I think Imperial Spain, from about 1500 to about 1790, was a superpower. It ruled a vast territory, and made great gains in 1783. The collapse of Spanish power, over the course of 40 years, was stagg… (View Post)

England would presumably have fought along with Spain to suppress the Dutch revolt (and likely succeeded). Then it would have fought with Spain and Austria to crush the Protestant powers in 1618. Thr… (View Post)

An interesting counterfactual is if he and Mary had had a son. England would have become the third Hapsburg power, and remained Catholic. (View Post)

Weinstein was fairly open, I think. It's just that nobody cared in Hollywood. That crowd still lionise Polanski, after all. (View Post)

That works better if the Lib Dems are a long way behind. This poll shows they have a good chance of winning. Indeed, they've put on significant support compared to the last poll, whereas Labour … (View Post)