Nick Maxwell So who was ‘Britain’s greatest foe’? Step forward, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Michael Collins, Erwin Rommel, Napoleon Bonaparte and George Washington, who ended up top of an on-line poll conducted by London’s National Army Museum (http://www.nam.ac.uk/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/enemy-commanders-britains-greatest-foes). By the time you read this, one of the five will have been selected at a ‘celebrity speaker event’ at … Read more
The ancient doctor Galen of Pergamum (modern-day Bergama in Turkey) has left us much to ponder, not only because of his own huge literary output (about 140 of his treatises survive) but also because of his many references to other titles and his eclectic style of writing. At times he is very precise and detailed; … Read more
The origins of the Dromana Gate on the periphery of the Dromana Forest, near Cappoquin, Co. Waterford, can be traced back to a papier-mâché-detailed canvas-covered timber structure erected in 1826 by the tenants of Villierstown to welcome home the newly wed Henry Villiers-Stuart (1803–74), Lord Stuart de Decies, and Theresia Pauline Ott (d. 1867). It … Read more
‘Every new generation must rewrite history in its own way’, said the philosopher of history R.G. Collingwood, thereby encapsulating the belief that all history-writing is contingent upon generational concerns and values. Collingwood’s comment might be slightly revamped to address current commemorative anxieties: every new generation must commemorate history in its own way. But is it so … Read more
The first Indian restaurant in Ireland opened nearly a century ago. In summer 1908 Karim Khan opened the Indian Restaurant and Tea Rooms on Upper Sackville Street, beside the Gresham Hotel. Promising real Indian curries served by native waiters in costume, Khan boasted that his was the only Indian restaurant in Ireland. His venture lasted … Read more