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There have been terrible periods in the past when evil has seemed to have won; entire epochs when mankind has been bowed and bloodied by the tyranny of malign forces. At such times, first England, then - later - the United Kingdom, has shone forth as a beacon of hope for freedom loving people everywhere. Thus it was during the darkest days of the 2 nd  world war, when for over two years, Britain and her overseas dominions and colonies stood alone against Germany, and the remn

I was very, very fortunate, both in being born into an age before much of the harm done to Britain and the world had yet become apparent, and in being born into the British Empire in Africa. I grew up amidst wondrous natural beauty, in a society secure within itself, full of dynamism and energy, and immensely proud of its British heritage. Many of us were conscious that we had a mission in Africa, a mission that we were amply fulfilling: a mission to maintain peace and stabi

When we think of the Arab world, we tend to think of an Islamic world. But there is still a sizable Arab Christian population. The entire Middle East and Egypt - and even parts of the Arabian Peninsula - were Christian long before they were Muslim.   There are approximately 41 million Christians in the Arab world, of a total Arab population of 328 million. Thus, 12.5% of the Arab population are Christians. Most Christian Arabs are found in Egypt, then Jordan, Syria and Lebano

Welcome to the dystopic nightmare world of the 21st century, where anguish over Man’s savage assault on the Planet, and the cataclysmic climate change that seems certain to result from this assault, has assumed existential levels. Extreme weather conditions - heatwaves, floods and wildfires - have become commonplace in Europe and north America, and in Africa, droughts engulf entire regions. The more thoughtful and imaginative among us can foresee water and food shortages lead

It seems to me that the traditional Christian answer to the presence of pain and suffering and death in the world - that these things are present in our world because of “The Fall” - is simplistic and inadequate.   I do not write only of the hurts we ourselves experience, such as sickness, or the malign blows of fate, or the death of a loved one, but of the devastating hurt and suffering elsewhere that we read about, or see on the TV, or sometimes, witness in our friends and

It was fashionable for at least two hundred years to paint trade and commercial activity as an ennobling force for mankind. In the 18 th  century, the French philosopher (and aristocrat) Montesquieu, coined the term “gentle commerce” to describe this view. By comparison, the trade of soldiering (then the largest non-agricultural employer after commerce) was seen as wholly degrading, even by those who officered them. The Duke of Wellington, Napoleon’s vanquisher at Waterloo, s

As a young man I found myself working in a remote wilderness region in central Africa. The terrain - river, swamp and sandy soil - sheltered a wide variety of plants and trees. I recognized Phoenix reclinata , or wild date palms, with their bunches of date fruits dangling from the crown of the tree, growing in profusion near the river, and Egyptian papyrus grew densely along the riverbanks. There were large stands of fever trees tinged a greenish-yellow, Acacia xanthophloea,

"It is particularly important to get to know your weaknesses. They are the main tools of those who try to hack you. Computers are hacked through pre-existing faulty code lines. Humans are hacked through pre-existing fears, hatreds, biases and cravings. Hackers cannot create fear or hatred out of nothing. But when they discover what people already fear and hate it is easy to push the relevant emotional buttons and provoke even greater fury." (Yuval Noah Harari: The Myth of Fre

The majority of people feel a justifiable sense of self-worth in working for their living, and in being able to provide for themselves and their families, but the late-phase capitalist economic system that now prevails is sidelining an increasing number of people, particularly in Britain, from even the possibility of being able to provide fully for themselves and their families, no matter how hard they work. These workers are not “shirkers”: the are casualties of an increasin

The British liberal-progressive press frequently refers to various individuals as "Britons," even when it is clear that they are not. This can usually be deduced from the accompanying portrait photos, and from their surnames. Whilst they may, technically, be British citizens, it is obvious they are not Britons.  The liberal-progressives in Britain persist in equating the possession of British citizenship with the acquisition of the automatic status of a Briton. They do this

The acquisition of the British Empire, a process riven with greed, treachery, inhumanity and violence, (and whose earliest roots lay deep within the institution of slavery), and its ultimate historical legacy, are two very different things. It may be argued that the genuine legacy of British colonialism is a largely positive one (although, for such an argument to stand, there must exist a willingness to explore the negative consequences of Empire also), having gifted many now

The young belong to a secret society all of their own. It is a freemasonry of the young, enlivened by the generosity of spirit which marks the young; a secret society in which there are no membership rituals. All youngsters are members as of right. It is a joyful society to belong to, one which recognises a global fraternity of the young; one in which its established members welcome their fellows, no matter that they may be foreign, or new in town, or somewhat eccentric. I su

Not long ago, many years after having first watched it on the big screen, I began watching that iconic movie “ Out of Africa ” on DVD at home. (The movie, released in 1986, was directed by Sydney Pollack, and starred Robert Redford and Meryl Streep). However, I could not watch more than the first few minutes. As the camera pans across the Kenya savannah, the smoke from the distant steam train just a tiny smudge against the vastness of the landscape, I was surprised to find a

As a small child growing up in a British colony in Africa, I was often ill, and confined to my bed. Here, I developed a love of reading and a taste for literature which were to persist throughout my life. I learned to read early, devouring the delightful animal tales by the British early 20th century writer, Beatrix Potter (you will know them, I am sure: stories such as Squirrel Nutkins , Jemima Puddleduck , and The Tale of Tom Kitten ), and the wonderful, gently humorous Win

I admire immigrants. I know something of the trials they endure: I was born and grew up abroad, and first lived in Britain as a very young man, almost as much a stranger to my ancestral home as an immigrant would be.   I understand what it feels like to be a stranger in a foreign land: you may speak the language, but your accent marks you immediately as an outsider. I understand how weirdly 'other' some aspects of local culture can at first seem to the immigrant. I understand

Star-shine in cold night sky, I hear the owl calling. For whom are you calling in a winter sky at night? Are you as alone as I?