I’m a big fan of The West Wing, and this was rather like a period version of Aaron Sorkin’s political drama. In many ways, that’s high praise, but there’s something rather small-screen about this film. My friend James argued that it never quite shakes the feeling of being a glorified TV movie, and it’s certainly […]
Sophie Scholl: The Real Story of the Woman who Defied Hitler by Frank McDonough My rating: 4 of 5 stars I recently finished this moving account of the life of Sophie Scholl, a German student who bravely resisted the Nazis. The book does a good job of telling the story of Sophie’s life and the […]
What’s the point of time travel if you can’t change the past? Similarly, what’s the point in studying the events of history, or telling stories about them? “Don’t try to understand why a fine man is cut off in his prime and an evil one prospers. Try to understand what benefit there is in observing […]
From After Virtue by Alisdair MacIntyre: Abstract changes in moral concepts are always embodied in real, particular events. There is a history yet to be written in which the Medici princes, Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell, Frederick the Great and Napoleon, Walpole and Wilberforce, Jefferson and Robespierre are understood as expressing in their actions, often […]
I’ve just finished a history essay on “how do medieval attitudes to time and space differ from modern ones?” It’s been very interesting to research and write, to be honest. In particular, I’ve enjoyed Allan Chapman’s book Gods in the Sky, which is about the history of astronomy, and in particular the impact of religion […]
Zzzz… I handed in my History essay earlier. I only finished it around 45 minutes before the deadline, and I was a bit disappointed to have to hand it in without time to really give it my best. But by this time, once I’d actually got it in to a state in which I could […]
Don’t I look smart? Or at least, that’s the intention, though I don’t know whether I will be able to complete obscure the innate student scruffiness! I’ve always wanted a bow tie, and having to dress smartly for the dinner and final in the Welsh National Debating Tournament on Saturday gave me a good excuse, […]
Hello everybody! Now that I’m beginning to settle down into a normal routine after the chaos of arriving, registering and experiencing the hectic madness of Freshers’ Week, I can hopefully begin to update my blog on a regular basis again. Unfortunately I don’t have Internet access in my room, but I’ve been jotting down a […]
I haven’t yet talked about the subjects I’ll be studying at university: English and History. These are my two favourite subjects – I’ve enjoyed them through school and college. But why do I like them, why did I choose to study them?Well, I’ll repeat something of what I said in my personal statement. Basically, I […]