In 1933, the students of the Oxford Union, under the inspiration of a Mr. Joad, passed their ever-shameful resolution, “That this House refuses to fight for King and country.” It was easy to laugh off such an episode in England, but in Germany, in Russia, in Italy, in Japan, the idea of a decadent, degenerate Britain took deep root and swayed many calculations. Little did the foolish boys who passed the resolution dream that they were destined quite soon to conquer or fall gl

The coup in Belgrade threw Adolf Hitler into one of the wildest rages of his entire life. He took it as a personal affront and in his fury made sudden decisions which would prove utterly disastrous to the fortunes of the third Reich.

But fortune was about to make a fool of Nero. For he credulously believed a lunatic Carthaginian named Caesellius Bassus.This man put faith in a dream, left for Rome, and bribed his way into the emperor's presence. Addressing Nero, he alledged the discovery on his estate of an immensely deep cave containing masses of gold, not in coin but in ancient, unworked bullion. There were ponderous ingots lying about and standing like columns, he said-all hidden centuries ago. His expl

This year also witnessed a terrible instance of tragic heartlessness. Before the senate appeared two men called Vibius Serenus - a son prosecuting his father. The father, dragged back from exile, dirty and shabby and now manacled, had to face the charges of his elegant, brisk young son. Informer and witness in one, he accused his father of plotting against the emperor. Subversive agents, he explained, had been sent to the Gallic rebellion from Spain; funds had been provided b

Even the date seemed right. An assassination on April 13 would reemphasize how fate had driven Booth, and how history had guided him. Not only was it the birthday of Jefferson, but in the ancient Roman calendar it was a day of reckoning‑‑the Ides. The symbolism was not lost on Booth. But in case anyone else should miss the point, he would script his own act in conscious imitation of the killing of Caesar. He would strike down the president in public, preferably in a theater.

The Army being the Army, inevitably there were some jackasses around. Sgt. Alan Anderson of the 116th Regiment remembered being called into a tent where some colonel from public relations “got up and made an impassioned and patriotic speech about what a privilege it was for us to have this opportunity to be in this great invasion which would change the history of the world, and then at the of his speech he made the remarkable announcement that he was sorry he couldn’t go with

Messimy, having fervently stamped out Michel’s heresy of the defensive, did his best, as War Minister, to equip the army to fight a successful offensive but was in his turn frustrated in his most-cherished prospect – the need to reform the French uniform. The British had adopted khaki after the Boer War, and the Germans were about to make the change from Prussian blue to field-gray. But in 1912 French soldiers still wore the same blue coats, red kepi, and red trousers they ha