Ever since I realised that the Boer War is surrounded by a dense fog of myths (which are still eagerly and passionately believed by dense people), I have adopted the attitude of ‘question everything’ when it comes to history. A few days ago, in...
Just when I thought the various online True Believers could not possibly entertain me any further, I was made aware that an especially ignorant one had popped up recently, and spewed out the following utter rubbish: There is so much nonsense in...
The parallels continue between the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Kruger’s invasions of British territory back in 1899. After an initial smattering of minor success, the Russians are being driven back, just as the invading Boers were...
As was recommended to me recently, the biography of Harry Struben, Taken at the Flood, is well worth reading[i]. Struben, along with his brother, Fred, is credited with first confirming the gold deposits of the Witwatersrand, and was a central...
Robert Tombs wrote another excellent article in the Telegraph recently: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/23/putin-fighting-impossible-war-no-escape/ For those unable to access the link, I have copied the article below: Why do states start...
Defenders of the Myth can always be relied upon to provide entertainment, especially as it is becoming more and more obvious that they realise they are on the run. Desperate to keep their much-loved National Party fairy tales staggering on a bit...
We are used to True Believers pretending that the Boer War – you know, the one that started when Kruger’s Boers invaded British territory – was all due to Britain wanting to ‘steal our gold’ – you know, the gold mines that were already owned by...
Defenders of Apartheid-era Myths love to tell one another that I am ‘wrong’, though never trouble themselves to explain where, why and how. One entertaining True Believer was recently called out on his incessant online claims, and asked to...
Someone very kindly gave my Atlas of the Boer War a nice shout out on one of the various Boer War Facebook groups the other day. With mind-numbing predictability, however, one of the more entertaining Defenders of the Myth immediately popped up...
There was an interesting article in the Telegraph a few days ago: Strategy, logistics and morale: Why the fundamentals of war haven’t changed The way to destroy an enemy hasn’t altered since we fought as bands of hunter-gatherers on the...
I imagine that when Mark Zuckerberg set up Facebook, he thought it would be a fun distraction for bored office workers, a place where people could share pictures of their dinner or their cat, a handy tool to help organise reunions, or – most...
I’ve often thought it would be fun, just for a day, to see the world through the eyes of a True Believer. How bizarre it must be to be cursed with an uncontrollable urge to twist and turn, and tie oneself in knots, in a fevered – and increasingly...
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