Just Finished Reading: The American Revolution – A Very Short Introduction by Robert J Allison (FP: 2015) [112pp] 

I think, if memory serves (which sometimes it doesn’t), we very briefly covered the American War of Independence in school. Not that we went into any great detail, but we did (I think) mention it in passing. Since then, I’ve picked up the odd bit of information about it from various other books and the occasional YouTube video. So, I thought it was about time I delved a little deeper. Of course, this being a very short introduction I wasn’t expecting to go too deep or too detailed. Indeed, it did feel from time to time rather breezy... 

I knew that the rumblings of revolutionary feelings had been bubbling under for some time, what with taxes and various appointed officials of the British crown throwing their weight around. It wasn’t long before tea and bullets started to fly. What was clear from the start is that the whole thing was very chaotic with neither side really knowing what to do and what they wanted. History writing tends to impose a much cleaner narrative on events than the reality of things. In the mix we had patriots (aka revolutionaries) and loyalists amongst the American population – plus no doubt a majority who just wanted to keep their heads down – along with the British who were trying to maintain or impose order. We also had slaves who were being offered their freedom if they joined the British cause as well as native Americans who fought on both sides. Then we had German ‘mercenaries’ and French ‘volunteers’ fighting with the British and American forces respectively, oh and the Spanish in the south got mixed in there somewhere. It was quite a complex mess. 

I think my biggest surprise reading this pretty good summary was that the whole process took so long. The bubbling of tension took some years before the shooting started, but once it did and after the actual Declaration of Independence happened I though the war itself only dragged on for a year, 18 months tops... Nope. It was MUCH longer. I was aware that the logistics of fighting a protracted war on the other side of the Atlantic at that time was not exactly easy and that Britain just didn’t have the forces required to fight there and protect the growing Empire from its many enemies, but I failed to understand just how difficult it was to play whack-a-mole with George Washingtons army and the rest of the ‘upstart rebels’.  

Being the kind of person that I am, what I found most interesting was the number of times and number of incidents that, if they had happened a little different, might have changed everything. There are the very close-run things during various battles and military encounters. There was talk of General Washington being replaced by someone more ‘forceful’ which could have at least changed the ultimate name of the US capital. Mistakes were made (on both sides), messages lost or received too late, leaders doing their own thing sometimes against orders or ‘freely interpreting’ them in such a way that amounted to the same thing. In a hundred ways either the details or the outcome of the conflict might have been different – which is why I like reading History so much. 

The last part of the book, post conflict, certainly piqued my interest when the author discussed the messy birth of the US Constitution and all of the compromises and horse-trading (as well as VERY heated arguments) around its provisions. I think that’s a subject I need to delve into a bit further. The whole process seems to be very human, very flawed, very imperfect – no wonder so many amendments were needed in an attempt to tidy things up a bit! Although not earth-shattering in its analysis this was still an interesting overview of an important conflict and its aftermath. Reasonable.

Happy Birthday: Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress and activist. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda's work spans several genres and over six decades of film and television. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for a Grammy Award and two Tony Awards. Fonda also received the Honorary Palme d'Or in 2007, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2014, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2018, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2021, and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2024.

Born to socialite Frances Ford Seymour and actor Henry Fonda, she made her screen debut in the romantic comedy Tall Story (1960). She rose to prominence acting in the comedies Cat Ballou (1965), Barefoot in the Park (1967), Barbarella (1968), Fun with Dick and Jane (1977), California Suite (1978), The Electric Horseman (1979), and 9 to 5 (1980). Fonda established herself as a dramatic actress, winning two Academy Awards for Best Actress for her roles as a prostitute in the thriller Klute (1971) and the woman in love with a Vietnam war veteran in the drama Coming Home (1978). She was Oscar-nominated for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), Julia (1977), The China Syndrome (1979), On Golden Pond (1981), and The Morning After (1986). After a 15 year hiatus, she returned to acting in Monster-in-Law (2005), Youth (2015), and Our Souls at Night (2017).

Probably my 2nd favourite Christmas movie............

Just Finished Reading: Danger is My Business – An Illustrated History of the Fabulous Pulp Magazines: 1896-1953 by Lee Server (FP: 1993) [137pp] 

Anyone who is, or has been, a regular here will know of my love for pulp cover art. I’m also a BIG fan of the Golden Age of Science Fiction and Noir fiction – both of which emerged in the pulp magazines in the first part of the 20th century – so how could I avoid something like this book. OK, I’ve actually had it stacked in a pile near one of my shelf units for some time now (it's a large ‘coffee-table’ book so wouldn’t fit on any of my shelves) but the point stands. 

Covering ALL of the genres (or at least most of them) including Horror/Fantasy, Adventure, Private-Eyes, Romance and Sex, Heroes (super or otherwise), Weird (there was a lot of that!) and, of course, Science-Fiction the author not only showed his knowledge of the subject but his love of all things pulpy too. So, not only was this a FUN experience I also learnt quite a bit about why the pulps emerged in the first place, how they explosively expanded in the 1920’s, stumbled a bit during the depression, reached new heights shortly after and them collapsed almost overnight. It seemed like one hell of a ride for all involved. Although I certainly knew about SOME of the genres covered here, I wasn’t fully aware of the hundreds of really niche markets some of the pulps serviced or how short some of the runs were – some magazines died a very early death whilst others, particularly crime, SF and westerns, went on year after year. 

Although quite thin at just under 140 pages the large format allowed the author to cover a lot of ground despite the book being heavily illustrated with some great, indeed iconic, pulp images which really helped the individual magazines to stand out on their stands and either gave great pleasure or the odd moralistic heart attack to those who saw them. Pretty tame by today’s ‘standards’ some of the covers really pushed the boundaries of good taste and are, therefore, HIGHLY collectable today. If you’re as much as a pulp fan as I am – either for their contents or their art work – this will be a real treat for you. Recommended.   

Seems OK to me........................

Possible Soul Mate.... Definite Friend for Life!

Just Finished Reading: Witchfinders – A Seventeenth-Century English Tragedy by Malcolm Gaskill (FP: 2005) [286pp] 

After my previous read I was both intrigued and pleased to discover that Manningtree and its witch trial were both real. It’s also where the notorious ‘witchfinder’ Matthew Hopkins (and his less well-known side-kick John Stearne) started his discovery of witches. 

 As far as I’m aware England was unique at that time – around the mid-17th century – in its scepticism of all things witchcrafty, at least in the case of the judges and magistrates who more often than not threw out case after case brought before them. This deep scepticism only grew with time and, as the 17th century moved to its end, getting a witchcraft conviction became very difficult indeed. But around the time of Hopkins and his crusade things were far from normal. England was at war with itself – not only politically but also on the religious stage. The Protestant religion had begun to splinter – indeed shatter – into ever increasing denominations and off-shoots and religious practice, at least in the mainstream, was becoming more Puritan and ever more prescribed. Deviation, especially if it had even the hint of Popery, was denounced and often attacked physically. Any religious imagery or ornamentation was either removed or destroyed. Interestingly both Catholics and witches were both seen as agents of the Anti-Christ. As you might imagine that was pretty inflammatory! 

With everyone under close examination and with little or no understanding of science or disease it’s not surprising that arguments or just vague fears of ‘strange’ neighbours resulted in accusations of witchcraft when livestock or people sickened and died. Most of the time this would have been handled locally and the accused would have ended up in the stocks, but these were not normal times and both tempers and fears were running high. Enter the witchfinders to add their fuel to the fire and, well, we can all guess what happened next. Speaking of fire... It’s a very common misconception that witches were burnt at the stack for their ‘crimes’. Certainly, in England this was not the case – although it was both in Scotland and across the European continent. Generally, in England witches were hung – unless they were convicted of ‘treason’, which included killing their husbands. In that case witches were indeed burnt – although most of them were strangled first. 

With the times being so chaotic and, honestly, dangerous on multiple levels Hopkins and company managed to work their way in-between the official channels to do their work. Only when things started to recover (it took somewhat longer for things to return to normal) did the regular authorities start to clamp down on private operators doing government work. With ever rising scepticism, order returning and the clamp down Hopkins and Stearne faded into obscurity. 

Although I had studied the European witch craze in university my knowledge of the English version had only been picked up in a roundabout way through other reading and the occasional very bad movie. I knew of Hopkins of course. I think everybody of my age learnt about him in school but my ‘knowledge’ was pretty shallow. This interesting book has certainly added to that rough understanding a great deal. It was certainly interesting to see how the relative breakdown of normal society brought on by the Civil War(s) could bring witchcraft accusations and, more importantly, actual convictions on the flimsiest of ‘evidence’ to fruition. The only ‘problem’ I had with the book, and to be honest it was a very minor problem, was that the author thought it necessary to go into detail of each accusation and each process and trials progressed. The actual trajectory from accusation to hangman's rope almost invariably followed the same route so it might have been better to point out the variations rather than the norm. I did find myself skimming over a few of the later cases because of this. But on the whole, this was both an informative and interesting read (again especially as I couldn’t help comparing reality to fiction and finding myself even more impressed by the previous novel). Recommended for anyone interested in the English experience of witches. More to come in both fact and fiction.  

Happy Birthday: Sir Antony James Beevor, FRSL (born 14 December 1946) is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works, mainly on the Second World War, the Spanish Civil War, and most recently the Russian Revolution and Civil War.

Educated at Abberley Hall School, Winchester College, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Beevor commanded a troop of tanks in the 11th Hussars in Germany before deciding in 1970 to leave the army and become a writer.

He was a visiting professor at Birkbeck, University of London, and the University of Kent. His best-selling books, Stalingrad (1998) and Berlin: The Downfall 1945 (2002), have been acclaimed for their detailed coverage of the battles between the Soviet Union and Germany, and their focus on the experiences of ordinary people. Berlin proved hugely controversial in Russia because of the information it contained from former Soviet archives about the mass rapes carried out by the Red Army in 1945. He was condemned for "lies, slander and blasphemy" against the Red Army by the Russian ambassador at the time, Grigory Karasin, and was frequently described as "the chief slanderer of the Red Army" by Kremlin-supporting media.

His works have been translated into 35 languages and have sold over 8.5 million copies. Beevor has lectured at numerous military headquarters, staff colleges and establishments in Britain, the US, Europe and Australia. He has also written for The Times, The Telegraph and Guardian, the New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, Le Monde, Libération, Le Figaro, as well as El País and ABC in Spain.

The Spanish Civil War. London: Orbis, 1982. ISBN 978-0-14-100148-7

Inside the British Army. London: Chatto and Windus, 1990. ISBN 978-0-552-13818-5

Crete: The Battle and the Resistance. London: John Murray, 1991. ISBN 978-0-14-016787-0

with Artemis Cooper. Paris After the Liberation, 1944–1949. London: Penguin, 1994.

Stalingrad. London: Viking Press, 1998. ISBN 978-0-670-87095-0

Berlin: The Downfall 1945. London: Penguin, 2002. ISBN 978-0-670-03041-5 (Published as The Fall of Berlin 1945 in the U.S.)

The Mystery of Olga Chekhova. London: Penguin, 2004. ISBN 978-0-670-03340-9

The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006. ISBN 978-0-14-303765-1

D-Day: The Battle for Normandy. London: Penguin, 2009. ISBN 978-0-670-02119-2

The Second World War. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2012. ISBN 978-0-316-02374-0

Ardennes 1944: Hitler's Last Gamble. Viking, 2015. ISBN 978-0-670-91864-5

Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944. Viking, 2018. ISBN 978-0-241-32676-3

Russia: Revolution and Civil War, 1917—1921. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2022. ISBN 978-1-474-61014-8

Just Finished Reading: The Manningtree Witches by A K Blakemore (FP: 2021) [290pp] 

Essex, England 1643. She was trapped and she knew it. With a dead father, an aging mother and a life of the ragged edge of the village her options where few to none. Trapped. There was one, possible, way out if she could somehow manage it. The town clerk, John Edes, had taken a shine to her and was teaching her to read. He might, just might, be her means of escape. But he was increasingly busy these days with the incomers. Two strangers had taken up residence in an abandoned tavern and looked to be staying for a while. They were both clearly gentlemen, educated, well-dressed. They were also in Manningtree for a purpose. They were looking for witches and seem to have found one. An aging widow with a wooden leg was accused of casting a harmful spell. Under examination she had confessed and had accused others of being in a coven. It was a great victory for witchfinder Matthew Hopkins – his first breakthrough of the crusade. For Rebecca West it was something quite different. Her mother, Anne West, had been named as a witch. It was only a matter of time before someone named Rebecca too. Her mother gave her just one piece of advice – survive, no matter what you need to do. But what price would the feared witchfinder general demand of her? How far would she go to protect her own young life? 

I briefly studied the European witch craze in university for an essay I was working on and read a handful of books on the subject to help me formulate my arguments. One thing that was very clear from the outset was that the English witch craze was a very different beast both in extent and in result. Although witches certainly were discovered and ‘dealt with’ in various ways in England (although they were hardly ever burnt at the stake which was a common misconception) the number of witches arrested, tried and executed was minute compared to our European neighbours. However, especially in the Civil War period where this story takes place, the breakdown of law and order and of society as a whole allowed so-called ‘witchfinders’ like Hopkins to do their work largely (at least to begin with) unopposed. 

I could definitely see, almost from the outset, why this impressive debut novel won the Desmond Elliott Prize in its publication year. As a first novel it was outstanding. The prose used throughout was excellent and often beautiful. I was not surprised at all when I discovered that not only was the author a published poet but an award winning one too. It certainly shows in her writing. Her feeling of time and place was completely immersive and her characterisation, most especially of Rebecca West (a new fictional favourite), was very good indeed. I found out later that much that took place in the book is based on real events which made me even more impressed at how the author weaved her tale in-between known historical events without (as far as I can tell) inventing anything too outlandish or out of context. She certainly never at any point came close to ejecting me from the narrative with ahistorical or anachronistic insertions. Indeed, the language and idioms used throughout made things more ‘real’ if anything. Although the English used in the novel had been modernised for the reader there was enough 17th century words and ideas sprinkled through the text (some of which I’d heard before, some I picked up with context and some I was tempted to Google but let the narrative flow instead) to make it sound realistic in the historical and geographical context of the novel. That alone was an impressive feat. Overall, this was a very impressive and often quite lovely read despite its subject matter. I shall definitely be looking out for her next novel. Definitely recommended and if you want to know what REALLY happened in Manningtree (yes, it's a real place!) and with Matthew Hopkins stay tuned....  

...but how can you TELL? Is there a test or something....?

Just Finished Reading: Our Own Worst Enemy – The Assault From Within on Modern Democracy by Tom Nichols (FP: 2021) [219pp] 

I was definitely not alone in being surprised by the recent US Presidential election result. One thing it did show me, and no doubt many others, is that I clearly do not understand the American psyche. I’ve been working on my USA:WTF project over the last few years and I’m planning to ramp it up a bit further going forward but I’ll also be reading a sprinkling of books prompted by the US election and this is the first of them. 

To begin with I wasn’t that impressed with the authors analysis of why Donald Trump and his MAGA cronies were elected the first time (what the author would say about a repeat election after a 4 year break I can imagine). He seemed to be saying that we in the West, and not just in the USA, have had it too good for too long and, no doubt like those cheering the outbreak of war in 1914, were eagerly looking forward causing a bit of fun chaos and breaking stuff. This, I thought, was more than a little crass. Firstly, it posited that everyone has ‘never had it so good’ (which to be honest in an absolute historical sense is true, but even so) as if no one out there is suffering – even comparatively – and second that this (relative) comfort was responsible for us “hungering for the Apocalypse”. As I said, crass. 

Thankfully, his arguments improved a great deal after that! Part of the problem, he maintained, is resentment prompted by both disparities in wealth (sometimes considerable if not actually obscene) and the fact that social media in particular can show us – if we feel the need/desire to check – just how much other people have that many are apparently denied. It's not just the yachts and private planes but the ability to peek directly into your neighbours living rooms – via real-estate websites (apparently an addictive ‘hobby’ to many) - to count TVs, bathrooms & parking spaces to say nothing of local house prices! Such things have, again according to the author, severely strained the idea of citizenship and replaced it with envy. What is worse, indeed corrosive, is the idea that Democracy should solve this and has singularly failed to do so. The ‘problem’ isn’t the system that has produced such wide disparities in wealth and comfort but the political failure to respond to it (of course disregarding the fact that we, generally, get the government we ‘deserve’ because we, as voters, put them there. The ‘fault’ of politics is OUR fault). The answer to this ‘conundrum’? Get rid of Democracy and put someone in power to ‘deal’ with the issue and sort it out. Of course, this is where a deep ignorance of history comes in handy. 

Naturally, social media comes in for a LOT of criticism throughout this slim volume. Not only does it allow people to snuggle into their own silo it also allows (indeed encourages) people to marinate in a sea disinformation and misinformation that feeds peoples existing prejudices. Critical thinking is ignored or actively discouraged and conspiracy ‘theories’ are given free rein to damage everything and everyone they touch. In that kind of environment trust, in each other or in government institutions (or indeed in the very idea of government) begins to evaporate and Democracy itself becomes progressively questioned and questionable. Such trends tend not to end well. 

After a rather shaky start I eventually found at least some of the authors arguments somewhere between interesting and persuasive. Although I certainly don’t think he ‘nailed it’ I do think he was on to something and I’ll be following some of his ideas going forward. I do agree that some of the greatest dangers to Democratic government come from inside rather than outside and that these dangers need addressing. Democracy, across the world and not just in the US, is far from perfect and can be improved for the benefit of all. But we need the will and the belief to see it as worth fixing, worth saving. I believe it is. The alternative, however enticing to some, will be far from pleasant. More US election prompted books to come – although not all will be as ‘on the nose’ as this one! Worth a read if only to prompt thought and discussion. 

Happy Birthday: Leigh Douglass Brackett (December 7, 1915 – March 24, 1978) was an American author and screenwriter. Nicknamed "the Queen of Space Opera," she was one of the most prominent female writers during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. As a screenwriter, she was best known for her collaborations with director Howard Hawks, mainly writing Westerns and crime films. She also worked on an early draft of The Empire Strikes Back (1980), elements of which remained in the film; she died before it went into production.

In 1956, her book The Long Tomorrow made her the first woman ever shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Novel, and, along with C. L. Moore, one of the first two women ever nominated for a Hugo Award. In 2020, she posthumously won a Retro Hugo for her novel The Nemesis From Terra, originally published as "Shadow Over Mars" (Startling Stories, Fall 1944).

On December 31, 1946, at age 31, Brackett married another science fiction writer, Edmond Hamilton, in San Gabriel, California. Fellow LASFS member Ray Bradbury served as best man. Bradbury and Robert Heinlein were long-time close friends of Brackett's. She moved with Hamilton to Kinsman, Ohio.

Edmond Hamilton died in February 1977 in Lancaster, California, of complications following kidney surgery. Brackett died there in March 1978, of cancer, at age 62.

Just Finished Reading: Am I Normal? - The 200-Year Search for Normal People (And Why They Don’t Exist) by Sarah Chaney (FP: 2022) [268pp] 

If you’re anything like me, you have no doubt at some point in your life wondered if you’re ‘normal’. That question was certainly hovering in the back of my mind for a good chunky of my teenage years. But at some point, I, no doubt like many others, had to make a decision: Do I spend an increasing amount of mental energy trying to fit in with those around me (coupled with the resultant stress of wondering if my efforts would be good enough) or do I just say ‘Fuck It’ and decide to me more of myself – although never my WHOLE self – in public and let the chips fall where they may. You guessed correctly if you thought I went to route of increased authenticity...  

Apparently, hard as it is to believe, people in previous ages never questioned their normality nor thought of themselves as normal (or not). They certainly compared themselves to others around them but never held themselves up to a general standard of normality and tried to figure their degree of deviation from the norm. That is something quite new, quite recent, and only really goes back a few hundred years – at best. It also shouldn’t really exist. The well-known Bell curve or Normal Distribution was devised by astronomers to help plot the paths of celestial bodies. They were SO effective at this that statisticians in the 19th century began using them to plot other things, and quite effectively too (although they needed some ‘massaging’ from time to time to ‘fit’). It wasn’t long before human attributes were being charted and the growing insurance industry started using such curves to predict their liabilities and increase their profit margins. It wasn’t long after that that ‘normal’ or ‘average’ became optimal, preferred, something to be aimed at and attained. Normal was superior, anything else was inferior, wrong, abnormal. Less than average weight? Something is wrong. More than average weight? Some is, again, wrong. If you’ve ever been weighed in a doctor's office you’ll probably have been compared to a chart and told that your BMI (Body Mass Index) is too low or, more likely, too high. What they don’t tell you is that the BMI chart is largely based on data from middle-class, white, American males – and probably from some decades ago. BMI figures had to be modified to fit women, don’t apply to athletes and has great trouble applying to other racial groups. It's also far from alone in its divergence between normal/average and the real world. Simply put, the average human does not exist. The more attributes you measure, the smaller the likelihood that any one person will meet them. Sure, there are people of average height, but of average height, weight, skin tone, eye colour, age, education and.... Very quickly you eliminate everyone from the count. 

I’ve read a little bit about this before in ‘The End of Average – How to Succeed in a World that Values Sameness’ by Todd Rose where the author destroys the very idea of average anything. The problem with using the average or idea of the normal as a valuable target to be attained is its toxicity. If the Normal is the highest Good and very few people fit into that category then ‘normal’ becomes just a stick to beat people with and, of course, a BIG stick to beat yourself with. Are you ‘normal’ - whatever THAT means? Do you have a ‘normal’ body? Normal feelings? A normal mind? Is your sex life normal? Are your kids normal and, if not, is that your fault? No doubt you can feel the anxiety building already. In just one small example you can see what I mean – children's weight. One of the first things done to a new-born is being weighed. So, is the baby a ‘normal’ birthweight? Then is the baby gaining weight in line with normal expectations? Too slowly? Too much? I know that my mother was quite anxious to keep hitting that golden ‘normal’ growth line for my sister and, no doubt earlier for my brother and me. Obviously, no one ever questioned where exactly the chart came from and how the data was derived in the first place. But it's important to understand what is meant by this kind of normal especially when it hardly has anything much to do with messy reality. 

I enjoyed this a great deal. Much like the previous book by Todd Rose it made me question the very idea, the very concept, of normality. I’ve never really regarded myself as ‘normal’ in any particular sense. It was nice to see that the very idea of normality is a castle built in mid-air without any real foundation to speak of – most especially when ‘abnormal’ is SUCH a pejorative term. Definitely recommended for anyone who has ever struggled to be, or appear to be, normal...