Over the years I’ve written a fair amount of stuff on my various interests – which range from the human condition to astrophysics to ship engineering and, inevitably, the people behind all those things. Normally such things disappear from view and that’s that, including blog posts – although it would be hard to beat the … More Dreadnoughts Unleashed – unleashed on Kindle!
The other month I had an interesting discussion about historians and history. The issue came up of enthusiasts who style themselves ‘historians’ – but whose qualifications are in a totally unrelated area. What was the difference between their stuff and what I’m doing? There is a huge difference, I explained. Anybody with an enthusiasm for … More Why history is all about trends and vectors
I’m very excited to present the new cover of my book Blue Water Kiwis, New Zealand’s Naval Story 1870-2001. Blue Water Kiwis was first published in 2001 by Reed NZ Ltd, marking the sixtieth anniversary of the Royal New Zealand Navy’s founding – though the book itself was about a good deal more than that, tracing … More Blue Water Kiwis: a new cover unleashed
It’s Jutland day again – 101 years since the great fleets of Britain and Germany clashed in the North Sea in what was expected to be a kind of second Trafalgar in which the German High Seas Fleet was supposed to be sunk. It wasn’t. The British won it strategically: the German fleet scuttled back … More The battle of Jutland and the Royal Navy’s steampunk computers
Yesterday New Zealand launched a rocket from the only privately owned launch site in the world – just across the bay from my home town of Napier. And we joined an exclusive club of space-faring nations. The Electron booster and its Rutherford engines that did the job were invented and built here by a local … More New Zealand’s very own rocket – woohoo!
One of the coolest things about history, for me, is the way the shapes and patterns of the past emerge full-blown before you, if you know where to look. Take clothes. What people wore tells us an awful lot about the society of the time. Take stockings, which were the height of gentlemen’s attire right … More Henry VIII and his calf-muscle bulging contests
A few weeks back I was interviewed by Scaffolding Magazine, a new arts and culture magazine – and here’s Part 1. The vision Scaffolding‘s creators have for the magazine is really excellent: it’s a way of bringing together writers, artists and readers and exploring the arts – worldwide. The first issue, with my article on … More My interview with Scaffolding Magazine
