History thread

[Drago]

Perhaps, for obvious reasons, I'm quite into military history. Mainly 20th century, but have bought books about pre-roman military matters.

General Patton is one of my heroes, an intriguing man, and I have book after book about him. Following the famous slapping incident Pattons boss, Gen Eisenhower, stopped listening to Patton for a while and it's now reckoned that had he not done so WWII could have been over before christmas 1944.

Pwtton foresaw the cold War and wanted to go after the Soviets while they were still weak, but that idea was frowned upon. If only they'd listened!

Patton also reckoned he'd been reincarnated many times, and knew details of historic battles and campaigns that were not unearthed until after his death.

But one thing is for sure. If you have an enemy that doesn't need merely defeating, but completely smashing, then General George S. Patton was your man.

And no, I don't believe the theories that he was murdered.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Something that strikes me about Scottish verses English history is how few women are recorded in Scotland. Yes it’s woeful in English history but even worse up here. 11th Century Queen/Saint Margaret is moderately well known but there’s no-one before that and no-one after until the ill-fated Mary Queen of Scots and her mother Mary of Guise in the mid 16th C. And then there’s another big gap until Victorian times until I’ve heard of any more, other than one-off specific incidents such as Flora MacDonald in 1746. I suppose you could also include the last of the Stuarts, Queens Mary and Anne, although I’m not sure that either ever set foot in Scotland.
There seems to be a lot more female figures written about in ‘English’ history, possibly starting with Boudicca (pre-England).

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

It also occurs to me that Edinburgh has more statues of dogs from history than it has statues of female historical figures. I can think of five dog statues in the city.

 

[classic33]

The last battles, in the West Riding, of the Civil War, took place not too far from me.

The water was said to have run red for a week after the last one.

Nearby there's a treasure, more than any man could spend in his lifetime, buried that cannot be dug for.
The most famous case was 500 years ago. It involved a sheriff of York, and a few bishops from in and around York amongst others.
They were found out, put on trial, found guilty and flogged through the streets of York.

The church where they got the cock baptised is still there. As is the actual font. Near Five Rise.
Oddly they've been none too keen on letting anyone else doing the same since.

 

[simongt]

I've always liked history; but now I tend to find the social history side of the subject more absorbing. It's often the influence of ordinary folk that make the difference of the whys & wherefores.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Just finished Philippa Gregory’s Fairmile series, three books set mostly in England covering 1648 to 1688, the Regicide, the Restoration, the Monmouth rising and the overthrow of James II (VII here). Fascinating stuff, and gripping too. Portrays the Stuarts in a very different light to all the Jacobite romance that seems to predominate here.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

I was wondering, do Yorkshire locals/others still remember the Battle of Towton ? Fought on this day in a snowstorm in 1461, England’s bloodiest battle, 10 hours of fighting and 28,000 killed ? I must confess I had never heard of it until reading Philippa Gregory’s Cousin’s War series.

 

[Gillstay]

I was wondering, do Yorkshire locals/others still remember the Battle of Towton ? Fought on this day in a snowstorm in 1461, England’s bloodiest battle, 10 hours of fighting and 28,000 killed ? I must confess I had never heard of it until reading Philippa Gregory’s Cousin’s War series.

Yep a bit of bad timing there. Another hour or so and it would have been very different.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Anyone like history - and Philippa Gregory - might like to see "Richard My Richard"
We went to see it in the Shakespeare North in Prescot and it was great

2 main characters - History itself and Richard who has just been dug up in the car park and is looking back on his life
plus several other major characters

anyway - worth seeing if you like good historical drama

 

[classic33]

I was wondering, do Yorkshire locals/others still remember the Battle of Towton ? Fought on this day in a snowstorm in 1461, England’s bloodiest battle, 10 hours of fighting and 28,000 killed ? I must confess I had never heard of it until reading Philippa Gregory’s Cousin’s War series.

There's a Civil War battle site near here. Said to be the last battle of the Civil War in the West Riding, on the retreat from Heptonstall to York.
Very few who even cast a glance in that direction, know about it. This despite the renaming of part of the landscape

A brief summary of it.

I know of the Battle of Towton, and other similar battles of the Civil War fought locally, to me. But it seems that "modern history" of that time relates to what is seen on that screen in the living room only. Many parts are being forgotten simply because they never get a mention on it. Fewer people seem to read about local history these days, and are amazed at what lies within easy walking distance of them.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

The site of Towton is well worth a visit. The battle lines are well described on some information boards and there's a walk which takes you around the various points of combat. From memory there's an area where a load of Lancastrians got caught in a dip and you can easily imagine the carnage as its quite a climb out of it.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

There's a Civil War battle site near here. Said to be the last battle of the Civil War in the West Riding, on the retreat from Heptonstall to York.
Very few who even cast a glance in that direction, know about it. This despite the renaming of part of the landscape

A brief summary of it.

I know of the Battle of Towton, and other similar battles of the Civil War fought locally, to me. But it seems that "modern history" of that time relates to what is seen on that screen in the living room only. Many parts are being forgotten simply because they never get a mention on it. Fewer people seem to read about local history these days, and are amazed at what lies within easy walking distance of them.

Towton was part of the Cousin’s War, Lancaster v York.

 

[Time Waster]

I quite like ancient Greek history but got there through mythology. At school I dropped Latin to study ancient Greek with classical civilisations up to GCSE. I've just bought a Loeb classical library edition of Homers Iliad remind myself of those days, just need the other 3 or 4 volumes and the set of Thucydides history of the peloponnese wars.

 

[stephec]

I'm reading this at the moment, it might not be a serious examination but what a giggle.

 

[gbb]

I quite like ancient Greek history but got there through mythology. At school I dropped Latin to study ancient Greek with classical civilisations up to GCSE. I've just bought a Loeb classical library edition of Homers Iliad remind myself of those days, just need the other 3 or 4 volumes and the set of Thucydides history of the peloponnese wars.

Thermopylae by Ernle Bradford is a really good read, covers the alliances and mistrust between states and cultures...and the battle itself of course.