Category Archives: Uncategorized

… at last; as a straightforward overnight ankle operation turned into a fortnight of other late-discovered maladies. But I seem to be OK now; back at my (Swedish) home with help from Kajsa and from the amazing social services that … Continue reading →

Obviously I’m ‘against’ Trump as a European, an ‘intellectual’, a liberal and a socialist. But it’s my identity as a historian that raises my hackles against him most. Trump obviously values history (as he understands it) as a means of … Continue reading →

There’s a bit of a debate going on in Sweden just now – although not as widespread or rancid as in Britain or the USA – about immigration; with the usual suspects – the rising right-wing  Sverigedemokraterna party – leading … Continue reading →

Still in hospital, I’m afraid. Had the op last Tuesday (or was it Wednesday?), but the damage to my ankle was greater than they had anticipated, so they had to work on it for several hours. Apparently it all turned … Continue reading →

I remember years ago – it must have been in the ’70s – Margaret Thatcher’s appointing a businessman to her cabinet, after making him a Lord, in the belief that men (only men) who had succeeded in the ‘real world’ … Continue reading →

Talk of impending civil wars – in the USA, Britain and elsewhere – is becoming disturbingly common just now. Here’s one of a number of serious academic discussions of the likelihood of one breaking out in present circumstances: https://www.militarystrategymagazine.com/article/civil-war-comes-to-the-west/. I … Continue reading →

I’m going into hospital on Tuesday for a minor operation. It’s to replace a bone in my ankle – I think; either that, or to screw two existing bones together. (I never like to know the gory details.) Of course … Continue reading →

You would expect me as an (ex-) academic – and who moreover has taught at two American universities – to be more concerned by Trump’s current attacks on higher education than on other aspects of his proto-fascist regime. The Harvard … Continue reading →

When is the Trump nightmare going to end? When he steps down, or dies, I suppose. Has there ever been a more ridiculous head of any state, in the entire history of the world? Stupefyingly ignorant, as we all know … Continue reading →

This worries me. What if Trump is proved right? What if his tariffs are successful; manufacturing returns to America; he is instrumental in bringing peace to Ukraine, Gaza and Kashmir – because diplomacy really is just a matter of property … Continue reading →