25 Comments

I can't stop listening to the new Bill Ryder-Jones either, perfect mood lifter at a horrible time of year. And thanks for the Warhol tip, an excuse to head to Edinburgh as soon as I can.

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He is such a treasure. Lots of good art in Edinburgh at the moment: Paolozzi just opened too.

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The Warhol exhibition looks incredible. Thanks for the tip!

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A pleasure. Let me know what you think.

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Fab post as ever. Totally random subjects, each I wanted to read. Hope the guy does 1929 Lab government as a he is a humble clerk in the H of Commons but has written a tour deforce. Last book on this contentious subject this good was Ben Pimlot's Labour and the Left in the 1930's' . link between Warhol commercial work and later pop art God status makes perfect sense. Fab stuff as ever. Off to see 'Zone of Interest'.

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Cheers! Torrance is a national treasure, it's true. Such an asset.

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old School historian....done the graft, knows a document...

NOT on a 'personal' journey, no use of 'iconic', nor 'personally curated' ACTUALLY studied history, NOT a self-appointed 'expert'. dressing for the part. A Historian as in AJP Taylor, Robert Evans, RJ Overy, Mary Beard---got the paperwork to show.

Wearing a waistcoat and sporting a James I beard, a TV 'character' pretending to turn a page in the vaults of the National Archives for the camera 'As now it can be revealed!' 'Secret' etc , though others did the hard graft years years ago and the documents have been in the public domain for yonks, is not the same. Try telling BBC or Channel Four, Yesterday that....

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Oh boy. That nails it perfectly.

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Love your stuff Kenny. i learn something new EVERY time. You write beautifully, Glad you agree re history. Why Lab 1924 so good. What passes for history on BBC is v dodgy. it appears ONLY Lucy and Mary ACTUALLY studied history in any real depth. No other area of scholarship would really let this pass. I am an historian and author, and know the difference.

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My area occupied now by a BA in Geography and a former child star...not one has even an A-level in it.

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Horrible, I was first to see all docs as some held back till 2018. Hard left, hard right dined out here in 1943 and in background more recently. Bad shelter, bad behaviour but total official indifference to sorting an accident waiting to happen. Innocent women and children mostly killed.

Naturally, sanitised history of cheery Cockneys all having a sing song on the platforms does not include, nor the revolutionary spark plug Angus Calder and the CPGB would like it to have been. As ever, the WC's were underestimated and a 'shelter mentality' failed to materialise, as ironically the 'white Marxist' take of government wartime planners and actual Marxist expected chaos and panic from the underclass. Both were wrong! London and the tube held...don't expect to see this reality in the official version. Tube shelter numbers were v small but was potentially politically explosive given fact ordinary east ender's pushed open the gates at Liverpool St and descended. A real crisis, with BUF and CPGB seeking to exploit as ever.

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That is both grim and fascinating.

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I am just completing a complete for part history of the tube 1801-2070 from primary research only and interviews, so went back to basics on tube sheltering. Its very politically dangerous and Churchill in a matter of days junks pre-war written in stone policy that under no circumstances should it be allowed. At the end of the day, are you prepared to use the police or soldiers to kick people off the platforms by bayonet point, possibly during a raid and for a body of citizens you have failed to protect by building enough deep shelters? if not, you need to get going before the CPGB do it for you!

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Glasgow Subway too shallow, so not used. Precautions taken to ensure no train under the Clyde during a raid as with the Thames in London. A bomb strike bursting a tunnel does not bare thinking about.

You might enjoy below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4VTltNg1FA

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I never realised how much Ramsay MacDonald looked like the Wizard of Oz.

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I was in the portrait gallery yesterday and there's an eerily lifelike Epstein bust of him in the main stairwell.

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Is there a Ramsay Mac rehabilitation campaign under way? Just as one of Wislon is overdue? PS: Ta for Warhol tip: had no idea he did such stuff…

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Don’t know about a general rehabilitation, but a recognition of his 1924 significance is definitely overdue.

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Imagine P Greenaway and Terrence Davis do Nazi's? Will stay with me for a v long time. A masterpiece and I use that well worn word v carefully. Zone of Interest is unmissable Kenny.

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It's on ma list!

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YOU HAVE TOO KENNY. Its that good. Soundscape is like nothing you have heard. Have a lovely week Looking forward to your next post!

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Thanks for the music rec, Kenny. Listening now and it's lovely writing music.

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His album called A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart would also be good writing music. His others, with more guitar, less so.

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