Articles

Some thoughts on Neville Chamberlain after reading Feiling’s The Life of Neville Chamberlain (Macmiilan 1946).   Neville Chamberlain will always be associated with (even defined by) his disastrous negotiations with Hitler at Munich in 1938. But a broader view of his life suggests that, but for Munich, Chamberlain would be remembered as a talented, conscientious and successful politician. The first thing to note about Chamberlain is that he did not become a Member of Parliamen

Admiral Franz von Hipper (1864-1932). Jutland Hero Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper stood on the bridge of Seydlitz , puffing vigorously on his cigar. He had been born for this day. His Scouting Force had first made contact with Vice Admiral David Beatty’s battlecruisers at about 2.20 pm that afternoon. It was now 4.40 pm and behind him lay the most exhilarating hours of his life. True to his duty, he had, for two hours, engaged Beatty’s ships in a running battle, first south to

This article was my contribution to a 'Greatest Hero Debate' at the Martime Museum. Richard Been Stannard, VC. Nature of courage Courage comes in two forms. First there is the instinctive courage as when a someone dives into a foaming river to save a child. And then there is the considered, deliberate, drawn-out courage of a determined act. Richard Been Stannard won his Victoria Cross for five days and five nights of persistent, deliberate and calculated courage at Namsos dur

This article first appeared in Fighting Times A warship sinking at the Dardanelles 1915. Inaccurate accounts I have for many years been...

This article first appeared on the History Press website. Churchill with Admiral of the Fleet John Fisher outside the Admiralty in 1915....

Few decisive battles have been so indecisive in their early stages. Fewer still have turned on a bare five minutes. Even fewer battles...

When Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Fisher announced his resignation as First Sea Lord in November 1909 the Navy lost its greatest ever...

This article first appeared in Soldiers of the Queen (Winter 2021) For a period of around 40 years, from 1871 to 1914, British booklovers...

This article first appeared in Soldiers of the Queen in 2021. The determination to scare For a period of around forty years from 1871 to...

(Blog piece for History Today . Jan 2013.) In December 1941 most Americans refused to believe that the Japanese would mount a surprise...

For many of us the Battle of Midway is just one more Hollywood spectacular in, to paraphrase Neville Chamberlain, a far-away sea of which...

An earlier version of this article appeared in Victorian Military History 2014. Jutland 1916 At 7.17 pm on 31 May 1916 Admiral Reinhard...

This is the text of my contribution to a 'Greatest Hero' event at the National Maritime Museum on 17 October. 2011. Patrick Bishop argued...