Each nation has its Free Speech champions, its women and its men who’ve challenged laws or blinkered moral standards of the day. Subjective lists, of course. Each to our own, depending on our politics, I guess. And my own “major league” was hard to choose. John Milton was the first who sprang to mind. He wrote his staunch attack on … [Read more...] about Britain’s Champions of Free Speech
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Liverpool 1911: The Kru Seamen’s Strike
Kru seamen? How do they end up playing such a part in The House on Hunter Street? Liverpool's 1911 Conflicts The year1911 in Liverpool is probably best known for its transport strikes, including a major seamen's strike as part of a national dispute. It was these strikes which caused some to believe that Liverpool was "near to revolution." But … [Read more...] about Liverpool 1911: The Kru Seamen’s Strike
From Persecution to Toleration, 1290-1700
In Sixteen Eighty-Nine we passed a law – a Toleration Act to guarantee our right to think and worship as we will. A necessary law. To compensate for many centuries of wicked crimes. Four hundred years since our Edward the First required a scapegoat for his mis-spent reign. The Jews. No logic. Just a mass of myths. And so, they died. In massacres. … [Read more...] about From Persecution to Toleration, 1290-1700
Liverpool 1911: The Welsh Connection
We built this city on Rock ‘n Roll? Or maybe on solid Welsh red brick – the blood, sweat and tears of Welsh construction workers? There are many volumes dedicated to the Welsh builders responsible for so much of Liverpool’s Victorian housing and architecture. Liverpool artist Frank Green has produced an entire book of his paintings depicting the … [Read more...] about Liverpool 1911: The Welsh Connection
From Magna Carta to Votes for Women, 1215-1928
In Britain, rights’ and freedoms’ history begins back in the Thirteenth Century. King John – the worst of all of England’s kings – spent all the country’s wealth in useless wars, then tried to make the barons give him more. They rose against him. Then, at Runnymede, forced him to sign a statement of their rights. They made him promise that he’d now … [Read more...] about From Magna Carta to Votes for Women, 1215-1928