1201 The Varangian Guard
The Late Roman Empire and its successor state, the Byzantine Empire, relied heavily on mercenary units to make up the bulk of their armies, as well as personal bodyguards to the emperors. The…
1110 Sniper
Gallinago gallinago otherwise known as the Snipe, is a wading bird with a very long narrow bill. Camouflage may enable the snipe to remain undetected by hunters in marshland. If the snipe flies,…
1109 The Formation of Iraq Part 2: Gertrude Bell
Now in control of much of the Middle East, the British occupied the land with little thought of the future. “The Secretary of State for India had asked her opinion on which way…
1108 The Formation of Iraq Part 1: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire
In 1918, after years of devastating warfare, the Ottoman Empire finally collapsed and the British, expanding into the Middle East, attempted to control the area. However, the area proved to be too vast…
1107 Robert E Lee (part 2)
The wounding of Joseph Johnston at the battle of Seven Pines in 1862 gave General Lee his first major field command with the Army of North Virginia, the coming year would catapult him…
1106 Robert E Lee (part 1)
Robert E Lee commanded the Confederate forces to their defeat during the American civil war in doing so he created a myth around himself, he was a statesmen, a gentleman, a great commander…
1105 The Anglo-Irish War
The Anglo-Irish conflict of 1919-21 is a deeply complicated and contradictory issue in Irish history. This is reflected in the fact that there is no agreed title for it: it is variously referred…
1104 The Kalabalik
On the 31st of January 1713, Turkish artillery opened fire on a small Swedish camp located in the town of Bender, the westernmost town of the Ottoman Empire, located in present-day Moldavia. These…
1103 Eager for Glory: The Untold Story of Drusus the Elder, Conqueror of Germania
The names of the Roman emperors Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius are well known, and so too are their stories. Hardly known at all is the story of Tiberius’ brother and Claudius’ father, the…
1102 Anglo American War of 1812
For three years Great Britain and the United States fought a war ultimately the outcome of which would in essence be to neither’s advantage. To Britain, mired in war with Napoleonic France,
