Just Finished Reading: A History of Britain in 21 Women by Jenni Murray (FP: 2016) [276pp] 

It is a truth (generally acknowledged) that many women have been ‘written out’ of History. Part of this is through ignorance, but part of it is intentional and at least part of the authors intentions with this interesting book was to put part of that oversight right. Another part was to showcase women she admires and who she took as examples to aspire to. Most of the list was pretty obvious – indeed unavoidable – given British history. Women such as Boadicea (using the old spelling that both the author and I grew up with) and Elizabeth I are shoe-ins on any such list as this. Others I was either unaware of – like Aphra Behn (a 17th century playwright) or Ethel Smyth (a 19th century composer) or only knew in passing.  

Naturally a good chunk of the text, and a good number of the women listed, revolved around the movement for and the gradual increase of the Rights of Woman, with an expected chapter on Mary Wollstonecraft, and included Emmeline Pankhurst, Millicent Garrett Fawcell and Constance Markievicz who was the first woman MP elected in the 1918 General Election. Nancy Astor (also getting her own chapter here) was actually the first woman MP to take her seat in the House of Commons as Constance Markievicz had refused to do so as a member of Sinn Fein who boycotted the English parliament in protest at the lack of Home Rule for Ireland. 

The last few women on this list had the extra ‘wrinkle’ of having actually being interviewed by the author during her career as a journalist. These included Labour politician Barbara Castle (who I liked), Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (who I voted for TWICE) and fashion designer Mary Quant (who I definitely want to read more about). Rounding the list out was Scottish SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon whose political career has been.... ‘interesting’ to say the least, especially lately! 

Overall, this was an interesting read which introduced me to a few objects of further interest as well as showcasing the fact that women did actually exist in the historical past and did actually have an impact on British history. One of the things I find most gratifying, even in just the 10 years since the publication of this work, is the number and range of women's biographies from across the globe that have plucked important (and often fascinating) women from the previous obscurity they had been condemned to inhabit. Definitely worth your time for both snapshots of British history and as an introduction to some of the women who helped shape it. More to come. 

Obviously fake, but VERY funny... especially if you've used the Tube in a normal summer, never mind on a record breaking June heatwave - hottest June day since 1976... and BOY do I remember 1976!!!

Just Finished Reading: The Black Ball by Ralph Ellison [53pp] 

This was a short collection of short stories from the acclaimed author of the 1952 classic Invisible Man. All four were about different aspects of the black experience mostly in the US – from casual racism to targeted violence.  

For me the best of the bunch was the last one – and not just because it was based in the UK (actually in Wales). Called ‘In a Strange Country’ it told the story of an American black sailor in WW2 looking around the local area after his ship had docked to unload supplies in Britain for the war effort. Set upon by several white American soldiers he is rescued by some locals and taken to a local pub to recover. Bought a pint of beer by one of his rescuers he really doesn’t know how to respond and struggles to understand how white men are treating him so well. Slowly he begins to understand that the locals are treating him simply as a ‘Yank’ and as someone who came from another country to help them fight a common enemy – Germany. Later taken to the local hall he is introduced to more people who look past his skin colour and who appreciate his more than decent singing voice. 

I’ve heard of several real incidents like that after an increasing number of American servicemen – both black and white – were based in Britain during the run-up to D-Day and after. As the American services were still segregated at that point some insisted on segregated pubs and other venues when based in the UK. Without such a history here, they were denied that request which caused some friction between white and black Americans some of whom were forced to either mix or leave for the first time in their lives. I image both sides were hit by the significant culture shock. I’ll see if I can find some history books covering this interesting topic from a US and UK perspective.  

Dear GOD we're getting **ANOTHER** Prime Minister....!!! I did think he'd have more balls to fight for it but I guess that's par for the course. So, SEVEN Prime Ministers in TEN years.... ONE every 18 months.... Don't you just LOVE stable government.... [lol] Let's hope the NEXT guy lasts a bit longer..... I guess we'll see in 3 years (or less).

Happy Birthday: Audie Leon Murphy (June 20, 1925 – May 28, 1971) was an American soldier, actor, and songwriter. He was widely celebrated as the most decorated American combat soldier of World War II, and has been described as the most highly decorated enlisted soldier in U.S. history. He received every military combat award for valor available from the United States Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. Murphy received the Medal of Honor for valor that he demonstrated at age 19 for single-handedly holding off a company of German soldiers for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in France in January 1945, before leading a successful counterattack while wounded.

Murphy was born into a large family of sharecroppers in Hunt County, Texas. His father abandoned the family and his mother died when Murphy was a teenager. Murphy left school in fifth grade to pick cotton and find other work to help support his family; his skill with a hunting rifle helped feed his family. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Murphy's older sister helped him to falsify documentation about his birthdate to meet the minimum age for enlisting in the military. Turned down initially for being underweight by the Army, Navy, and the Marine Corps, he eventually was able to enlist in the Army. He first saw action in the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily; then in 1944 he participated in the Battle of Anzio, the liberation of Rome, and the invasion of southern France. Murphy fought at Montélimar and led his men on a successful assault at L'Omet quarry near Cleurie in northeastern France in October. Despite suffering from multiple illnesses and wounds throughout his service, Murphy became one of the most praised and decorated soldiers of World War II. He is credited with killing 241 enemy soldiers.

After the war, Murphy embarked on an acting career. He played himself in the 1955 autobiographical film To Hell and Back, based on his 1949 memoirs of the same name, but most of his roles were in Westerns. He made guest appearances on celebrity television shows and starred in the series Whispering Smith. Murphy was a fairly accomplished songwriter. He bred quarter horses, and became a regular participant in horse racing.

Because Murphy had what would today be described as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), then known as "battle fatigue", he slept with a loaded handgun under his pillow. He looked for solace in addictive sleeping pills. In his last few years, he was plagued by money problems but refused offers to appear in alcohol and cigarette commercials because he did not want to set a bad example. Murphy died in a plane crash in Virginia in 1971, shortly before his 46th birthday. He was interred with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

[I only knew him as one of my Dad's favourite actors. I knew that he'd served in WW2 but I had no idea he was SO decorated. Impressive!]

Just Finished Reading: Istanbul – Memories and the City by Orhan Pamuk (FP: 2005) [333pp] 

On reading this interesting memoir by the Nobel Prize winning Turkish author I was pleased that I had read a history of modern Istanbul beforehand. This is, however, no criticism of this work. The previous history of the city gave me a good – indeed excellent – foundation to understand the deeper context that pervaded this work. The author was born in Istanbul in 1952 (around the time that the previous history book ended its narrative) so grew up in a city in the midst of change – from ancient to modern, from East to West, from religious to secular. It's not surprising that such a transition moulded and transformed the other into someone, in effect, living between two worlds and being nostalgic for a world that had been ‘lost’ (and was indeed crumbling or actively burning down around him) whilst struggling to exist in an officially sanctioned modern western looking world that was unfamiliar to him. It's odd how the official focus was very much directed at the west as an icon to look up to and emulate whilst the countries, and cities, rich Ottoman history was officially ignored, sidelined and sometimes actually denigrated. I think that would confuse anyone – never mind a sensitive soul searching for himself whilst walking the streets of an ancient city full of a rich culture from across an extensive fallen empire. I wasn’t at all surprised that his first impulse was to paint in order to reflect what he saw every day on his youthful wanderings. 

This was a memoir of painful honesty. The common theme throughout was the deep melancholy he felt growing up in a place that had not only seemed to forget its own history but had effectively been ordered to do so. Looking back was frowned upon. Wanting to look back, needing to look back to make sense of things was questionable and quite possibly disloyal. The only way to face was forwards and westwards. The authors quest for who he was and where he fitted into the grand scheme of things – especially within a Turkish historical context – was complicated (to say the least!) by his families emotional and financial slow-motion collapse throughout his young life. Despite being born into a moderately wealthy family (from money accumulated by his grandfather) his father continued to make bad financial decisions throughout his life bleeding money and slowly impoverishing the extended family. On top of this the authors father was often away from home and all too often with women other than his wife. This added complication was woven into the narrative almost as a microcosm of the city itself as it progressively crumbled, collapsed and was neglected into picturesque rubble. 

Apart from the often-beautiful writing (you can certainly tell why he won the Nobel Prize for Literature) the thing that I really liked about this book was the many photographs scattered throughout the text. Many of them were good and quite a few were simply excellent – sometimes breathtakingly so. I was MOST impressed. This book gives a great feel to the city of the author’s birth. He makes it seem exotic and familiar, dilapidated and picturesque, crowded and abandoned, timeless and ephemeral. I found it quite haunting. I look forward to reading more by this author and will likely be returning to him later in the year. Definitely recommended for anyone interested in the liminal spaces – in more ways than one - between the west and the exotic east. 

Translated from the Turkish by Maureen Freely

A *very* valid question and ONE reason why I have trust issues............ 

Just Finished Reading: Midnight at the Pera Palace – The Birth of Modern Istanbul by Charles King (FP: 2014) [378pp] 

It must have been quite THE shock. Not only was the Ottoman empire defeated in the Great War but was about to be dismembered by the victorious western powers. The only fly in the ointment (or possibly yoghurt) was the young Turk – Mustafa Kemal (later known as Ataturk). Opposed to both the crumbling and corrupt Ottoman dynasty AND the Allies now occupying Istanbul he had his own ideas for the future of Turkey, but first he would have to save his new nation state. The ancient enemy, Greece, had already begun its advance into Turkish territory and needed to be stopped. After much bloody fighting it was and Kemal could now negotiate from a position of strength. Both unwilling and unable to fight another war so soon after the Great one, the Allies and Turks agreed on boundaries and the future ethnic make-up of both previously Ottoman occupied territory Turkey was giving up as well as territory it was taking full control of prompting a massive compulsory move of peoples. Istanbul was dead centre of the ensuing chaos, refugee crisis, modernisation decrees, and the transformation of a deceased Muslim empire into a secular western facing nation state.  

My usual focus of attention, and the zones I know most about, are Europe (including the UK) and North America. My ‘knowledge’ of other areas particularly Africa and South America is, at best, scant. Likewise, my ‘knowledge’ of Asia beyond the Ancient World is hazy to say the least so it was good to look at the birth of a modern near-Asian nation entering the modern world from the end of WW1 to the beginning of the Cold War. Interestingly, the author chose a unique lens through which to view the rapid and radical change which occurred in Turkey/Istanbul during this period – a hotel called the Pera Palace. Looking at the people who stayed there – including (briefly) people like Leon Trotsky! - together with diplomats, spies, journalists, authors and many others. Tales from that exotic city reminded me of Second World War Lisbon (FULL of spies), Cold War Berlin (FULL of Spies) and Hollywood Casablanca (FULL of refugees). I hadn’t realised just how many Russians ended up there after the 1917 Revolution and Civil War that followed nor how important a node it was for the post-WW2 transit of European Jews to the Holy Land. Fascinating stuff! 

As you can tell I learnt a LOT from this excellent history and look forward to reading anything else the author has produced – his works on Odessa and The Black Sea definitely interest me. Definitely recommended to anyone interested in the regions RICH history. 

[Odd side note: Midnight at the Pera Palace is a Turkish time travel historical drama television series directed by Emre Şahin starring Hazal Kaya, Tansu Biçer, Selahattin Paşalı and James Chalmers. The show was released on Netflix on March 3, 2022, with the first season consisting of 8 episodes. Centered around the real-life Pera Palace Hotel, the series was inspired by the 2014 historical non-fiction book Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul by Charles King. The series was renewed for a second season, which aired on September 12, 2024. How WEIRD is THAT?] 

Happy Birthday: Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff-Gordon (née Sutherland; 13 June 1863 – 20 April 1935) was a leading British fashion designer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who worked under the professional name Lucile.

The first British-based designer to achieve international acclaim, Lucy Duff-Gordon was a widely acknowledged innovator in couture styles as well as in fashion industry public relations. In addition to originating the "mannequin parade", a precursor to the modern fashion show, and training the first professional models, she launched slit skirts and low necklines, popularized less restrictive corsets, and promoted alluring and pared-down lingerie.

Opening branches of her London house, Lucile Ltd, in Chicago, New York City, and Paris, her business became the first global couture brand, dressing a trend-setting clientele of royalty, nobility, and stage and film personalities. Duff-Gordon is also remembered as a survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, and as the losing party in the precedent-setting 1917 contract law case of Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, in which Judge Benjamin N. Cardozo wrote the opinion for New York's highest court, the New York Court of Appeals, upholding a contract between Duff-Gordon and her advertising agent that assigned the agent the sole right to market her name. It was the first case of its kind; clothes were labelled and sold at a lowered cost in a cheaper market under an expensive "brand name".

The Titanic episode is one of the most prominent aspects of Lucy Duff-Gordon's life, thanks partly to motion pictures. The films, however, portrayed her without great attention to accuracy. She has been portrayed by Harriette Johns in A Night to Remember (1958); by Rosalind Ayres in James Cameron's epic Titanic (1997); and by Sylvestra Le Touzel in the British miniseries Titanic (2012). She is also a key character in the novel The Dressmaker, by Kate Alcott, which portrays both the sinking of the Titanic and the negative publicity that followed for the Duff-Gordons.

Lucy Duff-Gordon had another close call three years after surviving the Titanic, when she booked passage aboard the final voyage of the RMS Lusitania. It was reported in the press that she cancelled her trip due to illness. The Lusitania was sunk by a German torpedo on 7 May 1915.

Just Finished Reading: How to Use Your Enemies by Baltasar Gracian (FP: 1647) [54pp] 

This was SO much fun! Extracted from the larger Penguin Classics work ‘The Pocket Oracle and Art of Prudence’ it read very much like Maciavelli’s ‘The Prince’ except that this book was aimed at the average person rather than the higher levels of society.  

Broadly speaking this was a list of acts and activities that could both protect the reader from the actions of others as well as advice on how to profit and progress in a world that is far from safe or secure. A few examples will show what I mean: 

Cautious silence is the refuge of good sense. 

A person without knowledge is a world in darkness. 

No one is born complete; perfect yourself and your activities day by day until you become a truly consummate being. 

Don’t so belong to others that you don’t belong to yourself. 

Always be suspicious of unbroken good fortune; far safer is fortune that’s mixed, and for it to be bittersweet even whilst you are enjoying it. 

...and that’s just a random handful of quotable moments from the first NINE pages! This is one of those classic advice manuals that are timeless (as is human nature and the human experience) and can be dipped into or read and re-read at regular intervals through a life and will reward your attention every time you do so. I’ll definitely be picking up the longer work (not at full price though as I think it's somewhat OVER-priced!) as soon as I can source a copy. 

I’m not sure if I’m surprised or not that Gracian was a Jesuit priest and presumably knew a thing or two about the uses and abuses of power as well as how people could, indeed needed to, protect themselves against both. From what I can tell from his writing he was one SMART cookie. Definitely recommended, but I’d plump for the full work rather than this booklet extract.  

Translated from the Spanish by Jeremy Robbins  

Just Finished Reading: The Men of 1924 – Britain's First Labour Government by Peter Clark (FP: 2023) [238pp] 

It was a risk but, they thought, worth it. The recent election had not provided any part with a clear majority but there was enough Liberal support to allow the brand-new Labour Party to form a government – the first in British history. Views across the country varied with political affiliation. Socialists, of which there were a growing number, saw it as an opportunity to gain for the working man and push back against the Capitalists. The trade unions saw it as an opportunity to bring in new laws and strike down old ones to protect jobs and improve the often-harsh working conditions in factories and mines. The working-class voters wanted to see what they could do, to give them a chance. 

The elected Labour politicians had hopes too, but they also were more than aware of the pitfalls and problems ahead of them. The first and foremost was the simple calculation of the number of Labour MPs – not enough. Certainly not enough to do anything ‘radical’ (as some members and some supporters certainly wanted them to do), not that the Labour leadership wanted any truck with that. Feared as either communists in sheep's clothing or some other form or revolutionary (as some of them were!) the leadership wanted to prove to the electorate – including Conservative and Liberal voters – that the country was in ‘safe hands’ despite everything they had heard or read in the papers. So, it was part ‘business as usual’ and part dressing appropriately to meet the King. 

A problem the whole Labour government was more than aware of – for obvious reasons – was their sheer lack of experience. Although many of the new members had been – and indeed many still were – leaders of various trade unions – few had been council leaders or in any other kind of administrative positions and fewer yet had knowledge or experience of foreign affairs. Picking cabinet posts was going to be difficult and challenging. Choosing members of the House of Lords to aid in any legislation was going to be even more of a challenge.  

Unfortunately, the opportunities to gain experience, pass meaningful legislation and prove to the electorate that they had nothing to fear from a Labour administration ended abruptly after only 10 months in office with the withdrawal of Liberal support and the loss of a confidence vote. Although they increased the number of MPs in the subsequent election, the Conservatives with Stanly Baldwin at the lead were back in power – and with a majority. The Labour experiment was over – for now. 

This was a surprisingly interesting – indeed often fascinating – look at the 20th century seismic political shift in British politics. For generations previously there had been two political parties – Conservative and Liberal. The growing Working class tended to vote Liberal but for a number of reasons that allegiance was falling away. Slowly (indeed very slowly) the number of Labour MPs increased and were increasingly voted into parliament. But it was only in 1924 that enough had done so to form a government – minority or not. Split into 3 parts – the political shift and the growth of Socialism, the government itself and mini-biographies of the men involved (the leader, Ramsey MacDonald, getting a whole chapter to himself) - this was chocked full of information and I honestly learnt a LOT.  

I do actually have quite the fascination for the ‘Between the Wars’ period as the world recovered from one global conflict and then prepared for another and this fills in a gap in my knowledge very nicely indeed. I have another book about this presently sitting on my Wish List so I’ll be deepening my knowledge of this event soon(ish). I’ll also see about adding a few more Prime Ministers from this period to my ‘list’. Definitely recommended for anyone interested in the emergence of British socialism and the Labour movement.

Happy Birthday: Paul Thomas Mann (6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas are noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual. His analysis and critique of the European and German soul used modern versions of German and Biblical stories, as well as the ideas of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Arthur Schopenhauer.

The Mann family was part of the Hanseatic class. He portrayed both his family and the influential class in his first novel, Buddenbrooks (1901). Late major novels include The Magic Mountain (1924), the tetralogy Joseph and His Brothers (1933–1943), and Doctor Faustus (1947). He also wrote short stories and novellas, including Death in Venice (1912).

His older brother was novelist Heinrich Mann. Three of Mann's six children – Erika Mann, Klaus Mann and Golo Mann – also became significant German writers.

When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, Mann fled to Switzerland. When World War II broke out in 1939, he moved to the United States, returning to Switzerland after the war in 1952. Mann is one of the best-known exponents of the so-called Exilliteratur, German literature written in exile by those who opposed the Hitler regime.

[I haven't read anything by Mann (yet!), but I do have a copy of Buddenbrooks. I *think* I have a copy of Death in Venice and will probably try that one first as Buddenbrooks is HUGE!] 

Just Finished Reading: Authoritarianism – A Very Short Introduction by James Loxton (FP: 2024) [89pp] 

This certainly seemed to be a timely read – especially with the recent and long hoped for fall of Viktor Orban and the growing threat of authoritarian regimes across the world. Despite its somewhat disappointing length (although to be honest the average VSI book is around 120 pages) this was a very impressive look at the different types of authoritarianism, in the past and today, how they emerge, how they operate once up and running, how they die (and most do die), why some are far more durable than others and what their legacies are once thrown off. It was ALL very interesting especially, as we know, there is a push in some places to transition from more a democratic style to a more authoritarian one.  

Of course, authoritarianism does have its attractions to some – most especially those who struggle with being told NO by people they don’t respect (or indeed anyone). Naturally I suspect that such people have family histories that need looking at. One comment did make me smile/laugh when the author defined democracy – a system where parties loose elections. So, in a country where a party (even if they at least technically have an ‘opposition’) normally wins with 97% of the vote year after year after year, you’re probably NOT looking at a democracy – despite some of the trappings! 

Authoritarians HATE the possibility of legitimate opposition and usually go out of their way to eliminate them – up to and including prison or execution. Of course, pushing any opposition underground – as there’s no other way to oppose the regime and keep your liberty/life - is just sowing the seeds of overthrow or revolution (which all too often brings into existence a different type of authoritarian rule) which is why in some countries their politics cycles through regime after regime with, possible, brief periods of actual democracy. 

Drawing on examples across the world (I’m really looking forward to reading more about Portugal now) and from the last 100 years or so this was a great entry point to an important political philosophy of our time. Definitely recommended reading. 

Do you know the quote... and what movie its from?