Why?

Blank

There is an old joke / urban legend that circulates among students and faculty in North American Universities and it goes as follows.

Intervention

Napoleon III

A question that a friend of mine once recently asked was “Why did the USA not intervene during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, even though France intervened on the American side during the Revolutionary war of 1775-1783?”

Year End

Earth's Orbit

The end of the year is of course a very arbitrary thing after all circles have no beginning and no end. They are so to speak infinite in length. No matter how long you travel around a circle you will never come to its end or in fact it’s beginning. It is are like the huge dragon worm of Norse mythology that circles the world biting its own tail although in this case there is no head or tail just a continuous circle.

Noel

Nativity Scene

Perhaps one of the most evocative of modern Christmas Carols is Chris de Burgh’s A Spaceman Came Travelling, from his strongly Religiously flavored album Spanish Train.

So for this time of year let this lovely piece fill your mind, while we wait another year for a touch of the divine.

Down the Memory Hole

An Unknown French Victory of the Hundred Years War

du Guesclin

The Hundred Years war between England and France is not just interesting in and of itself but also of interest in how it is portrayed in modern day historical consciousness. In England for example we get detailed treatment of the battles of Sluys, Crecy, Poitiers, Agincourt and Verneuil.1