From all I read, Prof Tombs is still a supporter of the Conservative Party. How does he square that with their failure—often deliberate—to make anything meaningful out of Brexit? Example: Badenoch refusing to erase a large number of EU laws when she had the duty to do so.
We are always being told France is worse off than we are economically, culturally. I don’t agree, but what are the Prof’s thoughts on this?
I adored Robert's book on Franco-British relations. If England had won the Hundred Years War is there any world where, more than just a union of crowns, a bi-national Franco-English/British state might have eventually formed a bit like a western Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth or Austria-Hungary?
If so could Robert muse on how different world history might have been.
Depressing question. The lads have talked about how it kind of feels like we’re in the 1930s and stuff isn’t going well. It’s unlikely that Germany is going to get ready for round three, but given the decay of the British economy and the even worse state for the French, is it likely we’re going to get an adversarial power in Western Europe again? Or at least a fracturing of the Pax Americana peace we’ve seen for the last 80 years?
What made the French such klutzes on the battlefield? How did they ever get to be a super-power in early modernity? Et la ligne Maginot… What boneheads!
Why did Britian side with France in the Entente Cordial instead of Germany? A British/German alliance would have made so much more sense to me. Why not let the Germans colonize eastern Europe? Britain just spent the 19th century containing Russian expansion in the "Great Game".
Obviously, there is always room for genuine historical criticism of past narratives, however, how successful do you think revisionism in the form of deracination has been at disinheriting the British people, especially the young, from a history which contains both moral triumphs and dark episodes of national shame?
As someone who traces a part of his ancestral tree to an 'open village' in Norfolk why are the land enclosures treated as such a minor event in history given the huge role they played in reshaping Britain?
Had the English won the Battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest not happened, would not being embroiled in French politics and wars over the following few centuries have enabled English society to advance further culturally/technologically, as suggested by the Meddling Monk in the Doctor Who story The Time Meddler?
In *The Face of Battle*, British history John Keegan detailed Agincourt, Waterloo and the Somme - all battles where France took a sound drubbing. If you wrote a sequel, which battles would you choose?
Why doesnt there seem to be more anger from England towards France for the steady stream of small boats that France lets through?
From all I read, Prof Tombs is still a supporter of the Conservative Party. How does he square that with their failure—often deliberate—to make anything meaningful out of Brexit? Example: Badenoch refusing to erase a large number of EU laws when she had the duty to do so.
We are always being told France is worse off than we are economically, culturally. I don’t agree, but what are the Prof’s thoughts on this?
France is 10% better off from an economic perspective for the average French household. Good question.
I adored Robert's book on Franco-British relations. If England had won the Hundred Years War is there any world where, more than just a union of crowns, a bi-national Franco-English/British state might have eventually formed a bit like a western Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth or Austria-Hungary?
If so could Robert muse on how different world history might have been.
Depressing question. The lads have talked about how it kind of feels like we’re in the 1930s and stuff isn’t going well. It’s unlikely that Germany is going to get ready for round three, but given the decay of the British economy and the even worse state for the French, is it likely we’re going to get an adversarial power in Western Europe again? Or at least a fracturing of the Pax Americana peace we’ve seen for the last 80 years?
For Anglo-French relations, does the rest of the 21st century look more like the 20th century or 19th century?… or the 15th?!
How would Europe have looked if Napoleon had succeeded on the 18th June 1815, given he was in the early stages of decline and ill health?
BRITAIN'S WINNING FORMULA.
Britain pulled off the same trick four times over, turning colonies into thriving democracies: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.
France ran an empire every bit as vast, yet never produced a single nation to match them.
Why?
Is it fair to say that it was the Norman French and not the English per se, that invaded Ireland in 1169, sanctioned by "their English Pope?"
What made the French such klutzes on the battlefield? How did they ever get to be a super-power in early modernity? Et la ligne Maginot… What boneheads!
Why did Britian side with France in the Entente Cordial instead of Germany? A British/German alliance would have made so much more sense to me. Why not let the Germans colonize eastern Europe? Britain just spent the 19th century containing Russian expansion in the "Great Game".
Obviously, there is always room for genuine historical criticism of past narratives, however, how successful do you think revisionism in the form of deracination has been at disinheriting the British people, especially the young, from a history which contains both moral triumphs and dark episodes of national shame?
As someone who traces a part of his ancestral tree to an 'open village' in Norfolk why are the land enclosures treated as such a minor event in history given the huge role they played in reshaping Britain?
How would the world look like if the Lousiana Purchase had not occurred?
Had the English won the Battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest not happened, would not being embroiled in French politics and wars over the following few centuries have enabled English society to advance further culturally/technologically, as suggested by the Meddling Monk in the Doctor Who story The Time Meddler?
The Burgundians changed sides when England had the upper hand. Even if England had secured Paris could we ever have held it ?
1000 years of annoying the French by Stephen Clarke What a great book
In *The Face of Battle*, British history John Keegan detailed Agincourt, Waterloo and the Somme - all battles where France took a sound drubbing. If you wrote a sequel, which battles would you choose?