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The Battle for Adam Smith
Statue on the Royal Mile, commissioned by Adam Smith Institute, unveiled 2008. But the ASI, established in 1976, is a think tank promoting neoliberalism. Others eg Margaret Thatcher also claim Adam Smith as a father of free enterprise economics. Gordon Brown has said that Adam Smith would be happier in the John Smith Institute rather…
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De Quincey
“In an essay, Thomas de Quincey (1785¬1859). sketched out a fascinating theory of what constitutes a good lover. He began by reflecting on William Wordsworth (whom he knew well) – the greatest poet of the age, the author of much heartfelt love poetry, a confident, vigorous man who had had much success with women in…
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Handel's Messiah
When Handel was commissioned to write Messiah, his previously popular Italian opera had become rather passe, even parodied. English language oratorii were the new thing, he had had some success with them already, but perhaps he was feeling down on his luck [as suggested in the Alpha presentation I watched on Saturday]. He wrote the…
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The 2nd Sino-Japanese war
Started in 1937, morphs into second world war. Actually skirmishes well before that as Chinese nationalist government under Chang Kai Shek struggled to control warlords. Japan wanted to establish control of mainland (Manchuria), particularly given colonial expansion throughout Asia, and had forces throughout China, even in Shanghai. Other East Asian countries obviously see this as…
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Servants
In the 19th century, the biggest category of working class people was domestic servants. Seen as “respectable” and relatively secure, compared with farm labour or factory work, it was however arduous, with long hours and often no paid holidays. It was also difficult for labour to become organized. In the 20th century however, it becomes less attractive…
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Story of Sinuhe
A verse epic, although not very long, from the Middle Kingdom of Egypt circa 1800BC, but only discovered in 1895. A rich text, full of different forms eg letters, use of foreign words, probably performed as well as read. Clearly popular for hundreds of years as fragments have been found in lots of different places…
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The Scramble for Africa
Berlin conference 1884 – European powers met to divide up Africa into different imperial territories. Gave Leopold of Belgium territory 70x his own state, essentially as his own private property (his claim was based on explorations by Stanley). He instituted serfdom, wiped out elephants for piano keys, billiard balls and false teeth (as in other…
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Livingstone
The David Livingstone centre, bless, will always try to paint him in a positive light. His biographer Tim Jeal, however, makes clear that he was imperfect, obsessive, perverse and often misguided man. He wrote lovely letters to his wife, but it was probably a marriage of convenience, at least to begin with. He risked their…
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Compensation for slavery?
The abolition of slavery in 1833 included £20m compensation to slave owners. The Glasgow West India association claimed the equivalent of £16 billion in modern terms. [Stephen Mullen, Univ Glasgow researcher]