In the Middle Ages the Muslim world had the planet’s most scientifically advanced culture. It is easy to forget just how powerful they were. At one stage the Ottoman Empire threatened Vienna. In July 1683 the Christian world held its breath as the Turks surrounded the capital of the Holy Roman Emperor. Leopold himself, ran
It is a deep seated idea among some people that things were better in the past, and that as time goes on we are heading towards more and deeper problems and are inevitably going to suffer further decay and decline. This was particularly noticeable in the Middle Ages – though if you read Tolkien you
The fierce face of Maximian (thanks to Wikipedia for use of image) How many emperors does it take to run an empire? Diocletian tried four with reasonable results. How did six work out? Well on the whole not too well, and it was pretty obvious pretty quickly that one of them in particular was surplus
After reviewing the first episode of Niall Ferguson’s new series last Sunday night, and managing to get it out within 15 minutes of the end of the programme, I had a look around online to see what other reactions it had generated. To my amazement Niall Ferguson was actually trending on Twitter. Blimey. Overall the
Niall Ferguson – Killer Apps to explain Western Civilization’s success In 1500 the world superpower was undoubtedly China. The Chinese Empire could fit out huge ships 10 times the size of the Santa Maria which travelled half way across the globe to bring back tribute to the emperor in Nanjing. A beautiful manuscript survives of
Galerius – One of six simultaneous emperors (thanks to Wikipedia) I always imagine History Books Review listeners to be a young vibrant crowd of hip young gun slingers with smart trendy clothes, snazzy streetwise attitudes and great reproductive potential. So I have a feeling that not many of you will remember the spoof soap opera