Bullet Proof Vests Made From Silk

This almost reads like an April Fool Joke (remember San Serif?) but a quick check on the date proves that this is definitely not the case.

Apparently if Franz Ferdinand had been wearing his bullet-proof vest then he might have survived the assassination attempt - and the whole of 20th (and 21st) Century history would have been different:

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jul/29/bulletproof-silk-vest-prevent-first-world-war-royal-armouries

Battle of the Historians

It was a surprise to find Simon Heffer writing in the NS, but as I'd read most of the books he mentioned I read and enjoyed the article very much:

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/07/simon-heffer-first-world-war-battle-historians

I particularly liked the put down of Max Hastings as being someone who writes about the past rather than being a historian.

All it needs to turn it into an exam question is inverted commas and the dreaded word "Discuss".

The First Casualty in the History War

Despite a valaiant fight the Secretary of State for Education finally succumbed to the massed ranks of historians who had been pounding him for months.

He can now be found in the Whips Office of the House of Commons.  Do I see the possibility of a UK remake of Kevin Spacey's series for Netflix?

You might think that. I could not possibly comment....


 

Journalism is not always the first draft of history...

...especially when the Daily Mail is involved:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/jul/14/dailymail-firstworldwar

The Lights Are Going Out

I've just found this report about plans to sitch off lights in public buildings on 4th August to commemorate (rather than celebrate) the outbreak of war in 1914:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/10/lights-out-lamps-mark-first-world-war-start

I think it's an excellent idea, and Sir Edward Grey's comment about the lights going out all over Europe almost always provokes an involuntary shiver.

I also like Alan Bennett's misquotation:

"They're rolling up the maps all over Europe.  We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime."

In its own way this has a ring of truth too: it was WW2 that ended with Europe in flames and another redrawing of the map...