Oldest alliance in the world

Anglo-Portuguese alliance, signed in 1376

Reaffirmed in 1386, 1643, 1654, 1660, 1661, 1703, 1815, 1889, 1904, 1914.
Cited by Britain during the Falklands War in 1982.

Napoleon on suppressing brigandange

Actually brigandage was a serious problem from time immemorial.  The French loved Napoleon for managing to suppress it.


How did he do it? By effective policing. He reorganised the gendarmerie(paramilitary police), increased its numbers, paid them well, improved its moral, stamped out corruption...


What's the American way? Selling guns to the public...!

Napoleon on selling Louisana to USA

"I know the price of what I abandon..renoune it with greatest regret: to attempt obstinately to retain it would be folly"


Such a contrast against the British lol.


"I have just given to England a maritime rival that sooner or later will humble her pride."


Result? 1812 war lol.  And on both World Wars later USA fleeced Britain, so..USA should be so thankful to France, along with assisting them in the War of Independence!

Napoleon on religion

"I do not see the mystery of Incarnation, but the mystery of the social order. It associates with Heaven an idea of equality that keeps rich men from being massacred by the poor....Society is impossible without inequality; inequality intolerable without a code of morality, amd a code of morality unacceptable without religion."

Napoleon on conquest

"The true conquests, the only ones that cause no regret, are those made over ignorance."

Napoleon's love letter to Josephine

"A kiss on your breast, and then a little lower, then much much lower"

Tantalizing, lol.

Japanese Internment during WWII

Of course it's a shameful episode.


Yet, I've found out that it was in part a response to an urgent request from MacArthur; he was purturbed by the atrocities being committed by the Japanese Army in Asia.  In fact the Japanese brutality was well known throughout all those years. Nanjing massacre anyone?  The dreaded 731 unit? 'Comfort Women'?  For sure it was a hysteria, the internment, but considering the savage reputation of the Samurai war-race..you get the gist.

The greatness of Douglas MacArthur

He was such a great commander that his deeds was recorded to posterity;


Dugout Doug MacArthur lies ashaking on the Rock
Safe from all the bombers and from any sudden shock
Dougout Doug is eating of the best food on Bataan
And his troops go starving on.


Chorus


Dugout Doug, come out from hiding
Dugout Doug, come out from hiding
Send to Franklin the glad tidings
That his troops go starving on!

Books on Philip II

http://www.amazon.com/Grand-Strategy-Philip-II/dp/0300082738/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1418541237&sr=8-5&keywords=philip+ii+

http://www.amazon.com/Imprudent-King-New-Life-Philip-ebook/dp/B00O56PUGO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418541237&sr=8-1&keywords=philip+ii+spain

Is the new book a rehash of an earlier one lol. Anyway, interesting subject for sure.

3 good movies on GM

The Damn United

Sheen always delivers. And another nice movie by Hooper.

Moneyball

Numbers don't lie.

Draft Day

GM is not an easy job! And character counts.
By the by, did Garner have an 'eye job'? Lol.

Russian Revolution: Nicholas II to blame

Unlike the French Revolution, in which various reform proposals by the government were wrecked by the vested interests including the nobles, the Russian Revolution happened mainly because Nicholas II refused every compromise attempts; he was a firm believer of the traditional autocracy of the Tzar. You could say that he dug his own grave.

Many say that Orlando Figes' new history of the Russian Revolution is a rehash of his earlier book

A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924 ,

but strangely this book is not in my local library system(which is normally excellent), so am enjoying the new one anyway, pertains lots of insights(or that I'm just a novice in Russian history lol).

Revolutionary Russia, 1891-1991: A History

Love the cover design too;

All things Russian

After finiding out that Sixsmith wrote a history of Russia, borrowed it and reading it now, it's an engaging read.

Russia: A 1000-Year Chronicle of the Wild East

Robert Massie's book won a Pulitzer and read the first chapter some time ago lol, so should take it up again;

Peter the Great: His Life and World

And a new Stalin bio came out; read Montefiore's 1st book but not the 2nd. Wonder if I can read both;

Stalin: Volume I: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928

Nov 6, 2014

by Stephen Kotkin

A promise(2013)

Was reading the synopsis of A promise, intending to borrow it: the storyline seemed eerily familiar.

But of course, it's Stefan Zweig! :)

Looking forward to it, starrs Rebecca Hall.

Philomena

Enjoying this(praise the library! So fast making recent? films available).

The Jane character looked familiar, and yes, she's the lead actress in the Bletchley circle!

And the scene in which the reporter confusing Jane Russell with Jayne Mansfield was a gem lol. British? humor abounds!

Disappointed in A.N. Wilson

As one who enjoyed his books on Britain, am pretty disappointed on reading his tasteless attack disguised as an obituary to Eric Hobsbawm.

Actually am reading his 3rd British history book Our Times, and he also expresses his hatred toward Hobsbawm in p. 28. One can disagree of course, but his attack is so...puerile. Stil should persevere(to finish the book) lol. What I most enjoyed about his British books were literature and arts section anyway, and I am curious about the Modern British history after WWII.

Anyway he is an another example of those conservative 'attack dogs': always vicious and arrogant in their posture and writings.

Books on Israel

Finished Richard Cohen's rant, Israel: Is It Good for the Jews?

Passionate defence of Israel, mostly concentrates on Holocaust, and it's sorta polemic, not a scholarly book(He's not really an expert in this area, unlike Friedman et. al).

Unlike Thomas Friedman, puts the ball squarely on the Palestinians(Arabs) to solve the stalemate (Friedman's book From Beirut to Jerusalem is more in-depth and impartial, and puts the ball on the stronger Israel). Some interesting viewpoints though.

If you want an opposite viewpoint from Cohen, I recommend John Judis' Genesis: Truman, American Jews, and the Origins of the Arab/Israeli Conflict

and Patrick Tyler's Fortress Israel: The Inside Story of the Military Elite Who Run the Country--and Why They Can't Make Peace

The French Revolution happened because

It's the nobility's own undoing lol. William Doyle's OUP Very Short introduction(these aren't really a primer, methinks, it's not easy, in fact quite authoritative) stresses this aspect, like Schama did as well in his bestseller Citizens(Schama is in fact quite critical of the Revolution, from the Conservative's point of view, following the Burke tradition; unlike Israel)

The government in fact tried various financial reforms; the nobility rejected them all, fearing the encroachment of their privileges(for example Frenchy nobles didn't pay tax).  Everybody feared of the resumption of the Estate General; nobody knew what would happen. But when the government's reforms got blocked, the only way left was to reconvene it.

The rest is history of course.

Since I'm suitably impressed with Doyle's Short one, so am looking forward to reading his
http://www.amazon.com/The-Oxford-History-French-Revolution/dp/019925298X/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y