I pointed out in an earlier post that a German victory in 1918 would have always been marginal because by then all combatants had been run down by the strains of war. Revolution simmered in Germany and the chances of Ludendorff’s military junta continuing to rule without compromise or change afterwards seem slim. What of … More What if Germany had won the First World War in autumn 1914?
The initial social media response to my Listener cover article was intriguing. It mostly riffed from snap judgement of the cover and headline without reading the actual content. Alas, being ignorant of what I’d said didn’t stop commenters from judging what they imagined I wrote, sight unseen. If I judge something, I have to know … More The common clay of the new social media. You know…
It’s the centenary of the Battle of Jutland today – the first and only clash of the great fleets during the First World War. On the misty afternoon of 31 May 1916, off the coast of Denmark, the British and German fleets came to blows in classic form: a tussle between their lighter battlecruiser forces, … More It’s a century today since the great clash of dreadnoughts
It’s 75 years, today, since German paratroopers descended over Crete – the last act in the Balkan campaign of March-June 1941. It was also the first and only time that the Germans deployed their feared paratroopers as the spearhead of an invasion. New Zealanders were at the forefront of the defence. They were part of … More Battling the Fallschirmjager on Crete
It’s Anzac day today – the day New Zealand and Australia remember the dead of all their wars. In a way it’s timing is odd. Many nations, certainly Britain and around her former Empire, mark the moment on 11 November, the day in 1918 when the guns finally fell silent on the First World War. … More It’s a century since the first Anzac Day services
My book Battle for Crete: New Zealand’s Near-Run Affair, a brief history of New Zealand’s close-run defeat on Crete in 1941, is free 9 April 2016 only (US time, 10 April NZ time) on Kindle – and sitting at No.1 in its category as I write this. You can get it instantly, on Kindle. … More ‘Battle for Crete’ – free 9 April 2016
Fantastic Pasts – Sci-Fi adventures in alternate New Zealand history is out now! It’s my stupidest book – a wild sci-fi comedy romp through an alternate Kiwi history that never happened. Thrill to the French as they turn New Zealand’s rare Pliestocene fauna into pate! Laugh as Sir Francis Drake accidentally obeys orders and ends … More “Fantastic Pasts” – out today! Buy now before the llamas get to it.
