Soviet communism was a failure.  In particular, it failed by the most basic of measures.  You wouldn’t want to live there.  By the time it ended just about everyone was fed up of it and it has subsequently had few mourners.  Certainly nobody is likely to get very far trying to bring it back. But

A common sight on the streets of Rome in the late empire was abandoned children.  The economy was in a bad way.  Taxes were rising.  Many parents simply gave up the struggle of trying to cope with another mouth to feed.  It is a harrowing thought to think of the suffering involved, both on the

This huge book was also a huge success when it came out.  There was a time when it was a common sight on buses and trains, and every bookshop in Britain had it in stock.  In the seventies and eighties it seemed perfectly obvious that everyone was interested in the working class so a long

I always enjoy the stuff Dave Withun puts up on his blog Pious Fabrications and particularly the almost daily videos he puts on Youtube. They are well put together and thought provoking, and it’s good to hear a point of view a long way from my own. I’m generally happy just to read or listen

Valentinian and his brother Valens were both emperors but were not really equal partners, Valens was very much carried along in Valentinian’s coat tails.   So it was Valentinian that was responsible for dividing the empire in two.  The empire had been carved up in various ways for diverse reasons over its history so far.

I think most of us have already made up our minds about the Nazis.  On the whole, they aren’t popular.  But if you are wavering, have a read of Berlin by Anthony Beevor.  I put it down thinking, well I never liked them but I never realised they were that bad.  Stalin was desperate to