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The Hollywood of the late 1920’s and early 30’2 reflects the widespread pessimism and loss of confidence that was the initial reaction of the American people to the Wall Street Crash, the worst financial crisis of modern times. As with the rest of American industry, Hollywood was forced to adapt to economic recession: to cut […]

The RMS Lusitania, a British passenger liner, was launched by the Cunard shipping line in 1907 to revive the transatlantic passenger business in the face of German competition. At the time, Germany held a monopoly by offering a faster, more luxurious voyage, with twice as much passenger space, electric lighting in the cabins and ship-to-shore […]

The 1957 Treaty of Rome laid the foundation for closer union between the national states of Europe. Since that date, Poland, Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria have joined the EU. For over 50 years, peaceful co-existence has been the norm between the member states. The EU has seen the living standards of its population rise, and […]

When Vladimir Putin annexed the Crimea in March this year, Russia also acquired a vast store of underwater oil and gas deposits in the Black Sea. Ukraine thus lost territory and future oil and gas revenues and now has no chance of gaining energy independence from Russia. Under international agreements Russia broke no law, as […]

By 12th June 1944, Allied troops had consolidated a front line well south of the Normandy beaches, stretching west and north well beyond Grandcamp Les Bains  and east almost surrounding Caen. Within 6 days, Hitler had lost the initiative in France. However, as French men and women went wild with joy in Paris, others, particularly […]

We have just had an election in which all the main political parties have taken a beating from the electorate over one issue – migration. Time, I think, to return to a more measured and reflective mode of thinking on the issue. In the final quarter of 2013, the net migration into the UK was […]

2014 marks the 70th anniversary of “Operation Overlord” – the battle for Normandy, France, and the liberation of Europe from the Nazi occupation. All over Europe, in the towns and villages of England, Canada and America, old veterans and their families will mark the most successful and complex campaign in modern history. The invasion of […]

  As we reach the middle of the year, there are even more literary festivals to choose from, celebrating some of the UK’s greatest writers. Tickets are usually very reasonable and a visit is a perfect way to find out more about some of the people and events you study on your Oxford Home Schooling […]

I have to confess a personal sense of loss every time I hear that another bookshop has closed, it does seem to happen often nowadays, doesn’t it? Does this mean that soon we will have no bookshops at all? Is it all the fault of Kindles and other similar reading devices? Will there soon be […]

Over the past few months, counter-factual history – examining past events and asking the questions: “What if there had been a different outcome? What would history have looked like as a consequence?” – has been the subject of a number of television programmes. Such debates in the media during 2014 have centered around the question […]