The Past Tense

Of ‘emperor’ and ‘kaiser’

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 21:26:20 +0000

The Roman empire had a strong influence on the western world. Even today its presence can be felt from the USA to Russia and from England to Tunisia. Yet, this is a story not about law, architecture, culture or some other typically Romanesque subject; it is about where the medieval world got its rulers’ titles. [...]

About Russian atrocities in WWII

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 16:02:31 +0000

Some time ago I discussed Soviet atrocities in WWII with somebody—who shall remain known as Russian Historian—after he commented on one of my earlier posts. It was nice to hear about history from a Russian point-of-view and luckily he shared some great photos with me, some of which I will share with you now. I [...]

I’m back

Sat, 18 Nov 2006 20:14:59 +0000

So this website is still here, eh? After a brief period of downtime#{and by ‘brief’ I mean a couple of weeks of downtime and a couple of months of inactivity} I’ve redesigned this site and I intend to commence writing again shortly. First the redesign: I made the redesign a quick one above all; the [...]

Link digest

Sun, 23 Jul 2006 16:53:58 +0000

My FireFox bookmarks menu fills up with links pretty fast. I've decided to dump all my history-related links on this site for my own and your reference. Yes, I admit it's a cheap trick to break the silence, but there's also some real stuff coming up: a new series of articles—so stay tuned.

America’s revolutionary ideals

Sun, 25 Jun 2006 17:29:16 +0000

America was founded by revolutionary ideals: the rejection of tyranny, the embrace of equality and the protection of 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'. But two hundred years later what is the promise of America?

A girl with a peach

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 14:49:06 +0000

World War II veterans will not be among us for much longer. The war ended over 60 years ago. In a couple of years time those that lived through it will close their eyes and nothing but written records will remain to remember us of the greatest conflict in human history. This is a memory told to Michael Palin by a veteran of the siege of Tobruk.

A story about the Dutch royal riches

Wed, 17 May 2006 23:08:51 +0000

European monarchs are rich. Exact figures are hard to come by but estimates are not: for example, the total personal fortune of the Queen Elizabeth of the UK has been estimated at $500 million and even as high as $10 billion. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands has been estimated at $4.7 billion. These figures are usually worth less than the cost of the bandwidth it takes to transport them to your browser over the internet, but there's a story behind the fortune of the Dutch royal family—and it's a great story if there ever was one.

9rules submission, round 4

Tue, 16 May 2006 16:40:08 +0000

The 9rules network features some of the best websites in the world (and this one) and it's time to add some more. Do youwant to be part of a cool community, meet some interesting people or just win some traffic? Make sure to give it a shot—you can only gain from it.

A people’s right to defend itself

Sun, 07 May 2006 19:25:11 +0000

Does a people have the right to defend itself? Or, in other words: is war strictly a business of armies, soldiers and generals or are civilians allowed to participate in the fighting? This is a question was debated at the end of the 19th century and its outcome marked the 20th century.

CSS Reboot

Mon, 01 May 2006 10:28:38 +0000

All the cool kids redesign their sites at May 1st, so this year I decided to join. I have redesigned this site as part of CSS Reboot 2006. Redesigned? Again? This site was in need of improvement on the structure-front and the design-front. But I promise: no more redesigns for the next 365 days.

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