Author Archives: bernardporter2013

‘History’ – the subject, that is, not the events themselves – has a lot to answer for. (Well, the events themselves too, obviously; but that’s another matter.) I don’t know how important it is in helping to explain our present … Continue reading →

I had thought that seeking refuge in Sweden would release me, blessedly, from the political worry, pain, frustration and rage that I was experiencing almost every minute of my life in the new, post-Brexit UK.  Far away from the sound of … Continue reading →

It always seemed somehow wrong when the more Right-wing of the two main parties in Britain continued to call itself ‘Conservative’, even after every trace of its wanting to ‘conserve’ anything disappeared under Thatcher. Thatcher was in fact the most radical Conservative … Continue reading →

I thought my book about Victorian architecture had bombed. I found no reviews of it at the time, apart from a rather sniffy one by an ‘architectural historian’. (He didn’t like my pictures.) Then today I suddenly found a small … Continue reading →

Here’s our Education Minister’s recent proposal to police free speech in universities: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/landmark-proposals-to-strengthen-free-speech-at-universities. Its target, of course, is the ‘no-platforming’ of certain invited speakers, usually those identified as right-wing, homophobic, sexist or racist, by the intolerant Left. I’m not entirely against … Continue reading →

This resonated with me. https://www.facebook.com/groups/476197496373674/permalink/733414110652010/ I went to Cambridge, not Oxford, and was not from so ‘lowly’ a background as this former student. But Cambridge gave me my first experience of the Public school ‘types’ described here, both the Cameron … Continue reading →

There’s an anti-imperial aspect to British imperialism which is not often taken into account. It should be remembered that most Britons and Irish who emigrated to ‘settlement’ colonies like Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and before that to the thirteen … Continue reading →

The vote in the US Senate yesterday – failing to convict Trump on the impeachment charge – wasn’t, of course, unexpected. We know the reasons for it. It wasn’t because the Republicans necessarily believed he was innocent – we have … Continue reading →

For an American history and politics wonk like me, and in addition a sucker for American courtroom dramas, the current impeachment trial of Donald J Trump is the gift that goes on giving. Today’s spat between the two leading counsels … Continue reading →

OK, it’s only a trivial complaint, and not my main one against Brexit; but I still haven’t received several orders and even Christmas presents from the UK, apart from one where I was made to pay more in import duty … Continue reading →