Beeching leadership of BR was one of the finest jobs a civil servant did in the 20th century. The network needed culling. It was built for 19th century technology, both on rail and in the wider trans… (View Post)

1918 was the worst year of WWI for British casualties; also a year of fluid battles (and in only a little over 10 months of fighting). (View Post)

Realists take the view that potential Russian aggression (never mind actual action) needs defending against, or else the impulse to go west has no natural border (Russian realists would say the same … (View Post)

True, but the relative cost was greatly different from now, the aircraft was less likely to take out the tank, and was in turn vulnerable to accompanying infantry. (View Post)

No-one could see Rome falling to barbarians in the third century, despite all the instability. The empire was too big and too strong. Until it wasn't. Sure, it took a couple of centuries but it did i… (View Post)