…it will certainly destroy a very great part of the civilised world and disrupt it entirely. Perhaps, after all, that may be the best solution. Any part of the human race that imagines that its survival is either necessary or outstandingly desirable must indeed, in the light of history, be thought to have an extraordinary conceit of itself.6 Harris suggests, not very convincingly, that a ‘world federation, a government of the world powerful enough…
…yed freely […] We are witnessing the beginnings of a new system of the destruction of human life on a large scale which we may live to regret if it is allowed to grow until it becomes accepted by nations large and small throughout the world. Grenfell wants an end to ‘dishonest policy of non-intervention’ and ‘an honest effort at conciliation’, to halt the spread of German and Italian influence and to save the lives of Spanish civilians. Finally, R…
…German demands’. A more analytical piece by historian Sir Bernard Pares, a Russian specialist, thinks that despite all this, Russia’s real interests are manifestly the same as our own’ (6). He describes Russia as preparing for war with Germany: Active defence preparations are going on all along the Russo-German frontier, and on both sides of that front increasing numbers of troops are being concentrated […] the strongest concentration of Soviet fo…
…was comparatively light. Is it a sign of increasing indifference that the human cost of the raid is relegated to a few paragraphs at the end of the article, or is just that the destruction in the heart of London was something that could not be underplayed? One area of London received its worst battering of the war. A street corner of shops was bombed shortly before the raiders passed signal, and rescue parties worked feverishly in daylight to rea…
…the RAF has heavily damaged the Luftwaffe is mistaken. It might have been true after ‘the Battle of Britain of 1940, but it is not true today’. There was a lull after the heavy raid on London last Saturday. And the direction of the enemy’s attack on the following night suggested that he had felt keenly the night interception prowess of the Royal Air Force, for he concentrated — without much success — upon Royal Air Force aerodromes. (Stewart seems…
…y for vengeance on those who have unleashed from the air the forces of destruction and terrorism. It is a human cry, a natural reaction to the suffering which has spread like a blight over the bombed areas. He adds: THE writer cannot find in his heart the right to deny the fundamental justice of the demand that German cities and towns should be bombed without discrimination as our centres of population have been bombed. But the question is not so…
…far away countries between people of whom I knew nothing. Twitter help me humanise an important period in contemporary history. That’s something that I don’t think any of those older protocols, from email on, could have helped me to do, not in practice. It’s not transparent at all, of course, and it is as subject to biases and deceptions as any other form of human communication; but using Twitter is really the closest I’ve come to entering the gl…
…nyway) about a hum heard in East Kent; and there was the Manchester ‘hummadruz’ which was discussed in the local press in the 1870s but was heard in the 1820s; and Gilbert White heard something similar (though louder) at Selborne in the 18th century. I think there’s enough evidence to suggest that something is going on, though whether the Hum is a real sound or just something human psychology tends to come up with time and again is debatable. Here…
…n nations will not only break out from time to time but may even grow more ruthless, brutal, bitter and intense.8 Now, this is a pretty standard left-liberal viewpoint for the mid-1930s — apart from the stuff about the Great White Brotherhood benevolently directing the evolution of the human race, which is very weird indeed. (Not to mention Lemuria, the seven root races of man, the akashic records, the Book of Dzyan…) And even then, many liberal i…
…mmissioner, Sir Will Spens, has asked the public not to believe or pass on rumours about air raids, (Guardian, 6): There were rumours of heavy attacks on towns not attacked. Broadcasts were alleged to have been given which were not given. The number killed was in some cases multiplied tenfold. Norwich and especially Bath have particular cause to thank the National Fire Service — according to Herbert Morrison, Minister of Home Security, ‘now the mo…
