Historian, NHS employee, @odnb contributor. Currently writing a biography of King Leopold I of the Belgians. Beautiful Surrey.

Joined November 2009
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Our Muhammad Ali was Ted Heath
In 1990, Muhammad Ali flew to Iraq to help free 15 American hostages. Without the U.S. government's permission, he directly negotiated with Saddam Hussein and convinced him to let the Americans come home safely.
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Beautiful Surrey
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Christopher Guyver retweeted
A little #badgeographyjoke for the Pope.
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The Victorians invented photography, so they would have known.
A mid 19th century depiction of Henry II
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUGH LAURIE

ALT Qi Stephen Fry GIF

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A lot of British historians say this (& you can go round the houses arguing about it); not that many emphasize with the French or with the huge sense of betrayal the French had (NB this happened before the Vichy regime began).
Churchill’s slaughter of 1,300 French sailors was justified – and a lesson for leaders today telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/06…
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Christopher Guyver retweeted
#LundiFleuri 💐🌹🍀📚🌻🌿🌸 Mon livre "La duchesse de Berry- L'insoumise" paraîtra aux @EditionsPerrin le 28 mai 2026.
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I love this film, principally for its accuracy.
A scene permanently tattooed on my brain as an example of Aura farming
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this is brilliant - so good in fact that you could do some really funny parodies with the subtitles which will make everyone laugh, especially as no one understands German
This is one of the most impressive acting performances The film is called Downfall (2004), it depicts the final days of Ad*** Hi**** (portrayed by Bruno Ganz), during the Battle of Berlin in WWII.
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Cavaignac was one of the first before Napoleon: National Guards came to Paris on trains from the provinces to fight in the June Days of 1848 (though I'm not sure if they arrived on time to go into combat).
Napoleon III was an underrated commander too. He was one of the first people to really utilize railroads in warfare. And his plan of attack at Solferino was quite good as well.
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King Charles II liked orange-sellers and old London town burnt down
Leopold I transformed Austria into a great power. He helped repel the 1683 Ottoman Siege of Vienna, reclaimed most of Hungary, and checked Louis XIV’s expansionist ambitions in the West. A gifted patron of the arts, he also helped transform Vienna into a great Baroque capital.
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Christopher Guyver retweeted
National treasure and renowned hooligan, Dame Judi Dench (Tracey Ullman), goes on a toilet blocking mission in London's 5-star hotels, while casting aspersions about Dame Joan Collins. This is from S1 E2 of the brilliant Tracey Ullman's Show, for my money one of the best comedy sketch shows of the last twenty years. The cleaner, incidentally, is played by the equally brilliant Samantha Spiro, who was a regular on the show and who also portrayed Barbara Windsor in the TV movies, "Babs" and "Cor Blimey". Good afternoon.
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I got blocked for this!
he was a debate-me-bro. I'm certainly not going to be a Ricardian now I know that
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there are still posts on this site which aren't scam Farage Question Time ads
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It's not that funny.
The Italian scene in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (2009) is comedy perfection. Brad Pitt trying to pass himself off as an Italian filmmaker while barely surviving three words of Italian never stops being funny. “Bonjorno” deserves its own place in movie history.
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