Blog

What insult are the police investigating? The insult,which someone aimed at Jess Phillips MP, is the the latest in a series from the same source. Some people have aimed threats as well as insults of the lowest kind at Diane Abbott, Luciana Berger and several others. I...

Why does the Easter story matter? Easter is the time of year when people all over the World celebrate a historic event: the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, which is the basis of the Christian faith. It is so central that it is the one thing that all...

Schools have to teach the Core Curriculum That curriculum sets out the basic subjects the powers that be think all children should learn, including English, Maths and Science.  Schools may teach other subjects if they can  find the time and resources to do so.  I...

Every nation has its mythology. I wrote recently about British and American mythology. I said some myths are harmless, but others do harm. Here are some more American myths that we need to correct, from the Wild West. The mythology of the gun There is a myth that the...

Every nation seems to have its historical myths. These myths are often about the formation of the nation or its fight for independence. I have enjoyed the recent series about American mythology presented by Lucy Worsley. The myths about the War of Independence were...

John McDonnell has called Winston Churchill 'not a hero but a villain'. Isn't Churchill our greatest national hero? How can John McDonnell, or anyone, say he's a villain, not just overrated or not as great as some other hero? Why would anyone want to attack...

Pigs in Mud is a story about my Stone Age Detective, Quest The pigs episode might or might not appear in the published version of The Stone Age Detective, but it will give you a taste of the setting of the book and introduces four of the main characters. Five if you...

People keep saying our present problems are unprecedented. If you read much history, you will soon realise that hardly anything is unprecedented. We've made the same mistakes before. Usually many times. We don't learn from them anything like as much as we think, as I...

Why have I so far avoided using the term 'cave-man' in my blogs? For many people, the term 'cave-man' carries a lot of meaning, but misleading meaning.  We tend to think of a very primitive human, who may not even be homo sapiens. Perhaps you think of a neanderthal?...

What's a Christmas Purist? A Christmas purist is someone who complains that not everything we associate with Christmas has roots going...

People expect dinosaurs in any book set in the Stone Age This is mainly the fault of Hollywood, because producers (used to) think any story in prehistory had to have these large reptiles to make it exciting. They could have made movies about dinosaurs without any...