922 there is a big conference on the horizon and The Times has several good articles on the issue so I thought, "Why not do a special?" And here it is.
In this episode: Ulster joins the UK; a judge warns of the danger of press barons; The Crown Prince of Germany publishes his memoirs; Britain prepares for the next war; as does Germany; the Fitzroy case drags on; communists receive a lesson in etiquette; Bevan is convicted; the US murder rate is up.
In this week’s episode: the march of the unemployed; Haig gets a biography; whither the battleship?; Prohibition doesn’t work; the Ku Klux Klan; Greek commanders shot.
In this episode: a Communist addresses Parliament; Childers is executed; Warnings are issued about celebrity and whisky; the Ku Klux Klan get a mention and the Soviets set up Potemkin factories.
In this episode: the British find out who they voted for, an Irishman is put on trial for treason, an Ottoman Sultan decides that he would rather not be put on trial for treason, Mussolini tells them what he thinks and some people really, really don't get Poppy Day.
In this episode: Bonar Law says very little; the founder of the Welfare State has a go at the author of War of the Worlds; Mussolini ponders how he will make the trains run on time; Erskine Childers is captured and Britain prepares to mark Armistice Day.
In this episode: Mussolini's arrival in power, Britain's election, women on juries, the decline of the aristocracy, the death of Edwin A. Pratt and Soviet election practices.
In this episode things look grim for Italian democracy; Britain does lots of democracy and there is a little reminder of when Britons were refugees.
Lloyd George is no longer in trouble (because he is no longer in office); Sir Almeric Fitzroy faces justice; The BBC, or at least a BBC comes into existence; and some nonsense from Bavaria about some bloke called Hitler.
Lloyd George is in trouble, the perils of Hyde Park, real fascism, the unvaccinated of Kingston and communism and classical music.
In this episode one ex-Chancellor bashes the French, while another ex-Chancellor has some bad news on the reparations front. HMS Lion faces a grim fate as do Tibetan beggars. Finally, the Soviets identify the lurking danger that is Charles Dickens.
In this episode, Lloyd George makes a lot of enemies, the joys of rent control, cocaine and the legal profession and the Windsor train mystery.
In this episode I pick out articles on the Fall of Smyrna, the illicit trade in cocaine, the need to pasteurize milk and an extraordinary claim of corruption in the Soviet army.
In this episode I pick out articles on the continuing crisis in Turkey, the uses and abuses of film of sporting events, Lord Rothermere and the Daily Mail and the latest on London Underground.
This is the first ever “What the Paper Said”. In this episode I pick out articles on German inflation, Soviet executions and a report into shell shock.
This conversation was recorded on 5 October 2021 and Brian died 10 days later. It was the last time we spoke.
This was - not surprisingly - an odd conversation. It was dominated by Brian's knowledge that he was not long for this world. It was also dominated by all sorts of connectivity problems. And when all was said and done it wasn't all said and done because Brian called me back because there was a bit he'd forgotten.
Brian had something on his mind. Regular listeners will know that at the beginning of this year we recorded a conversation on the Industrial Revolution and that our most recent conversation whilst starting on the Middle Ages eventually moved on to the Industrial Revolution again. What Brian had on his mind was something to do with the works of Deirdre McCloskey and Emmanuel Todd. What that "something" was I didn't know and still don't. Brian could be a difficult man to follow especially if you're a dullard like me. If you have ever listened to a few of these conversations you will be familiar with my floundering in Brian's wake, not only not understanding what he has just said but not even being able to find the right questions to ask in order to get some clarification. So it is here. It was bad enough at the best of times. Anyone who knew Brian will know that he was very good at dominating a conversation. He was not an easy man to interrupt and that did not get any easier after he was diagnosed with cancer.
So, I failed to pin down just what it was that Brian wanted to say. Maybe it will be obvious to others who are more familiar with McCloskey and Todd or with Brian's own thinking. Maybe we'll have to leave it to some ideological cryptanalysts to decode Brian's remarks. At least there's something to decode.
We also talk about Brian's Last Friday (30:30) which was held on 3 September 2021 in central London. This meant an awful lot to him.
We also talk about Tommy Robinson (38:00). This was something I wanted to talk about. Well, actually I didn’t but Brian was always most insistent that we should alternate when it came to introducing the subject. So it was to the end.
And then we talk about Germany and the Industrial Revolution - the bit Brian had forgotten.
So, it was already pretty disjointed before the connectivity issues made it even more so. I have also kept a lot of stuff in that I would normally have edited out. Why? Because it feels like the right thing to do. I can’t express it better than that.
There ought to be another paragraph here in which I come to a conclusion. A concluding paragraph even. Something about what a joy and a privilege it has been to have had these conversations routinely over the last 5 years and intermittently for a lot longer. But I don't have the words. Brian was special.
If you have any comments to make on this please make them at Samizdata.
Brian Quotes
"The big history date of the last thousand years was the wealth explosion and it happened in Britain."
"Emmanuel Todd is quite open about his admiration for the Anglosphere."
"Todd has very interesting things to say about Homo Americanus which he thinks is very similar to original human nature."
"Liberty, equality and fraternity spread in Europe after Napoleon was defeated."
"McCloskey and Todd between them could have cracked this but in fact they needed the intervention of Micklethwait."
"I want to make it clear that I attach great importance to my own opinions about this."
"…and if they [McCloskey and Todd] both get their bits right then between them they have it all, they have the whole story. As it is the only one with the whole story is me."
"I am torn in half about whether America will shake itself loose of all this woke nonsense."
"What I find interesting about Tommy Robinson is that people succeed in creating this false idea of what he is and then if you disagree you are accused of supporting this false person."
Notes
- The Todd podcast.
- Battle of Acre.
- The Battle of Acre book.
- Lineages of Modernity; a review by Tyler Cowen.
- Brian's blog post on the gap between the English Civil War and the Industrial Revolution.
- Try as I might I cannot find any reference - by Brian or otherwise - to the duke - or any other potentate - who wanted to imprison Beethoven but couldn’t.
Brian died on the 15th October which seems difficult to believe when you listen to him here. Yes, there are signs of the lung cancer that eventually killed him but otherwise he is alert, keen, articulate, thoughtful. All very Brian.
But, but… please don’t be encouraged or discouraged on that account. For Brian it was the ideas that mattered. We allude to that in this very podcast. I am sure he would far prefer people to listen to this because of the ideas expressed than for sentimental reasons.
In the preliminary discussion to this Brian suggested that rather than determining a title for these talks in advance we should have the chat and then decide what the title should be. This chat was going to be the first try out of this idea. Unfortunately, we got disconnected in our prime (hence the rather abrupt ending). Also, it’s still difficult to tell what we actually ended up talking about. Yes, we start off talking about the Middle Ages but we very quickly start talking about the Industrial Revolution and how lucky we are to live in the age we do. Let's see if I can make something of that. Along the way we talk about the Common Law, Europe’s revolutions and plenty of other things.
The beginning is plagued by connectivity issues which I’ve kept in partly because I am too lazy to take them out and partly to demonstrate what we were up against but, believe me, it does get better.
We recorded one more conversation after this which I will publish as soon as I get round to it.
Notes
- That King John podcast? Might be this one.
- James II did indeed get a nose bleed at a bad time.
- The Kink.
- The Great Stink was in 1858.
- Semmelweiss.
- The Industrial Revolution podcast we refer to is here.
- I, of course, mean the Taiping Rebellion.
- The podcast about German Second World War code-breaking is here.
- It was Rob Thompson (not Geoff) I was referring to and here is a talk of his on First World War logistics.
- Finlay Dunachie’s How Britain got Lucky.
- The famous fort designer was Vauban.
Disclaimer time. If you're looking for an explanation of the ins and outs of TCP/IP or packet switching this is not the podcast for you. This is about how Brian has used printers, photocopiers and the internet down the years to get the libertarian message across. The key thing - for Brian, at least - has been how to keep the costs down.
Along the way, we talk about LA Pamphlets, Brian and the libertarian big cheeses, universities in the late 1960s, the Royal Festival Hall's dreadful acoustics, how to sell tickets to student plays, the difference between the Libertarian Alliance and other free market think tanks and Crossrail. We even manage to find time right at the end to talk about Deidre McCloskey.
Brian quotes
"I've learnt from experience that when people say things in public they generally mean them."
"I was just observing the absurd antics of the Lenins with hair who were infesting this university in this completely delusional state of mind."
"The Royal Festival Hall was built at a sort of 2000-year low in acoustic competence."
“…look at Boris Johnson. You get the impression that his latest wife occupies about half of his head.”
“Most men are very frightened about boring people about what they do and tend to be very evasive about it.”
Notes
- Simon Rattle's concert hall.
- The Epic of Gilgamesh would indeed appear to be the oldest surviving story.
- “Rob” is Rob Fisher who runs the Brian Micklethwait Archive.
Or “Ulster” as I would have it. Back in the day I was an Ulster unionist - still am for what it is worth - but I was a bit keener with my unionism in those days.
As such, Brian picks my brains on why there was ever a conflict, why it ended and what we can learn from it.
In doing so we talk about my personal experiences of the Republic of Ireland, the role of religion [spoiler alert: there isn't one], when ethnic disputes arise and when they don't, how the Swiss manage things, what we may be in for in England and the importance of the Cold War.
Brian Quotes
"It’s always felt to me like an inevitable future that Ireland would eventually be a single nation."
"Even lies that get around can tell you something."
"There was one particular quality of the Irish scrounging classes that I especially detested and that was when they would say, 'Cheer up' to you, and my answer was always, 'Fuck off!'"
“I do think language is central to this.”
“But the fact that the Irish don’t have any designs on governing Manchester or London is all part of why people like me just don’t really bother with it.”
Notes
- The academic survey I refer to is Richard Rose's Governing without Consensus.
- Irish began to be displaced by English in the 18th century. The number of people speaking Irish on a daily basis is in the region of 73,000. And, yes there was an Irish language qualification for the civil service.
- It would appear that Serbo-Croat is one language while Slovene is distinct.
- Franco certainly tried to make everyone speak Spanish (Castillian).
- The United Kingdom has a population of 67m and 84.3% of them live in England.
- I can't find any evidence that there was a huge underestimate of the number of EU citizens who had applied to stay in the UK but I can find a huge discrepancy in the number of applications that the Daily Mail says were made and the number that Wikipedia says were made.
- The Darien Scheme.
- How were Irishmen who fought for Britain in the Second World War treated on their return? According to the headline of this article, badly but there's not a lot of evidence given to back it up.
- Eamon de Valera expressed condolences on Hitler's death.
- The Ed Hussein video that Brian talks about may be this one.
- Medina in Birmingham, Najaf in Brent.
- Hamilton & Montgomery were indeed the organisers of the largest plantation.
- According to this list there do not appear to have been any rebellions by the natives in Britain after Boudica.
This perhaps requires some explanation. Originally, the idea was to talk about the Libertarian Alliance split which we do briefly talk about in the podcast. However, it rapidly became apparent that this was not going to be the main thrust of what we were going to talk about; rather we were going to talk about what the “other” side did, meaning what they achieved, which was quite a lot as it happens.
In doing so, we cover Orwell, Mises, Marx, atheism and why people are not as closed minded as we often think.
We also meander but you, the regular listener, wouldn’t expect anything else. Such meanderings include: Chris Tame’s Randianism; Murray Rothbard; the economic calculation debate; the Anti-Soviet Society and woke politics.
Brian quotes
“I would far rather be understood and disagreed with than agreed with because misunderstood.”
“Your expectations of the future feed into what you think is going to happen now.”
“In other words [the socialists] kept the enterprise going and changed the excuses for it.“
“There is a point when lies go up to another level.”
“The whole point of wokery is that it is bollocks.”
“A lot of arm-twisting goes on in the socialist world.”
Notes
- America’s Great Depression.
- From Marx to Mises.
- Mises's Socialism.
- Was David Ramsay Steele a lecturer? No.
- Atheism explained.
- Steele's Orwell book.
- Did Margaret Thatcher say, “One day they will be free.”? That’s how I remember it. The Thatcher Foundation seem to think that’s what she said although it is absent from the quoted BBC transcript.
- The Soviet Coup.
- Kondratiev was indeed a socialist. So socialist in fact that Stalin had him executed in the Great Purge.
- Politics & The English Language
- It is of course the “active voice”.
- That article for Samizdata Stephen Davies on Brexit and political realignment.
- Myth of the Closed Mind.
- Khrushchev made his “We will bury you.” remark in 1956.
We start off by talking about Euro 2020 and ask why Gareth Southgate has been so successful. We move on to black sporting prowess, what happens when sport gets cancelled and then war and nuclear weapons. We end by considering refereeing and the psychology of fighter pilots.
Brian Quote
“You don’t need a meeting; it happened of it’s own accord.”
Notes
- The maximum wage was in place from 1901 to 1961.
- Wellington's army at Waterloo was about 70,000 strong. which means it was slightly more than British casualties on the first day of the Somme.
- Keith Miller was an Australian cricketer.
- Jack Charlton did indeed players to go out there and enjoy themselves.
In doing so we talk about British justifications for war, Russia and Japan, linear reasoning, nationalism, the European Union and Ireland.
Having listened to this a few times I realise I should have given Brian a lot more push back on the theory about Russia arming against Japan and this alarmed Germany. To the best of my knowledge, all Russian military expansion in the period immediately preceding the war was aimed at Germany. The French would certainly not have been lending them so much money (see Notes) if the expansion was aimed at Japan.
Also while listening to this it dawned on me that while I am talking about Teddy Roosevelt (1:05:00 or thereabouts), Brian is talking about Franklin Roosevelt. Whoops!
Brian Quotes
“Causation is not a linear process.”
“The biggest lie is that the First World War started because no one knew how to stop it.”
“…often what matters is not the actual state of things but the direction in which things are moving.”
“I committed my perennial sin of talking too much.”
Notes
- Our original First World War podcast, or at least the one that Brian was talking about.
- William leQueux wrote The Invasion of 1910.
- Asquith's speeches (amongst others) can be found here.
- Did the Russians know how dangerous mobilisation was? Well, they certainly did when the Germans issued them with an ultimatum.
- Did Russia have a treaty with Serbia? Apparently not.
- Does Norman Stone claim that Russian railways were more East-West than North-South? I tried to find a reference but without success.
- How much was France spending? A lot it would appear.
- The Second Morocco crisis was in 1911.
- Was it the Tsar who backed out of Björkö? Yes.
- Did the socialists have a majority in the Reichstag? No, but they had become the largest party.
- TIK the YouTuber.
This conversation was inspired by the works of Steve Stewart-Williams principally his book The Ape that Understood the Universe and his Twitter feed. We talk about the nature versus nurture debate, design, the importance of copying, the woke fraternity, Breton fishing boats, the caveman inside us, Richard Dawkins, the importance (or otherwise) of music (and, by extension other forms of culture) before moving on to the horrors of modern architecture and the horrors of Nissen huts in the Winter of 1963.
Brian Quotes
“It could well be that in Malaysia they are more scornful of this sort of thing than we are in the Anglo-Saxon world.”
“Obesity is not exactly a problem they had on the ancient plains of Africa or wherever it is we did our evolving.”
“…humans are, even now, evolving into the culture that humans have created.”
“One of the problems you have if you work from first principles is you have to re-think absolutely everything and you fail to re-think absolutely everything successfully.”
“That was a big pretence by the architectural profession that they had nothing to do with it, ‘Oh, that was the planners.’ Rubbish! They were absolutely up to their necks in this.”
“There’s a sort of labour theory of value that applies to decoration isn’t there? And if it’s just thrashed out by a machine it kind of loses its meaning.”
Notes
- The Ape that Understood the Universe.
- Brian has posted several times on this subject. Here are a few:
- What women look for in men.
- Breton fishing boats.
- The evolution of language.
- Nurture Only is wrong.
- Stewart-Williams appears to be an associate professor at the University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus.
- It appears that our youthful tank crews were singing something called the Panzerlied which is a new one on me.
- Kenneth Clark did indeed hold concerts at a then painting-less National Gallery.
- Did Britain and Germany have the same national anthem in the First World War? Pretty much.
- For Ayn Rand’s views on architecture see the movie The Fountainhead (or even read the book if you’ve got the patience.)
- The Great Eastern. Did it have to be that size? To sail to Australia without stopping to re-fuel, yes.
- Quinlan Terry.
- I was quite wrong, Design as Outcome is not on the Brian Micklethwait Archive just yet. But it is here.
- Brutalist architecture or wartime Nazi bunker? I'll leave you to decide:
Enoch Powell was a prominent politician in the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for his views on immigation although he was also friendly towards libertarian ideas especially on economics. While a large part of our chat is inevitably taken up with immigration we also discuss Margaret Thatcher, Steve Baker and the end of Empire.
Brian quotes
"He regards office as a trivial thing by comparison [with ideas]."
"He [Powell] probably would have submitted it to a bigger publisher, the bigger publisher would have said 'Do you think you could tone this down?' and the answer was 'No!'"
Notes
- Simon Heffer’s biography
- Powell’s history of the House of Lords
- Powell and King’s Langley. I can’t find any subsequent reference to his theory so I have no idea whether it has become accepted or not.
- Powell resigned from the Macmillan government in January 1958.
- The substance of the House of Lords reform that both Conservative and Labour backbenchers could object to was the amount of front bench patronage involved.
- He became professor at the University of Sydney in 1937.
- His Wikipedia entry lists well over 30 writings. Some are books, some papers and some collections of speeches.
- Powell was elected as an Ulster Unionist in the October 1974 election.
- East of Suez.
- There is some evidence to suggest that Blair used immigration to rig elections.
- Our diversity podcast.
- After the Falklands War, Powell had this to say in the House of Commons, “Is the right hon Lady aware, that the report has now been received from the public analyst on a certain substance recently subject to analysis and that I have obtained a copy of the report? It shows that the substance under test consisted of ferrous matter of the highest quality, that is of exceptional tensile strength, is highly resistant to wear and tear and to stress, and may be used with advantage for all national purposes?” The words were framed and hung in her office.
- The story about Powell and his Indian colleague appears on p.95 of Heffer.
This conversation came about from the observation made by both of us that on the big issues of the day whether they be Brexit, Trump or lockdowns, libertarians find themselves on either side of the divide - often vociferously so. Can libertarians be effective when they are so divided?
Sadly, we never really manage to answer this question. We do, however, manage to spend time talking about the importance of prosperity, the differences between active socialists and active libertarians, women orchestra conductors and the growth of the Anglosphere.
Right at the end we mention silences. There were plenty during the recording as the two of us (mainly me) gathered our thoughts. These have now been removed.
Brian quotes
“Libertarianism is a statement about how the world is.”
“If you by going on holiday and spread the plague you might as well be waving a machine gun in the air and firing it.”
“Optimism is a good technique”
Notes
- Kristian Niemitz
- Anton Howes
- One of Brian’s postings on Steve Stewart-Williams
- What J K Rowling has to say
- Perry de Havilland gets banned
- Brian on Chris Tame
- I have been unable to find the speech by Brezhnev.
- J P Floru
- Mancur Olsen
At least that was the intention. Unfortunately, (or should that be "fortunately"?) we tended to get side-tracked - perhaps because it is a depressing subject, perhaps for other reasons. The main side track was the economics of the Royal Marsden Hospital which would appear to be quite good.
Notes
- Brian on NHS diagnosis v NHS treatment
- The Machine
- The Brian Micklethwait Archive
- Brian on charities
- Overheating Samsungs
- LG does indeed stand for Lucky-Goldstar
- The Five Stages of Grief (that aren't)
- The Mask
- Monorails
- Francis Fukuyama and the end of history
- Does Communist China hold sham elections? Yes it does.
- Google cars
- Brian on robot trucks
Luckily the introduction is on the recording so I don’t have to introduce the subject here (well, that’s how it seems to me.) However, there are notes to be done so here goes:
- Findlay Dunachie
- Brian's blog posting on the books he's been reading.
- Anton Howes
- The Kink
- Lilburne was imprisoned but he was not executed.
- I haven’t been able to find a date for when the word “inventor” came into the language.
- This chart seems to indicate that literacy rates in Britain were similar to those in Germany and Sweden in 1750. Of course, these are estimates. After all, who was counting?
- Luther had 95 theses.
- I think Brian is referring to the German Peasants’ War of the 1520s.
- “There are doubts as to the extent of George Stephenson's literacy. Most of his letters were written by secretaries or his son Robert, but signed by George Stephenson himself. “
- On the subject of the destruction of the Song’s ocean-going ships I can find precious little - nay, disturbingly little - evidence for this especially on Wikipedia. There were “Treasure voyages” but they were in the Ming period. Some say the ships were destroyed but Wikipedia is silent.
- The Duke of Northumberland’s River would appear to have been built well before the 1700. Well before the English Civil War even.
- The Bridgewater Canal was indeed commissioned by an aristocrat (a duke as it happens) and opened in 1761; bang, slap in the middle of the period we are talking about.
- Sudha Shenoy
- Emmanuel Todd
If you know Brian Micklethwait you will know that he is a big fan of French anthropologist/sociologist Emmanuel Todd and has been for a long time. The name frequently crops up in our recorded conversations. What Todd believes, in essence, is that family structure has a big impact on politics. Some 13 years ago, Brian and I sat down to discuss his ideas. One of Brian’s greatest hopes is that he can find a critique of Todd’s ideas. Did he ever find one? He doesn’t seem to have done so.
The latest podcast with Brian Micklethwait rather put me in mind of another podcast I recorded some 9 years ago with Antoine Clarke. This was ostensibly about the occupation of the Ruhr in 1923 but it quickly became about the whole history of Franco-German animosity. And none the worse it was for that!
Anyway, after a bit of rootling around for it I eventually found it. And then I found it again here. Well worth a listen I’d say.
I may republish some more of these in due course.
For a long time in the English-speaking world the French military has been regarded as a bit of a joke. Words and phrases like “defeatism”, “Maginot LIne”, “red trousers” and “cult of the offensive” get bandied about. The more I study the subject - and I by no means claim to be an expert - the less I believe this. It seems to me that in the Second World War the French army was quite good, just unlucky. In the First it was pretty bad but not for the reasons we think.
In the course of our conversation we cover Napoleon and, of course, Hitler, the German preparations for war, the fall of empire, American independence, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, American anti-Americanism, the break-up of successful coalitions, French art and the move from war to watercolours, Emmanuel Todd, counter-factual history.
Notes
- In the victorious 100 days offensive the British took 48% of the prisoners and 42% of the guns. The French took 36% of the prisoners and 28% of the guns. So, the French weren’t doing nothing.
- Simon House Lost Opportunity
- In the Middle Ages 1 in 4 Europeans was a Frenchman. This proportion has been declining ever since especially since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
- Dreyfus Affair
- Boulanger
- Findlay Dounachie's LA pamphlet
- Foch was the commander of all the Allied armies in 1918
- On that comment about the French PM asking Haig about the merits of the Nivelle Offensive I have got confused. He was asked by the French War Minister about the merits of Nivelle before the offensive began (24/3/17). He was asked by the French Prime Minister about the merits of other French generals after the offensive began (26/4/17).
- Do the French remember the Battle of the Ardennes? Yes, but not particularly well. There is a Battle of the Ardennes page on French Wikipedia but it took a while for me to find.
- According to David Fraser’s biography of Alan Brooke (p137), the review of French troops took place in the presence of General Corap who Brooke found complacent. Unfortunately, this was written after the Fall of France.
- For more on Germany’s High Command and their plot to oust Hitler in 1938
- This would appear to be the battle between Caesar and Pompey that Brian was referring to.
- Dien Bien Phu was a bit bigger than I thought but nothing like the scale of the First World War.
- “Only” 80,000 British soldiers surrendered at Singapore
- There may have been as many as 40,000 French civilian dead in the Normandy Campaign.
- Here is de Gaulle after Paris was liberated. My French may be rusty but I am pretty sure there is no mention of either Britain or America.
- This is the book by Ross King that Brian mentions
- David’s portrait of Napoleon
- The French word for “sympathy” is “sympathie”.
- I can’t find any evidence that Haig was sceptical about the Nivelle Offensive
As I write, Britain and a whole host of other countries are in lockdown. Although there has been a loosening of arrangements in recent weeks, at its outset people were asked/told to stay indoors and go out as little as possible. Many people had - and continue to have - a large proportion of their wages paid by the state.
Brian and I talk about this crisis which has now been going on for 10 weeks. Did I say talk? Meander might be a better way of putting it. We talk about safety, analogies with war, Ludwig Erhard, the capitalism-needs-war argument and even child-rearing. We agree - thus making for a dull conversation - that there are a great deal of unknowns and it is thus difficult to be sure of anything.
Where we disagree is on whether the baked-into-the-cake economic collapse is a good thing or a bad thing. Being an Austrian purist I say that the economy is built on foundations of sand and the sooner it collapses the better. Brian is not so sure. But we agree - dullsville once again - that the way out is the same way the West Germans chose in the late 1940s. Whether or not we get that is another thing.
Notes
- Ludwig Erhard
- I may have been wrong about the ironwork
- Here is an example of what price control does
- I think this is the J.P.Floru book Brian is referring to
- It occurs to me that the great crisp surplus may have been due to the great party shortage and not to a mass conversion to the benefits of healthy eating.
When I was about 5 years old I received my first piggy bank. It was in the shape of a globe. My first question was "Where is Britain?". My second question was "Where is Vietnam?" The reason was because I had heard the word again and again and so, therefore, I felt it must be awfully important.
In 1955 Vietnam was divided between Communist North and non-Communist South. In the early 1960s an insurgency began with the aim to force the South to become part of the North. In 1965, the US, under President Johnson put in ground troops. The war became very divisive. By 1973, the US, by now under Nixon had withdrawn all its ground troops having seen some 58,000 of them killed (that's about 30 a day). In 1975 - Nixon having been forced to resign as a consequence of the Watergate scandal - the North invaded and the South fell. Immediately afterwards Cambodia and Laos also fell to Communist forces of one sort or another.
This podcast stems from my watching a documentary on the Vietnam War on PBS. I didn't like it much. And I decided to do some checking to see if there was an alternative point of view. There was.
My essential argument is that just about everything you have heard about Vietnam is wrong and that by 1972 the US had engineered a situation where South Vietnam could be defended at acceptable cost. That "victory" was then squandered by Congress.
Brian was a young adult in the 1960s and given that his generation was all anti-War etc I expected that he would have plenty to say from first-hand experience. I was wrong. But that doesn't stop us.
I begin by outlining how I see the war. We go on to have a discussion about the Johnson administration's approach to the war, the role of the left, the role of the media and the role of what Brian calls "anti-anti-communists", John Paul Vann and the ramifications of the fall of South Vietnam. I outline the argument that the war may not have been a complete waste.
Towards the end I speculate whether our tiring of Iraq has led us to miss something quite important and we discuss nation building.
Notes
- That stuff about the end of Black Lives Matter? Whoops!
- A lot of my information has come from Vietnam Veterans for Truthful History.
- The boat people
- Dien Bien Phu
- Case-Church
- Nixon was President from 1969 to 1974. Henry Kissinger was his National Security Adviser.
- Watergate
- I mention a South Vietnamese commander who wanted to invade the North - or at least take some of it. Try as I might I can't find a reference.
- Doctrine of gradualism
- Richard Pipes The Russian Revolution
- Carthago delenda est
- Why MacArthur was sacked
- Statements from Johnson and Nixon about the purpose of the war. This one from Johnson seems plain enough. This one from Nixon, if anything, seems less resolute
- My Lai
- Tet Offensive
- Hue Massacre as an example of VietCong thuggery
- Lee Kwan Yew on the Domino Theory (as reported)
- It would appear that Thailand was never under significant threat despite numerous border clashes with Vietnamese forces
- Vietcong a Northern creation
In this podcast Brian and I talk about the Bomber Offensive of the Second World War with particular focus on what later-on became known as “Big Week”. I must admit that this was something I had never heard of but it turns out it was crucial for the Allies in gaining air superiority in Western Europe.
Big Week was made possible by the introduction of the P45 Mustang, the fighter that could go all the way with the bombers. Much to my surprise it turns out that this quinitessentially American plane had a huge amount of British involvement. Inevitably, we mention the Merlin engine and then demonstrate our ignorance trying to explain what was so good about it.
We get diverted - as is our wont - into talking about Dowding and the aftermath of the Battle of Britain. I had always found it odd that he was removed from command immediately after having won the most important battle since Trafalgar. Brian explains why. He also explains Dowding’s achievement.
We have a brief discussion about the morality of this but it turns out that neither of us is particularly interested. We do however discuss the role of bombing as punishment and deterrent. And then we get on to the subject of corporal punishment at public schools.
Brian has a great anecdote about an Me262 pilot.
Towards the end Brian points out a practical difficulty in the theory that bombing could have won the war alone.
Notes
- James Holland's book on Big Week.
- Sherman production was slightly less than 50,000 and Panther production a bit more than 5,000.
- The successor to Ira Eaker was Hap Arnold
- I have not yet been able to find where I found that stuff about Germany allowing Japan to enter the war.
- Steve Davies is a mere PhD and his opinions can therefore be ignored.
- Rolls Royce Merlin engine
- Bishop George Bell
- That book on the collapse of Army Group Centre
- The Soviet Union went to war against Japan the day after the Hiroshima bombing.
- The war between Russia and Japan in 1939.
- This is the Harris snippet that Brian was referring to.
- The Allies were indeed intent on dropping nuclear weapons on Germany.
- He177
- This is the book by John Ray that we talk about.
In this episode we discuss the Falklands War of 1982. We find there is a lot to talk about from nuclear submarines, logistics, the Labour Party, how the British won when they were outnumbered, Bluff Cove and the Harrier, to the Black Buck raids and how a year later we were all almost engulfed in nuclear armaggedon.
By the way, the Admiral who convinced Thatcher to fight was Henry Leach.
A few weeks ago I gave a talk on what happened after the First Wold War. I mainly concentrated on the many ethnic conflicts that broke out in Central Europe. In this podcast we decided to do a follow up. There were quite a lot of issues, surrounding the chaos of the time, which were brought up which on the face of it at least led us to some rather uncomfortable conclusions - as you will hear.
In doing so we talk about massacres in the English Civil War - spoiler: there weren’t many - the inviolability of national boundaries, Ireland, the potential for a Welsh Civil War, Brexit - inevitably - Great Men and anti-semitism.
It’s grim but it’s my feeling - and I think Brian’s too - that you have to go where the facts take you.