Month: July 2013
War of Words — The Amazing History of Trench Newspapers
“The Wipers Times may be the most famous trench newspaper in history, it is certainly not the only one. Consider these:” THE BBC ANNOUNCED last week its plans to produce a television drama about the celebrated First…
Hostile Takeovers – A Brief History of Coups D’état
“Leaders as diverse as Napoleon Bonaparte, Augusto Pinochet, Saddam Hussein, the Shah of Iran, Fidel Castro, the Taliban’s Mullah Mohammed Omar, along with hundreds of others all rode into power via coups d’état.” (Originally published…
One Journalist Asks: Do Battle Reenactments Trivialize History?
“One professional historian maintains that the roaring cannon and flashing musketry of these popular recreations reduce major historical events to little more than noisome spectacles.” AFTER LAST week’s 150th anniversary celebrations at Gettysburg, one living historian…
How a Shortage of Gunpowder Nearly Ended America’s Bid for Independence
Happy July 4th to all of Military History Now’s American readers (and there sure are a lot of you!). In honour of the United States’ 237th birthday, we thought we’d re-blog an item from June…
Deadly Homecoming for Confederate Soldier
One hundred and fifty one years ago this week, two opposing American armies met and fought in a little known corner of Pennsylvania known as Gettysburg. Nearly 165,000 troops took part in the three-day clash;…