Subtitle: Four Remarkable Sisters, the Crown of Bohemia, and the Enduring Legacy of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Still catching up with reviewing books I read weeks ago, because RL keeps being insanely busy:
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As the Orange Menace in the US runs out of ways to lose the election (how many times was that by now, counting all the law suits, 50?) but damage his country that much further, his cousin-in-malice-and-bad-hair keeps piling up ways to make satirists weep because they'd never get away with this stuff if they'd invented it. Gunships against French ( Read more... )

Re: UK Election - I don't have anything more constructive to say than "I'm sorry". Though this post puts it a bit better than that.

Also:
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I was alerted to this newest RTD (mini)series by this review, and also this one, both of which are very favourable indeed. Having watched it now: deservedly so. RTD seems to be on a winning streak, between last year’s A Very English Scandal, and now this, a series set basically five minutes into the future. (Not literally: it starts in 2019 and ( Read more... )

Today is the anniversary of the bombing of Würzburg, one of the last German cities to be firebombed in WWII before the surrender. The assumption on the German side had been it wouldn't be, since it didn't have any big industries and a lot of hospitals, but a) by March 1945, there were hardly any German cities left to bomb, and bombing was still ( Read more... )

Sometimes I wonder whether Individual 1 and the Brexiteers have some competition about most bizarre farce in politics going. Our lot tried with the endlessly drawn out drama around now finally sacked spy chief Maaßen of "there never were any xenophobic attacks! the greatest danger to Germany right now are left wing radicals in the SPD!" fame, which ( Read more... )

Talking to
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Had a very busy week on the road, in which I barely consumed anything fannish and was instead consumed by the two simultanously running "History: A Farce" soaps running in the UK and in the US. No, that's unfair, the US one had a serious plot thread (btw, it's really WEIRD how the Democratic Midterms victory was downplayed initially), with only ( Read more... )

In which the Elizabeth and Philip who aren't British Royals are back, Gorbachev is General Secretary, and the end, my friend, is near. Also, Arkady Ivanovich is BACK, and I know at least one person on lj whom this is going to make very happy indeed.

( Spoilers are maintaining their cover story under pressure )

Like I imagine a great many people I've spent the last few weeks admiring the Parkland teenagers and the way they refuse to let the massacre at their high school be followed by the usual resounding nothing (other than "thoughts and prayers", and "it's too early", of course). The lunacy of the US gun laws has never failed to baffle and infuriate me ( Read more... )