Just Finished Reading: 1923 – The Crisis that Led to Hitler’s Coup by Mark Jones (FP: 2023) [328pp] 

The so-called ‘Beer Hall putsch’ of 1923 where a young Adolf Hitler and his followers tried to take power in Munich is another one of those historical events that I knew of but knew little detail about. No more! What I failed to appreciate previously is the truism that nothing – especially politically charged events - happens in a vacuum. That was as true here as everywhere else. 

1923 was a tumultuous year for the Weimar Republic in Germany. Beset with problems on all sides it was barely holding on. Indeed many – on both the Left and the Right – disputed its very existence. With war reparations crippling the economy and social unrest growing throughout the country it was hardly surprising that a number of right-wing groups took things into their own hands and began to target politicians who they held responsible for their plight (and the plight of the country itself) for assassination. But in many ways, those in power were walking a daily tightrope. If they gave into pressure from the victorious allies – and particularly the French – then their own people would suffer and turn against them. If they resisted the demands for reparations, then the Allies (again mostly the French) would take action against them which would make things even worse. Unfortunately for the Weimar government the French had lost all patience with the speed of payments coming from Germany and decided (against the advice of the British and Americans) to occupy the Ruhr region and simply take what they wanted. As you can imagine, even in their weakened state, the German people did not respond well. 

The political and especially economic consequences of the occupation were huge. The economy especially took a huge hit and began its slow spiral out of control. Before long the inflation rate became quite eye watering throwing many into abject poverty. This inevitably radicalised many within the working and middle classes and these groups became a breeding ground for the growth of extremist groups on both Left and Right – including the newly revitalised Nazi Party. But they were not alone in looking for radical solutions to the problems facing all Germans in that year. What I was unaware of was two other events happening in other parts of the country. One was a proposed breakaway Rhineland that was demanding more autonomy within the German federation, and the other was so-called ‘Soviet Saxony’ that proposed (and indeed elected) a far-Left government structure based around the Soviet system in Russia. However, an independent Rhineland failed to gain enough support from its citizens – although this didn’t stop several armed groups from attempting to take power – and the ‘Soviet Saxon’ experiment was crushed by the army before it could gain any traction. That left Munich and Hitler. 

I won’t be spoiling any surprise when I say that the attempted coup failed in 1923. Although it might have succeeded in other, better, circumstances it had little hope towards the end of 1923. It did, however, lay the foundations for the growth and eventual triumph of the Nazi’s in 1933 a mere 10 years later. This was, to be honest, mostly the failure of the authorities in Berlin to take control of the situation as they had done in Saxony. Their fear, probably real to be honest, was the possibility of Civil War if they’d gone it too hard and heavy. With 20-20 hindsight even that might have been worth it. 

As a long-time fan of Alt-History I couldn’t help but wonder what might have been if things had played out differently. The attempted coup/putsch was stopped in its tracks by the actions of the local police who fired into the crowd killing a number of them. The man standing next to Hitler – who he had his arms linked with – was killed and Hitler himself dislocated his shoulder diving for cover. Herman Goering (also present) was hit in the leg. Imagine if the bullets had ended up elsewhere... Without its charismatic leader no Nazi Party. Maybe Weimar would have weathered the Crash of 1929 as other countries did and, gradually, recovered during the 30’s and 40’s? So, no Second World War? No Cold War. It's possible that the US would still have ended up fighting the Japanese, but it wouldn’t have enveloped the whole world. The Russians had enough problems of their own without attacking the West. The Spanish Civil War would’ve been quite different without German support. Italy might have still come to its aid with the Russians backing the Communists, but I could see the various political groups breaking down beyond a simple Left V Right dynamic maybe with the French supporting the Socialists and maybe even the Anarchists. It would be a very different world indeed... 

1923 was a pivotal time for Germany and the world. This excellent analysis puts the events of that year into context so that it all begins to make sense. Very detailed and very astute this was definitely a history highlight of the year. Highly recommended for anyone interesting in the between world wars period, Weimar Germany or the origins of the long road to WW2.  

RIP: Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot (28 September 1934 – 28 December 2025).

Happy Birthday: Marie Magdalene "Marlene" Dietrich (27 December 1901 – 6 May 1992) was a German-American actress and singer whose career spanned nearly seven decades.

In 1920s Berlin, Dietrich performed on the stage and in silent films. Her performance as Lola Lola in Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel (1930) brought her international acclaim and a contract with Paramount Pictures. She starred in many Hollywood films, including six iconic roles directed by Sternberg: Morocco (1930) (her only Academy Award nomination), Dishonored (1931), Shanghai Express and Blonde Venus (both 1932), The Scarlet Empress (1934), The Devil Is a Woman (1935). Throughout World War II, she was a high-profile entertainer in the United States. Although she delivered notable performances in several post-war films, including Billy Wilder's A Foreign Affair (1948), Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright (1950), Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Orson Welles's Touch of Evil (1958), and Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), she spent most of the 1950s to the 1970s touring the world as a marquee live-show performer.

Dietrich was known for her humanitarian efforts during World War II, housing German and French exiles, providing financial support and advocating their American citizenship. For her work on improving morale on the front lines during the war, she received several honors from the United States, France, Belgium, and Israel. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Dietrich the ninth greatest female screen legend of classic Hollywood cinema.

Just Finished Reading: Sherlock Holmes & The Twelve Thefts of Christmas by Tim Major (FP: 2022) [272pp] 

Holmes was not impressed by Christmas. He had little time for the ceremony but what was worse was the dearth of interesting crime. Thankfully it began to look like this Christmas would be different. Within hours of each other two mysteries arrived at 221b Baker Street – a pair of tickets from someone who would never send them and a visit from Inspector Lestrade with a case that would not interest Holmes in the least, the theft of a worthless plaster statue. Where they connected? There was only one way to find out – a visit to the British Museum and a night at the opera. Intrigued by clues Watson could not see and could barely understand Holmes is fully engaged in a Christmas mystery. But Watson worries... Who exactly is pulling the strings? What does the recurring theme of theft without theft mean? Why is Holmes acting so oddly, happy, morose, agitated, secretive? Is it all to do with ‘that woman’? The only one to have bested Holmes, the only one he truly admires: Irene Adler. Is she back in England? Does she mean to harm Holmes or merely entertain him, and if so... Why? It’s only a few more days to Christmas and the game is afoot! 

Oh, this book just JUMPED off the shelf at my local Charity shop and into my hand. Not only was it another Sherlock Homes Adjacent (SHA) tome but it was a Christmas book. What better way to read up to the holidays? I was impressed from the first page. Not only did the author get the ‘tone’ of Conan Doyle’s work and characters spot on he also presented us with a series of puzzles that were quite delightful. Even more so, we see an intriguing (and previously unexplored) side of Holmes that throws a little more light on some of his cannon tales. I’d often mused on Sherlock’s relation with the women in his adventures. I never considered him a simple misogynist; he respects women too much for that. I’ve also never thought, despite his protestations, as completely uninterested in the ‘fair sex’. Again, things are more complicated – as we see between these pages. 

Told, as usual, from Watson’s perspective I was delighted that we see and learn more about his wife Mary who seemed to simply vanish in the original tales. It was good to see her character filled out a bit more. As is often the case there’s a foreign travel element to the tale (running concurrently and intermixing with the main thread) this time concerning the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen that I’ll definitely to read more about (together with his very accomplished wife). 

This is actually the 3rd book in the sequence, and I’ll most definitely be picking up the previous two. Naturally I’ll also be picking up some other winter/Christmas related SHA books for NEXT year! A FUN read and definitely recommended to any Holmes fan out there who has read the original works and wants more adventures with some of their favourite characters.  

An interesting version..... 

MERRY Christmas everyone! I'm hoping that you're having a FUN day & that you got something special in your stocking this morning..... 

The Last 10 Books (I added to my Wish List) - December 2025. 

Inspired by a recent post over @ Reading Freely I thought that I’d let you know what I’ve been adding recently to my Wish List. Back in the day I used to keep it down to 300 items which, to be honest, was above 99% books. These days I have zero idea just how many are on there. I tend to add things after watching a YouTube video, TV show, movie or from something I’ve read or ‘found’ on various websites of Blogs. So, I tend to add things in clumps... Here’s my last 10 – most recent addition first: 

1929: The Inside Story of The Greatest Crash in Wall Street History by Andrew Ross Sorkin 

Moral Ambition: How to Find Your Purpose by Rutger Bregman 

Battle of the Four Courts: The First Three Days of the Irish Civil War by Michael Fewer 

Shifting Sands: A Human History of the Sahara by Judith Scheele 

The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation by Victor D Hanson 

Violent Saviours: The West, the Rest, and Capitalism Without Consent by William Easterly 

Empire of Ink: The Printers, Rogues, and Radicals Who Invented the American Newspaper by Alex Wright 

American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon by Steven Rinella 

Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History by Dan Flores 

Erasure by Percival Everett 

As you can see, my ‘butterfly mind’ is on FULL display here. You can also see one of my very rare fiction additions with the last book on the list. I saw a movie clip and checked to see if it had been adapted from a book – and it had! As to when I’ll get around to buying, never mind reading, this list is ANYONE’S guess. 

Much more likely a BIKE I think.....

Just Finished Reading: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (FP: 2022) [386pp] 

Elizabeth Zott is a chemist and a good one. She knows it, her colleagues know it and the head of the Institute knows it – especially after she produces some groundbreaking work. But Elizabeth has a few things against her – she has yet to finish her PhD, she’s attractive and, worst of all, she’s a woman in very much a man’s profession. It is, after all, late 1950’s America. It wasn’t long until she clashed with the star of the Institute, a fellow chemist who had been nominated for the Nobel Prize. Sparks flew, arguments raged, and, eventually, respect grew. Before long they had scandalised the Institute and the local community by moving in together – the rent was much cheaper that way – but almost before they knew it, he was dead and she was pregnant. With a child to support and no longer employed by the Institute Elizabeth needed a job, any job, FAST and a mixture of blind luck and desperation provided it. She had, by sheer accident, impressed a struggling TV producer with her cooking skills. Cooking was, after all, just applied chemistry. For more money than she could imagine she would be hosting her very own show – Supper at Six. But it would be HER show. She’d been assured of that fact. She would wear what she wanted, cook what she wanted and use advertisers that she respected. She also wouldn’t be treating her target audience – housewives – as idiots. But then she was used to flying sparks, arguments and arbitrary barriers placed in her way. She would be having none of that... 

I first caught wind of this on YouTube by watching clips from the Apple TV series starring Brie Larson as Elizabeth. It looked fun, different, interesting. Now I’ve read the book I can see that some elements of the show have been changed or removed (although I can’t be 100% sure on this account as I haven’t seen anywhere near the whole thing!) which I can understand. I was actually rather surprised that there’s a fair bit of tragedy in the story – both in Elizabeths (and her partners) childhood as well as in her adult life. There are also rather adult themes (sex, homosexuality, suicide, sexual assault) that I really didn’t get from my clip watching. They certainly didn’t detract from the story of Ms Zott and actually deepened her character in a number of significant ways. Elizabeth is, indeed, a fantastic creation. I can see why she was SO disruptive in that time period (late 50’s/very early 60’s) and why so many people found her frustrating, but I also understand why her partner and her (few!) friends loved her SO much. Her daughter (played by Alice Halsey in the series) was very much a chip off Elizabeths block in just about every way. One thing I didn’t see in any of the clips was the family dog (intriguingly called ‘six thirty’) who was a significant, and often hilarious, presence throughout. I do hope that he got some screen time. He was (again) a great character. 

I zoomed through this excellent novel rapidly and found myself more than once forcing myself to slow down in order to savour things. Although a little different than expected (tragedy etc..!) it was still very much a highlight of the year and yet another 4-5 star read. I hope that the author pens another (maybe a sequel that, undoubtedly, her publishers are badgering her for!) which would be an auto-buy for me. Highly recommended for anyone wanting a bloody good read. The more sensitive amongst you will need a tissue (or two) handy for the sad bits – but you’ll definitely be laughing out loud too! 

...and now TWO more.....?

Happy Birthday: Alain de Botton FRSL (born 20 December 1969) is a Swiss-born British author and public speaker. His books discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. He published Essays in Love (1993), which went on to sell two million copies. Other bestsellers include How Proust Can Change Your Life (1997), Status Anxiety (2004), and The Architecture of Happiness (2006).

He co-founded The School of Life in 2008 and Living Architecture in 2009. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2011. In 2015, he was awarded "The Fellowship of Schopenhauer", an annual writers' award from the Melbourne Writers Festival, for that work.

De Botton was born in Zürich, the son of Jacqueline (née Burgauer) and Gilbert de Botton. Gilbert was born in Alexandria, Egypt, but went to live and work in Switzerland, where he co-founded an investment firm, Global Asset Management; his family was estimated to have been worth £234 million in 1999.

Alain de Botton's Swiss-born mother was Ashkenazi, and his father was from a Sephardic Jewish family from the town of Boton in Castile and León. De Botton's ancestors include Abraham de Boton. De Botton's paternal grandmother was Yolande Harmer, a Jewish-Egyptian journalist who spied for Israel and died in Jerusalem.

He has one sister, Miel, and they received a secular upbringing. Alain spent the first twelve years of his life in Switzerland where he was brought up speaking French and German.

Just Finished Reading: 1916 – The Mornings After: From the Courts Martial to the Tribunals by Tim Pat Coogan (FP: 2015) [311pp] 

This is not the book I was looking for. I had assumed (wrongly it turned out) that this was about the immediate aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin. It actually turned out to be MUCH broader than that. Essentially the book was in three parts. 

The first (roughly) third did indeed look at the Rising itself although it only got a handful of pages dedicated directly to it. Even so, I picked up a few more details I was previously unaware of. The rest of that section looked at the trials, executions and reception of the survivors. Quite quickly afterwards there was some discussion of the demands for Independence (post Great War) and Britains reluctance to grant such followed by the ‘compromise’ of essentially Dominion status within the Empire – the Irish Free State. Micael Collins (as well as others) saw this as ‘the freedom to work towards freedom’ but other hardliners saw it otherwise – as capitulation or defeat. Tensions between the pro and anti-treaty groups deepened and, no long after, they started fighting leading to the Irish Civil War and (finally) Independence and partition of the north (Ulster). Overall, it was a quick but reasonably detailed look at the period. 

The second section jumped forward to the 1960’s and the Troubles looking at things from both the perspective of the North and South. As the author (a journalist at the time) reported on and often knew the people involved this had both an interesting personal view of the period as well as a level of knowledgeable detail often missing from more professionally historical accounts. Again, I’m reasonably aware of the events covered – partially by reading about them in other works and partially from watching the events on the nightly news – but the authors insights and access gave them an extra valuable impact. 

The final section I found least interesting. Here the author turned much more polemical as he looked at the failures of Irish governance, the scandals inside the Catholic church and the financial failures that led to the Irish banking crisis post-2008. Again, as a journalist, the author both reported on and often interviewed the people involved so had a very good grasp of the events. I did, however, think that for a general (non-Irish) readership he went far too much into the weeds of things and more that once I found myself lost in the detail. A few times I honestly skim read bits just to get the gist of things. 

So, although this was somewhat disappointing for all of the reasons above I still picked up a few extra nuggets of knowledge and will be back to look at 1916 again – hopefully this time with the book and the focus I do want. Reasonable. 

Just Finished Reading: Four Seasons in Japan by Nick Bradley (FP: 2023) [325pp] 

Her friend Makoto was right; it's always a bad idea to achieve your dream. Flo Dunthorpe was living in Tokyo, had mastered the language and had just had her first translation of a collection of obscure Japanese science fiction stories published. But now what? Her indecision was driving everyone around her crazy. Her fellow workers at the publishing house couldn’t understand her, her girlfriend couldn’t understand why she wasn’t willing to move back to the US with her. What to do? Travelling home on the subway on the verge of a nervous breakdown Flo noticed a book left behind by careless passenger. Picking it up she began reading and automatically translating the text into English. Struck by the power of the narrative she began to wonder if she had found her next project completely by accident. But who was the author? She had never heard of him and the book itself gave very little detail of who had even published it. Before she made any move to translate further, she needed to know more. Maybe the text itself would help? As she delved deeper, she lost herself in the story of the struggle between a grandmother with a tragic past and a grandson living with the shame of failed examinations, a talent for art and the desire to know more about a father he never knew and no one ever talked about. 

As usual with these things, I picked up this novel because it ‘looked different’. Being published by Penguin and having a cat on the cover certainly helped though! Going in I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I certainly had no idea that I would LOVE the story (actually stories) so much. It was, I must say, a bit of a weird one. Although the (arguably) main character is the American translator Flo most of the narrative – around two-thirds I would think – is her translation of the mysterious found book. That story revolves around 19-year-old Kyo who had been sent to stay with his grandmother far from Tokyo in order to attend a local crammer so that he could pass his university entrance exams on the second try. I honestly didn’t like Kyo very much to begin with but, after a while, I began to understand why he was SO unsure of himself and overthought EVERYTHING. His grandmother Ayako was fantastic. Hard as nails (with VERY good reason) and very demanding she was the core of the story and I really liked how we, the reader once removed, slowly found out more about her life and the life (and death) of Kyo’s father – her son. Every time I opened the book I FELL into the story and lost all sense of time and place. You could almost smell the cherry blossom... 

To say that I loved this book would be an understatement. Although definitely not my usual read – by a long way – I found myself totally absorbed by both Flo’s and Kyo’s journey, both figuratively and literally. Even the rather annoying Kyo grew on me (eventually) especially when he delivered one of the best put-downs I’ve heard in many a year! This was definitely another highlight of the year and is, of course, very highly recommended. Be warned however, the more sensitive amongst you will need a tissue or two handy at times. 

..and Political History... Economics..... SO much more!

The Last 10 Movies – December 2025 edition.   

A slow round of movie watching again but I did plan to post this last week – and forgot! All re-watchers this time but I do have a few new (to me) films in my next post.  

Gladiator (2000) 

I’m not exactly sure just how many times I’ve seen this now, but I always enjoy it. A little slow in places but the action scenes are VERY good. 

Back to the Future 3 (1990) 

My 2nd favourite outing for the franchise. I did like the ‘old West’ idea and thought it worked really well. Plus, I liked the way they interweaved items from previous movies. Oh, and it had one of my favourite movie lines ever: Is this a holdup? [pause] No, it's a science experiment....   

The Italian Job (1969) 

Classic British movie of the ‘swinging 60’s. I know this FAR too well to fully enjoy it anymore, but it still makes me smile. 

Bridge of Spies (2015) 

Quite excellent Cold War spy film with Tom Hanks. LOVED every moment of it and was totally transfixed at the movies. 

Jason Bourne (2016) 

Definitely a movie of two halves. Actually, the opening set piece in Greece was VERY good and then went RAPIDLY downhill. I think this is the worst of the Matt Damon Bourne films. 

Point Blank (1967) 

A decent late film noir starring Lee Marvin. Near the end I actually had a revelation about it. Marvin is shot at the beginning and spends the rest of the movie on a revenge trip. I thought that the ‘revenge’ might well be his dying brain coming to terms with things as he bled out. Although that might have been a little too ‘advanced’ for an audience at the time! 

Casino Royale (2006) 

I found this surprisingly dull considering I’m quite a Bond fan. The addition of the delightful Eva Green certainly helped my enjoyment. 

Alien: Resurrection (1997) 

A reasonable addition to the franchise but I really didn’t like the ending. I did like the way Weaver played her role of Ripley/Queen and Winona Ryder was a FUN addition. Cool story about the basketball scene too! 

The Blues Brothers (1980) 

Completely over the top ‘chase’ movie (with Blues music) as two ex-cons try to get the money to save the orphanage they grew up in. ALMOST too silly but manages (just) to hold it in check. LOVED the cameo by Carrie Fisher!  

Koyaanisqatsi (1982) 

STRANGE but effective ‘documentary’ about the US in the late 70’s/early 80’s. The word means ‘Life out of Balance’ and you can certainly see why from the video.   

Happy Birthday: Amy Lynn Lee (born December 13, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the co-founder, lead vocalist, lead songwriter, and keyboardist of rock band Evanescence. A classically trained pianist, Lee began writing music at age 11 and co-founded Evanescence at 13, inspired by various musical genres and film scores from an early age. Lee has participated in other musical projects, including Nightmare Revisited and Muppets: The Green Album, and composed music for several films, including War Story (2014), Indigo Grey: The Passage (2015), and the song "Speak to Me" for Voice from the Stone (2017). She has also released the covers EP Recover, Vol. 1 (2016), the soundtrack album to War Story, the children's album Dream Too Much (2016), and collaborated with various artists including Korn, Seether, Bring Me the Horizon, Lindsey Stirling, Body Count, Wagakki Band, Halsey (singer), Poppy, and Courtney LaPlante.

Alongside her awards and nominations with Evanescence, Lee's other accolades include: the Songwriter Icon Award from the National Music Publishers Association (2008); Best Vocalist at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards (2012); Rock Goddess of the Year at Loudwire Music Awards (2012); Best Film Score by the Moondance International Film Festival for Indigo Grey: The Passage (2015); and the Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Song in Independent Film for "Speak to Me" (2017). In 2012, VH1 named Lee one of the top 100 greatest women in music. Lee is the American chairperson for the international epilepsy awareness foundation Out of the Shadows, and in 2012 was honored with United Cerebral Palsy's Luella Bennack Award for her work.

"Political myths don't exist in a vacuum, they compete with other myths to define the identity and political belief systems of national populations. This is why political leaders, whether they represent or wish to challenge the power of the state, place so much emphasis on their development."

Mark Jones: 1923 - The Crisis that Led to Hitler's Coup.