Cold War

After 1950, Blogging, tweeting and podcasting, Civil defence, Cold War, Links, Nuclear, biological, chemical

Getting away from it all

It seems like forever since the last one, but it’s only been two months. The (16th) Military History Carnival has been posted at the Osprey Blog. A few present-day items seem to have snuck in, but there’s still plenty of history in there. My selection this time is about Burlington, at Underground, a rather beautiful […]

After 1950, Australia, Cold War, Film, Games and simulations, Maps, Nuclear, biological, chemical, Pictures

A strange game

This week is the 25th anniversary of the Australian cinematic release of WarGames, which is mainly significant because I missed the anniversary of the US release a few weeks ago! There were a few retrospectives floating about then, which focused on the movie’s importance as an early popularisation of the hacking and phreaking subcultures, and

After 1950, Blogging, tweeting and podcasting, Cold War, Nuclear, biological, chemical

So close and yet (thankfully) so far (so far)

Gary Smailes has put together Military History Carnival 8, and it’s a good one. The item which, inevitably, appealed to me most was Damned Interesting’s account of incidents where the world nearly stumbled into an accidental nuclear holocaust. (But wait, there were more!) Obviously, a scenario where the survival of a significant proportion of humanity,

1930s, 1940s, After 1950, Books, Cold War, Collective security, International air force, Nuclear, biological, chemical, Periodicals, Space, Videos

Companions

[Cross-posted at Revise and Dissent.] It’s 50 years since Sputnik I lifted off. Although I was airminded as a kid, I was much more spaceminded. So 1957 was always a crucial year in my understanding of history back then: it was where the modern age began. (In fact the very first historical work I ever

1910s, 1920s, 1930s, After 1950, Australia, Cold War, Ephemera, Games and simulations, Maps, Periodicals, Pictures, Travel 2007

War games

[Cross-posted at Revise and Dissent.] One interesting minor theme of my recent museum visits here in London has been, I suppose, the popular origins of wargames (as opposed to the intellectual origins): I’ve been coming across a number of games, produced in the first half of the twentieth century and aimed presumably at children, which

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