The Second World War, 1939-1945

This may well end up as two talks, one on the War against Germany and another on the War against Japan.

How Hungry were the Hungry Thirties?

The popular image of the 1930s in Britain is one of unemployment and hunger marches. However, for most people, it was a period of unparalleled prosperity.

The Last Tsars of Russia, 1855-1917

An analysis of the power and the glory of Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II, how it was fatally flawed, and how they brought calamity upon themselves.

Why the Treaty of Versailles (1919) was a good treaty.

Many think that Versailles was a very bad vindictive treaty that caused World War II. They are wrong. It was the best of all possible treaties, and World War II came about because the Treaty was watered down and not enforced. It should have been tougher.

Was the English Reformation at all religious?

The Church of England, from the first had virtually nothing to do with religion. It was almost entirely political, growing, as it did from Henry VIII’s lusts.

Was Elizabeth I any good as Queen of England?

Much vaunted as ‘Gloriana’ and the ‘Virgin Queen’, Elizabeth is often reputed as the great English success story who came along before the Stuarts mucked things up. In reality, she was more of a dithering fool who failed to address the country’s real problems and who left a legacy of disaster for her successors.

The Renaissance

An examination of the origins and nature of some of the more significant aspects of this profound cultural movement that affected many of the arts as well as social values for several centuries.

Peers versus the People 1908-1911

In 1908, the House of Lords dared to reject the Budget of the elected Liberal government, bringing about the biggest constitutional crisis this country has seen since the 17^th century. It took two General Elections and a change of King to resolve the conflict – and their Lordships lost!

The Illegal Conservative Party 1906-1914

Downhearted by its massive failure in the 1906 General Election, the Conservative Party took to behaving in a seriously unconstitutional manner over the next few years, even to the extent of supporting treason by backing army officers who refused to fight.

The New Jerusalem?

In 1945, the Labour Party won a massive General Election victory and set about creating the welfare state amid the chaos brought about by the ending of the Second World War. That it succeeded is little short of amazing; that they did not get it all right is not to be wondered at – and we live with the consequences.

Why did the Liberal Party Disappear, 1906-1929?

The Liberals, a great political party for 50 years, won a rock-crushing General Election victory in 1906, but 20 years later they were almost nowhere to be seen, never really able to make any sort of respectable recovery. Did they commit suicide? Or were they murdered? Were they destroyed by War? Or, were they just victims of social changes that favoured Labour?

The Holocaust

An exploration of the origins and development of the policies pursued by the Nazis in relation to Jews and other ethnic minorities between 1933 and 1945. Not for the faint-hearted.