Showing 1-10 of 18 results
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Choosing sides
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 08/12/2017
» Not long ago a historian calculated that throughout human history there has been a total of fewer than 25 years of peace. There were wars somewhere on the planet the rest of the time. The clear meaning is that homo sapiens are a violent, bloodthirsty lot.
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Open season on IS
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 27/04/2017
» Though the president of the United States is a character in more than a few novels, he is a product of the authors' imaginations and bears little if any resemblance to the actual incumbents. In some stories he's idealised, in others vilified.
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Recognise yourself?
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 20/01/2017
» In this atomic-digital era, millennia-old mysteries are constantly being solved, but one will never be: How long will each of us live? Life insurance company mathematicians, pharmaceutical company chemists, astrologers, fortune-tellers et al are tackling it from different directions, none agreeing. Barring wars, epidemics and droughts, we are aware that we are living longer than our ancestors, women especially. The old are a "problem". The age of retirement is moving up around the world. How long before it reaches 70? Which lengthens the time for 20-year-olds to advance.
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Hitting the right note
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 28/03/2016
» One thing thriller novelists agree on is that their respective lands have an ultra secret elite force answerable only to the nation's leader. They are called upon to do the dirty work forbidden by international law -- assassinations at home and abroad.
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Wealth of interviews
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 08/02/2016
» Interviewing was one of my functions back in the day. Rather than the top I focused on those lower on the totem-pole, accepting the common belief that everybody has a story to tell. The column appeared weekly. We didn't meet over a drink or during a meal. (I had no expense account.)
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More old hat
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 14/09/2015
» Together with their military, British boffins played a major role in defeating their Teutonic foes. Their whizz kids -- scientists, academic -- came up with radar and opened up the Enigma machine. (During World War I they invented the tank.) Hitler's boast of winning the war with secret weapons was played down.
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Opposites attract
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 27/04/2015
» Books are pumped out by publishing houses because tens of thousands of men and women hope to gain fame and fortune. Over the centuries other paths — discovering new lands, coming up with inventions — have been all but closed off.
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A Druid victory
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 13/10/2017
» I didn't realise how many contemporary historians there are until I began reviewing their books. However, their interests don't vary greatly. Ancient Rome and the Tudor periods are predominant. Followed by World War II and the Templar knights. Then Ancient Egypt and the Napoleonic Wars.
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Historical hot spot
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 02/05/2016
» This planet is comprised of hundreds of countries, few of which university graduates can name or their professors find on the map. Asked why, they'll say because they aren't important. Maybe they popped up in history, but then sank back into obscurity. Every continent has them. Poor buggers.
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The assassin as hero
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 05/01/2015
» Every country needs heroes, men, women and teachers to hold up and be proud of, for children to emulate, to celebrate their feats. Extolled in books and movies, if not so heroic in real life, legends are built around them. If they don't exist, create them.
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