BOOKS: The assassination of Sir Henry Wilson Ireland’s Sarajevo?
PAT MURPHY: Regardless of the reaction to Wilson’s death, the Irish civil war was likely to happen. No government can tolerate an armed opposition
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Tag: History books
Fenians used Canada as an Irish revolutionary pawn
PAT MURPHY: There were five armed Fenian incursions into Canada between 1866 and 1871. But they failed and the whole thing eventually petered out
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Hereditary empires and the struggle with modernity
PAT MURPHY: Hereditary dynasties could not survive the industrial revolution. Well, except for one
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How empires grab and hold on to power
BOOKS: Being recognized as divinely anointed was hugely advantageous. While it didn’t guarantee acquiescence, it was still a formidable asset
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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
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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
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The last children of Anglo-Saxon England
BOOK REVIEW: For the upper class of England, the Norman conquest was wipe out time
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Did John F. Kennedy really win the U.S. presidency?
PAT MURPHY: There was significant anecdotal evidence of election fraud ($)
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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
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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
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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
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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
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