War of Words – ‘Frank’
with Marc DeSantis
Ideas
War of Words – ‘Doodlebug’
With Marc DeSantis
War of Words – ‘Chariot’
With Marc DeSantis
War of Words – ‘The World Wonders’
With Marc DeSantis
War of Words – ‘Zero’
With Marc DeSantis
War of Words – ‘Tank’
With Marc DeSantis
War of Words – ‘Quarantine’
With Marc DeSantis
War of Words – ‘Sabotage’
With Marc DeSantis
War of Words – ‘Constable’
With Marc DeSantis
War of Words – ‘A chip on his shoulder’
With Marc DeSantis
War of Words – ‘Amphibious’
With Marc DeSantis
War of Words – ‘Cohort’
With Marc DeSantis
War of Words – ‘Frigate’
With Marc DeSantis
Back to the drawing board: HMS Audacious
David Porter on Military History's doomed inventions.
Back to the drawing board: The Great Panjandrum
David Porter on Military History's doomed inventions.
War of Words – ‘Obsolete’
With Marc DeSantis
Back to the drawing board: The Savoia-Marchetti SM.85
David Porter on Military History's doomed inventions.
War of Words – ‘Ballistic’
With Marc DeSantis
War of Words – ‘Javelin’
With Marc DeSantis
Back to the drawing board: HMS Captain
David Porter on Military History's doomed inventions.
Back to the drawing board: The M551 Sheridan
David Porter on Military History's doomed inventions.
War of words – ‘Gothic’
With Marc DeSantis
Back to the drawing board: The de Havilland Sea Vixen
David Porter on Military History's doomed inventions.
War of Words – ‘Parting Shot’
With Marc DeSantis
War of words – ‘Destroyer’
With Marc DeSantis
Back to the drawing board: The A38 Valiant Infantry Tank
David Porter on military history's doomed inventions.
Back to the drawing board: The K-class submarine
DAVID PORTER ON MILITARY HISTORY’S DOOMED INVENTIONS
Back to the drawing board: the Avro Manchester
David Porter on Military History's doomed inventions.
War of words – ‘revolver’
‘There are probably in Texas about as many revolvers as male adults,’ wrote one correspondent for The New York Times in 1854.
Brigit: Irish goddess turned Christian saint?
She is a goddess of poetry, medicine, and blacksmithing, but there is no mention of the fire that becomes associated with her sainted counterpart.
Austria-Hungary’s Viribus Unitis-class battleships
Although the Austrian navy had won a remarkable victory against the Italians at the Battle of Lissa in the Adriatic on 20 July 1866, economic problems following the creation of the Dual Monarchy the following year meant that the new…
War of words – ‘Panzer’
Panzer is a German word meaning ‘mail’ or ‘coat of mail’, with mail being body armour composed of interlocking metal rings. In the early 20th century, the word was applied to the tank, and thereafter entered English as a term…
Minerva: cultivating wisdom
A deity of wisdom and war, born fully grown, and armed, from the head of her father Zeus/Jupiter, Minerva – and her Greek counterpart Athena – played an important part in Greek and Roman religion.
War of Words – ‘samurai’
‘Samurai’, meaning ‘one who serves’, derives from the Japanese verb samurau, ‘to wait on’. These warriors were the elite military class of feudal Japan, akin to the knights of medieval Europe. A samurai (the word is both singular and plural)…
Back to the Drawing Board: the M11/39 Medium Tank
DAVID PORTER ON MILITARY HISTORY’S DOOMED INVENTIONS
Janus: two-faced god of beginnings
As we enter a new year, many of us find ourselves both reflecting on the past and making plans for the future. This dual outlook is embodied by the two-faced god Janus, who governed the first month of the year in ancient Rome