The ignominious end of the Ottoman Empire
PAT MURPHY: The last sultan, Mehmed VI, left his palace under British protection on November 17, 1922
Tag: History books
War and brutality go hand in hand
PAT MURPHY: By its very nature, the ferocity of sustained combat is conducive to behaviours that would be deemed shocking in normal life
Wheat makes the world go round
PAT MURPHY/BOOKS: Wheat is one of the world’s staple crops, and Ukraine and Russia are top exporters. And some countries are vulnerable to supply disruptions
The last children of Anglo-Saxon England
BOOK REVIEW: For the upper class of England, the Norman conquest was wipe out time
Did John F. Kennedy really win the U.S. presidency?
PAT MURPHY: There was significant anecdotal evidence of election fraud ($)
When Reagan fired the air traffic controllers
PAT MURPHY/BOOKS: When faced with aggressive labour action where the strikers had apparent leverage, it was assumed that political leaders would bend. It was what everyone did
What we get wrong about the Islamic empire and crusader armies
PAT MURPHY: Author Steve Tibble’s message is that much of the crusader narrative is simplistic caricature. But it can’t erase facts
Adolf Hitler’s fateful mistake
PAT MURPHY: If Hitler had declared war on Japan in support of the U.S., he might have kept the U.S. out of the European war. And that would have changed history
Diving into man’s complicated relationship with war
PAT MURPHY: From ancient Sparta to Rome to Prussia, cultures have elevated personal characteristics associated with battlefield success
Julius Caesar’s assassins paid the price
PAT MURPHY: The assassins fled and the hunt commenced. Some died in battle, some by suicide, and at least one after being tortured then beheaded
The Congo’s great liberation turned into abject failure
PAT MURPHY: How great plans quickly descended into decades of dictatorship, corruption, kleptocracy and violence
