Had almost the same pattern as you. got the vowels in the first one early on but only worked it out on the last line. It's a good contribution to coffee-break land! (View Post)

Yes, the problem with his message is that it gives the option of abstention. I think he'll come under pressure to explicitly endorse Macron - hell, if the Communists and Trotskyists can do it, h… (View Post)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spanish-Civil-War-Hugh-Thomas/dp/0141011610/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=spanish+civil+war&qid=1649614568&sr=8-3 is generally considered to be the most balanced book - Thomas … (View Post)

Franco was a butcher who overthrew a democratic government and slaughtered his opponents wholesale. One can make two mitigating claims for him. He stayed out of WW2, to the disappointment of Hitler, … (View Post)

Pretty unambiguously "yes", with a few private reservations not expressed to the Russians. Some here (and elsewhere) have suggested that the assurances were never firm and basically that Go… (View Post)