history Archive

  • <p><strong>Title</strong>: The Knight in History<br /> <strong>Author</strong>: Frances Gies<br /> <strong>Paperback</strong>: 272 pages<br /> <strong>Publisher</strong>: Harper Perennial, 2011<br /> <strong>Language</strong>: English</p> <p>Any one with an interest in the middle ages should read this book. It’s definitely not a masterpiece of literature but it clearly outline the development of the concept of knighthood from its origins in the eighth and ninth centuries until its slow, sad decline around the sixteenth century. The unstated aim of the work appears to be to counter the dreadful notions of knighthood we’ve inherited from the the Victorian era.</p> <p>Professor Gies covers history of knighthood […]</p>

    Review: The Knight in History

    Posted on 6 February, 2012 | No Comments

    Title: The Knight in History
    Author: Frances Gies
    Paperback: 272 pages
    Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2011
    Language: English

    Any one with an interest in the middle ages should read this book. It’s definitely not a masterpiece of literature but it clearly outline the development of the concept of knighthood from its origins in the eighth and ninth centuries until its slow, sad decline around the sixteenth century. The unstated aim of the work appears to be to counter the dreadful notions of knighthood we’ve inherited from the the Victorian era.

    Professor Gies covers history of knighthood […]

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  • <p>I’ve posted before on the difference between sword fighting and swordplay. One is for the battlefield and the other is for more social situations. I find it amazing that there are historical fencers wthese not understand or fully appreciate the different contexts in which these wonderful weapons were used and how their use changed over time. This post is a quick and very general overview of the different situations in which swords were used.</p> Battlefield <p>This is the most obvious use of the sword as a weapon. It is also the one that is least understood by fencers. Contrary to […]</p>

    Swordplay: Context is Everything

    Posted on 30 January, 2012 | 1 Comment

    I’ve posted before on the difference between sword fighting and swordplay. One is for the battlefield and the other is for more social situations. I find it amazing that there are historical fencers wthese not understand or fully appreciate the different contexts in which these wonderful weapons were used and how their use changed over time. This post is a quick and very general overview of the different situations in which swords were used.

    Battlefield

    This is the most obvious use of the sword as a weapon. It is also the one that is least understood by fencers. Contrary to […]

    Continue Reading...

  • <p><strong>Title</strong>: Pegasus Bridge<br /> <strong>Author</strong>: Stephen E Ambrose<br /> <strong>Paperback</strong>: 256 pages<br /> <strong>Publisher</strong>: Simon & Schuster 2002<br /> <strong>Language</strong>: English</p> <p>Ambrose book is a great read for anyone with even a passing interest in the event but it is not without its faults. It’s purpose should be thought of as an introduction to this amazing event in military history rather than a definitive or in-depth history of the action.</p> <p>Growing up on war movies and historical miniatures gaming, I’ve pretty much always been aware of the efforts of Johnny Howard‘s lads to take and hold the bridges over […]</p>

    Review: Pegasus Bridge

    Posted on 16 January, 2012 | No Comments

    Title: Pegasus Bridge
    Author: Stephen E Ambrose
    Paperback: 256 pages
    Publisher: Simon & Schuster 2002
    Language: English

    Ambrose book is a great read for anyone with even a passing interest in the event but it is not without its faults. It’s purpose should be thought of as an introduction to this amazing event in military history rather than a definitive or in-depth history of the action.

    Growing up on war movies and historical miniatures gaming, I’ve pretty much always been aware of the efforts of Johnny Howard‘s lads to take and hold the bridges over […]

    Continue Reading...

  • <p>At the end of Giovanni Dall’Agocchie’s <strong>On The Art of Fencing</strong> (1572), there’s a wonderful aside in which he explains the basics techniques he’d teach a complete fencing newbie who must fight a duel of honour in thirty days. In this post, I want to point out the similarities with the single sword system of Dall’Agocchie’s contemporary, Joachim Meyer, whose <strong>Art of Combat</strong> (1570) includes an extensive chapter on use of the rapier.</p> <p>I can’t summarise Dall’Agochhie’s essential actions better than has already been done by Steve Reich (Nova Assalto).</p> <p>Dall’Agocchie proposes to teach the prospective duellist only one of […]</p>

    Dall’Agocchie’s Essential Actions

    Posted on 9 December, 2011 | No Comments

    At the end of Giovanni Dall’Agocchie’s On The Art of Fencing (1572), there’s a wonderful aside in which he explains the basics techniques he’d teach a complete fencing newbie who must fight a duel of honour in thirty days. In this post, I want to point out the similarities with the single sword system of Dall’Agocchie’s contemporary, Joachim Meyer, whose Art of Combat (1570) includes an extensive chapter on use of the rapier.

    I can’t summarise Dall’Agochhie’s essential actions better than has already been done by Steve Reich (Nova Assalto).

    Dall’Agocchie proposes to teach the prospective duellist only one of […]

    Continue Reading...

  • <p><strong>Title</strong>: Inquisition<br /> <strong>Author</strong>: Edward Peters<br /> <strong>Paperback</strong>: 362 pages<br /> <strong>Publisher</strong>: University of California Press, 1989<br /> <strong>Language</strong>: English</p> <p>This brilliant study is immensely valuable to the amateur historian on three levels. The least of these is how it shows the Inquisition as the outcome of the legal system of Ancient Rome. It also examines in detail the organization, procedures, process and results of the various inquisition throughout an 800+ year history based on the notoriously meticulous records recently released from the Vatican Archive. More importantly, it compares the process of the inquisition to that of secular courts […]</p>

    Review: Inquisition

    Posted on 26 August, 2011 | No Comments

    Title: Inquisition
    Author: Edward Peters
    Paperback: 362 pages
    Publisher: University of California Press, 1989
    Language: English

    This brilliant study is immensely valuable to the amateur historian on three levels. The least of these is how it shows the Inquisition as the outcome of the legal system of Ancient Rome. It also examines in detail the organization, procedures, process and results of the various inquisition throughout an 800+ year history based on the notoriously meticulous records recently released from the Vatican Archive. More importantly, it compares the process of the inquisition to that of secular courts […]

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  • <p>As previously threatened, I’m writing a roleplaying convention game again. I’ll be running a <strong>Space 1889</strong> scenario called <strong>The Deathless Hordes of Mars</strong> at AusCon II in Brisbane, Australia, in October. This post has the advertising blurb for the adventure and a little about the Space 1889 game.</p> <p>Space 1889 is the original steampunk roleplaying game. It sets itself in an alternative history in which Thomas Edison (who else?) has invented a device which can be used to propel ships through the luminiferous ether between the planets. This has opened up the way for colonisation of Mars and Venus and […]</p>

    Space 1889: The Deathless Hordes of Mars

    Posted on 19 August, 2011 | No Comments

    As previously threatened, I’m writing a roleplaying convention game again. I’ll be running a Space 1889 scenario called The Deathless Hordes of Mars at AusCon II in Brisbane, Australia, in October. This post has the advertising blurb for the adventure and a little about the Space 1889 game.

    Space 1889 is the original steampunk roleplaying game. It sets itself in an alternative history in which Thomas Edison (who else?) has invented a device which can be used to propel ships through the luminiferous ether between the planets. This has opened up the way for colonisation of Mars and Venus and […]

    Continue Reading...

  • <p><strong>Title:</strong> D-Day 6 June 1944<br /> <strong>Author:</strong> Stephen E Ambrose<br /> <strong>Paperback:</strong> 656 pages<br /> <strong>Publisher:</strong> Simon & Schuster<br /> <strong>Language:</strong> English</p> <p>D-Day is one of the few truly momentous events of the twentieth century. Ambrose book captures the experience from the recollections and memories of the poor bastards who lived through it. In this, he has created a wonderful record of the build up, execution and aftermath of the event which should be read by everyone. The book’s only fault is that it’s written by an American.</p> <p>The strategy of the book is to start at the widest possible scale then narrow in […]</p>

    D-Day 6 June 1944 by Stephen E Ambrose

    Posted on 22 July, 2011 | 1 Comment

    Title: D-Day 6 June 1944
    Author: Stephen E Ambrose
    Paperback: 656 pages
    Publisher: Simon & Schuster
    Language: English

    D-Day is one of the few truly momentous events of the twentieth century. Ambrose book captures the experience from the recollections and memories of the poor bastards who lived through it. In this, he has created a wonderful record of the build up, execution and aftermath of the event which should be read by everyone. The book’s only fault is that it’s written by an American.

    The strategy of the book is to start at the widest possible scale then narrow in […]

    Continue Reading...

  • <p>I’ve a gravel bed down the side of the house that is always threatening to overgrow with weeds and grass. I’m sick of weeding. Herbicides don’t seem to work. Oh sure, they kill the grass and weeds but – not as advertised – the weeds grow back in other spots. What to do?</p> <p><em>“Carthago delenda est!”</em></p> <p>History to the rescue! At the end of the Third Punic War, the Roman Senate decided they were fed up on knocking Carthage to its knees only to have it get up again and start another war. This time, they pulled down all the […]</p>

    What Rome Did To Carthage

    Posted on 1 April, 2011 | 2 Comments

    I’ve a gravel bed down the side of the house that is always threatening to overgrow with weeds and grass. I’m sick of weeding. Herbicides don’t seem to work. Oh sure, they kill the grass and weeds but – not as advertised – the weeds grow back in other spots. What to do?

    “Carthago delenda est!”

    History to the rescue! At the end of the Third Punic War, the Roman Senate decided they were fed up on knocking Carthage to its knees only to have it get up again and start another war. This time, they pulled down all the […]

    Continue Reading...

  • <p>I was reading Galileo‘s On Motion (1590), as one does, and came across this gem.</p> <blockquote><p>Some superifical observations have been made as, for instance, that the free motion of a heavy falling body is continuously accelerated. But to just what extent this acceleration occurs has not yet been announced. For so far as I know, no one has yet pointed out the distances traversed during equal intervals of time by a body falling from rest stand to one another in the same ratio as the odd numbers beginning with unity.</p></blockquote> <p>It struck me that this is easy to check using nothing […]</p>

    Galileo: On Motion

    Posted on 25 March, 2011 | 1 Comment

    I was reading Galileo‘s On Motion (1590), as one does, and came across this gem.

    Some superifical observations have been made as, for instance, that the free motion of a heavy falling body is continuously accelerated. But to just what extent this acceleration occurs has not yet been announced. For so far as I know, no one has yet pointed out the distances traversed during equal intervals of time by a body falling from rest stand to one another in the same ratio as the odd numbers beginning with unity.

    It struck me that this is easy to check using nothing […]

    Continue Reading...

  • <p>This is a follow on from the facebook meme which has been doing the rounds of late. Below are a list of four writers whose work has changed the way I look at the world, at people or at fiction. Surprisingly, there’s no literary figures here. All of them are commercial writers. I figured that the likes of William Shakespeare, Italo Calvino or Geoffery Chaucer would figure in the shorter list but they don’t. Great literature may elucidate the human condition but, when the chips are down, we turn to that which speaks to us loudly and clearly rather than […]</p>

    Writers Who Have Influenced Me

    Posted on 3 December, 2010 | No Comments

    This is a follow on from the facebook meme which has been doing the rounds of late. Below are a list of four writers whose work has changed the way I look at the world, at people or at fiction. Surprisingly, there’s no literary figures here. All of them are commercial writers. I figured that the likes of William Shakespeare, Italo Calvino or Geoffery Chaucer would figure in the shorter list but they don’t. Great literature may elucidate the human condition but, when the chips are down, we turn to that which speaks to us loudly and clearly rather than […]

    Continue Reading...

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