Europe Before the First World War: What Were They Thinking?

Review – The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark and The War That Ended Peace: How Europe Abandoned Peace for the First World War by Margaret MacMillan

Amid a rash of volumes attempting to detail and explain the origins of the First World War, Christopher Clark’s The Sleepwalkers and Margaret MacMillan’s The War That Ended Peace stand out. Both represent holistic, almost global attempts to analyse the various causes of the war; and both contain very thorough and very acute investigations into the character of the time before the continental conflagration broke out. MacMillan assessed European society before the war which nearly brought about its collapse, whereas Clark focuses on an analysis which takes in nation-states, alliances, diplomacy and the ever-present prospect of force (but these forces were not impersonal; as will be elucidated, much of European diplomacy in those days was built and conducted on the basis of personality and thoroughly personal reactions).

How Great an Effect Did Malcolm X Have on the Struggle for Civil Rights?

Between 1960 and 1965, Malcolm X emerged as a leading voice in the burgeoning civil rights movement. Originally a minister in the Nation of Islam (NOI), Malcolm[1] later set up his own mosque, while developing his own ideas regarding religion and race.  At a time of great social change for black Americans, he arguably proved to be tremendously significant in many respects, not least as an orator, an organiser, a religious reformer and an inspirational figure for so many. Malcolm was assassinated on February 21, 1965, but had played an essential part in advancing civil rights both before and after that date.

The Madness of King Charles

Soon, perhaps sooner than you think, Britain is due a change in monarch. That much is simple biology. What will follow, though, is far from scientific. Elizabeth II, who has sat on the throne for over 60 years, will die and arcane rules will determine that her son, Prince Charles, should succeed her and become king. Aside from complaints about the anachronistic, hereditary manner through which royal power is passed on, there are many reasons to be anxious about King Charles III’s ascension the throne.