Conwy and Caernarfon
Another day, another castle. But first …
January 2010
1930s, 1940s, Air defence, Books
A Japanese death ray?
If anyone came close to creating a death ray weapon by the end of the Second World War, it was the Japanese army. It wouldn’t have helped them much, however, as they weren’t at war with rabbits. According to Richard Overy in The Air War 1939-1945 (Washington: Potomac Books, 2005 [1980]), 195: The lack of
1930s, 1940s, Words
The rise of ‘Luftwaffe’
Because I’m too lazy to write a proper post, here are some of my recent tweets: The 1st use of the word “Luftwaffe” in The Times was on 24 May 1939, as the owner of 2 yachts entered in a race to Germany. The 1st use of the word “Luftwaffe” in the Manchester Guardian was
1920s, 1930s, After 1950, Air control, Blogging, tweeting and podcasting, Contemporary
It’s alive!
After a long hiatus, a new Military History Carnival has appeared, at The Edge of the American West and H-War. (Thanks, David Silbey!) A post on combat drones at Legal History Blog caught my eye. It suggests that drones are part of a process in America, post-Vietnam, whereby the need for public support for military
Pictures, Travel 2009
Conwy and Llandudno
This is Conwy from the vantage point of its town walls, on a drizzly morning in early autumn. It has a population of 14000, which doesn’t really qualify it as small, but the area inside the walls is quite compact, so it feels much smaller than it should.
After 1950, Aircraft, Art, Blogging, tweeting and podcasting, Cold War, Ephemera, Pictures
Dreams of a colder war
It is officially too darn hot today: 43° C. So naturally my thoughts turn to a colder time: the 1950s. The above image (which I found as part of x-ray delta one’s wonderful Flickr stream; he also has a suitably breathless blog, ATOMIC-ANNIHILATION) would seem to be part of a public relations exercise from Convair,
1920s, 1930s, Air defence, Books, International air force, Nuclear, biological, chemical, Space
To-day and to-morrow
[Cross-posted at Cliopatria.] ‘To-day and To-morrow’ was a series of over a hundred essays on ‘the future’ of a diverse range of subjects, which were published in pamphlet form by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. between 1924 and 1931. The authors are equally varied: some were acknowledged experts in their fields, others seem to
Blogging, tweeting and podcasting
2009 Clios
It’s that time of year again: the winners of the 2009 Cliopatria Awards for the best history blogging have been announced! Congratulations to all the winners: Curious Expeditions (best group blog), Georgian London (best individual blog AND best new blog), A Historian’s Craft (best post), The Historical Society (best series of posts), and Executed Today
Pictures, Travel 2009
From Cardiff to Conwy
After Cardiff, my next base of operations was to be Conwy (above), a small town on the north coast of Wales. But getting from south Wales to north Wales by rail is surprisingly difficult: there’s no mainline route which doesn’t spend most of its time in England, and I wanted to see some of the
1940s, After 1950, Art, Australia, Family history, Pictures
A war artist in the family
The war artist is Eric Thake (1904-1982), and the family is mine, although only in the extended sense: Thake’s grandparents, John and Sarah (née Prentice) Thake, were my great-great-grandparents. It was only a couple of weeks ago that my mother found this out. My paternal grandmother (who was born a Thake) did maintain that he