If you’re looking for stupid, pointless wastes of human life in the First World War, you really are spoilt for choice, but, even among such inauspicious company, the Gallipoli campaign manages to stand out as particularly stupid and particularly pointless. To sum up: The Ottoman Empire sort-of-accidentally entered the war on the side of the …
Centuries of Sound is going slightly open source as of today. Here is a google sheet which contains my planned listening for each year. And I’m inviting you to come and add to it. Data is taken from a number of sources including rateyourmusic and acclaimed music Should go artist – title – type – …
So, I have bought this book, but unfortunately have not had time to read it. Sorry Nigel Jones, it does look good. If I have time later this year I’ll return here to write something about it. Nigel Jones – Peace and War: Britain in 1914
One of the most widely-known stories of the first world war is the Christmas truce. The British soldiers hear the Germans singing ‘Silent Night’, they venture out into no-man’s land, exchange gifts and have a game of football. Much of this story appears to be true, though it is important to remember that the front …
On September 1st 1914, Martha, the last passenger pigeon in existence died. Three hundred years before, when the first settlers were arriving in North America, it was the most common bird in the continent, with up to 5 billion individuals. The story of the passenger pigeon is that of colonial destruction and contempt for the …
There will be a lot of coverage here of the early part of the first world war, as there are so many fantastic resources available. The BBC in particular launched into the project of making something new about these years with such a degree of creative enthusiasm that it set vastly unrealistic expectations for the …
A blog post about our trip to an awards ceremony yesterday. If this is not of interest, please check almost every other page on the site for much less self-indulgent content. Yesterday I went along with V (my long-suffering non-podcasting other half) to The British Podcast Awards in London. The show had been nominated for …
We are very pleased to announce that Centuries of Sound has been nominated for the Bullseye Award (which “honours the podcasts that are producing exceptional listening experiences for niche audiences and those underrepresented in other British media”) at The 2019 British Podcast Awards. Bullseye Award supported by Podiant Probably True – @unlikelylad@nincompoopspodCenturies of Sound@sh_studios@farmerama__BBC Somerset's …
1911 is an exciting time for literature, but I would venture that the most important event of the year was not Filippo Tommaso Marinetti’s launch of the Futurist Manifestito, nor the publication of the first of G. K. Chesterton’s Father Brown novels, and not even Virginia Stephen, Leonard Woolf, Adrian Stephen, John Maynard Keynes and …
Robert Tressell – The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists Read More »
Civic disasters in the pre-regulation days of the early 20th century are on a scale I find hard to comprehend, but the thing that shocks the most isn’t the loss of human life, it’s the careless way it was thrown away. The 145 lives lost in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in New York were largely …
