Category Archives: History
War and Peace
In his autobiography My Early Life, which concluded the time before World War I and was published before World War II, Winston Churchill takes this lesson from the Boer Wars: Let us learn our lessons. Never, never, never believe any war will be … Continue reading
Money in Politics
In his autobiography My Early Life: A Roving Commission, Winston Churchill recounts his first attempt to run for a seat in the House of Commons, the democratic half of the British Parliament. Early in November [1898] I paid a visit … Continue reading
A walk around Isfahan
I was in Iran for the first time in December 2008 and January 2009, one of my traditional Christmas/New-Year getaways, hoping to escape these awkward festivities. However, many people still wished me “merry Christmas” or “a happy new year”, with some Iranians … Continue reading
Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler
After Donald Trumps’s speech at the Republican National Convention, I made this joke, inspired both by the plagiarism in the current Mrs Trumps’ speech and by the speech itself: As with all my other Donald Trump jokes however, it turned out … Continue reading
The young Winston Churchill on War
In his autobiography My Early Life, the young Winston Churchill writes about his feelings towards war and conflict. He seems to regard it all as one great adventure. About his time at the Military College in Sandhurst: Here the study was of … Continue reading
Humboldt discovered man-made climate change
When Alexander von Humboldt traveled in Venezuela in 1800, he was told by locals about the rapidly falling water levels of Lake Valencia. He established a theory that connected deforestation, falling water levels and change of (micro-)climate. Expanding on this, he … Continue reading
Elie Wiesel, 1928-2016
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. I highly recommend Elie Wiesel’s book Night, a short but powerfully moving biography-novel.
How punctual are Bolivians?
In Bolívar – American Liberator, Marie Arana writes about the Congress of Panama: The conference was to take place on June 22, 1826, on the Isthmus of Panama […]. Bolívar had decided not to attend the proceedings so that it … Continue reading
The Armenian Genocide
In the Old City of Jerusalem, you know you are in the Armenian Quarter when you see these posters on many of the walls and rusty gates. I still remember my first visit to Jerusalem in 1992. When I spotted … Continue reading
While researching the story of a great Romanian adventurer, I found a great Romanian adventurer. But a different one.
When I moved to Romania, I knew that it had produced one of the greatest adventurer of all times. This is the story of how I was both wrong and right at the same time. (Scroll down to the 5th … Continue reading
The Happy Hermit 