When Titans Clashed
The Napoleonic War and WW2 taught the Russians that they need neutral countries between Germany and Moscow to act as buffer states to survive a…
Penang, Muntri Street and Sun Yat Sen—Part 2
It is a joy to walk the lanes of Penang’s UNESCO area on a Sunday morning. The traffic is less. The crowd has yet to…
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Penang and Mews—Part 1
Penang has charming mews hotels like Muntri Mews and Noordin Mews inside its UNESCO heritage area. Last 31 May 2025, we had a nice brewed…
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Christmas Crackers—Part 1
Mention the words “Christmas crackers,” and the name that comes to mind is John Julius Norwich. This is because for over 50 years, he has…
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The Land of the Firebird
Pre-revolutionary Russia had produced some of the most inspiring art, literature, dance, and music the world has ever known. Why has that disappeared? Why is…
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Embassies to the Qing court—Part 3
Most people wrongly assume the Macartney Embassy of 1792-94 gave the Western world its first glimpse of the secretive Middle Kingdom. In fact, there were…
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Embassies to the Qing court—Part 2
Most people wrongly assume the Macartney Embassy of 1792-94 gave the Western world its first glimpse of the secretive Middle Kingdom. Why? Such an erroneous…
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Embassies to the Qing court—Part 1
Most people are familiar with the Macartney Embassy of 1792-94 for two reasons. First, the response by Emperor Qianlong to the British request to open…
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Understanding Europe’s Cultural Rebirth
Why did the Age of Renaissance begin in Italy? Why did it begin in that time period? European history can be roughly classified into the…
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Russia Engages the World
Russia Engages the World, by Cynthia Whittaker, was published in 2003 to accompany an exhibition at the New York Public Library that same year. Rereading…
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Sikhs and the Partition of India, the Raw Deal—Part 2
Two books shed some light on the questions I posed in Part 1. I had asked why the British failed to accommodate the Sikhs by…
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