Category: History


Aug
04
2024
Soldiers & Sexuality: Part 2 Richard Pendavingh 04.08.24

In the second part of this essay we look at some of the ways that public denial and public hysteria around homosexuality has influenced the military history of Britain, Germany and Australia.

Aug
04
2024
Soldiers & Sexuality: Part 1 Richard Pendavingh 04.08.24

A brief history of military masculinity from the Sacred Band to Frederick the Great.

Apr
24
2024
The Museum Next Door Richard Pendavingh 24.04.24

How do you create an honest war museum?

Jan
27
2024
The Demons of Macquarie Island Richard Pendavingh 27.01.24

Today on The Unravel we ask the question; Did 19th century sealers suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome?

May
18
2023
The Road to Hell: Conclusions Richard Pendavingh 18.05.23

Given this litany of disastrous invasions and bloody occupations, why do politicians continue to insist that their armies will be welcomed with open arms?

May
01
2023
The Road to Hell: Part IV Richard Pendavingh 01.05.23

Despite the long history of ‘humanitarian interventions’ the idea that nations have an obligation to defend the rights of those beyond their own borders has only recently begun to gain acceptance.

Apr
13
2023
The Road to Hell: Part III Richard Pendavingh 13.04.23

The fallacy of liberation played a major part in inciting conflicts during the Cold War but realism's hindsight makes it hard to appreciate the initial idealism that accompanied these conflicts.

Apr
05
2023
The Road to Hell: Part II Richard Pendavingh 05.04.23

Case studies in strategic optimism from the Greco-Turkish War to the end of the World War II.

Mar
24
2023
The Road To Hell: Part I Richard Pendavingh 24.03.23

A brief history of the fallacy of liberation from the wars of the French Revolution to the end of the long 19th century.

Oct
06
2022
Putin's Doctrine of Maskirovka
Unmasking Maskirovka Richard Pendavingh 06.10.22

Putin's disastrous invasion of Ukraine has revealed the indiscriminate nature of Russian propaganda.

Oct
05
2021
This Field is Required Richard Pendavingh 05.10.21

Tracing the origins of 'life admin' from sacrificial servants, to human computers, chatbots and Potemkin AI.

Aug
09
2020
Part 1: Sacred Diseases Richard Pendavingh 09.08.20

As the Covid infections have ticked upwards and lockdowns have dragged on there’s been plenty of time to dwell on our current situation.

Aug
09
2020
A Glib History of Ancient Pandemics Richard Pendavingh 09.08.20

Wherein I draw tenuous connections between the current Coronavirus shemozzle and the great pandemics of the ancient world.

Jun
23
2020
How Georgia Abolished its Police Richard Pendavingh 23.06.20

The police were the first Georgians I met. Arriving in the capital, Tbilisi, at ten to midnight there were police officers waiting on the tarmac.

Jun
03
2020
American Stormtroopers Richard Pendavingh 03.06.20

Back in 2015 Amazon unveiled a promotional campaign for their TV adaptation of Philip K. Dick's famous novel The Man in the High Castle.

May
10
2020
Part 2: Replicants of the Reef Richard Pendavingh 10.05.20

On a rocky stretch of coastline on Hawaii’s Big Island a group of marine biologists are studying the lifecycle of the octopus - a creature that lives fast and dies young.

Apr
13
2020
Violence in the Aloha State Richard Pendavingh 13.04.20

I knew that Hawaii was part of America but I still didn't expect it to be so American.

Mar
02
2020
The Pirates of REM Island Richard Pendavingh 02.03.20

On a cold day in December in 1964 three helicopters belonging to the Royal Dutch Navy set out across the north sea towards a tiny speck in the ocean about ten kilometers west of Noordwijk on the Dutch coast.

Jan
25
2020
Remembering Cummeragunja Richard Pendavingh 25.01.20

Studying Australian history often feels more like uncovering some sprawling conspiracy. Buried underneath all the accounts of white explorers, convicts, bushrangers, miners and diggers is a vast bedrock of black history. The more you dig the more connections you find but the full story always seems to remain hidden.

Nov
09
2018
The Battle for Schloss Itter Richard Pendavingh 09.11.18

Tucked away on a forested hillside in Austria’s Tyrolean alps is a château called Itter with a long history and one remarkable footnote.

Jan
18
2017
The Women of Rojava Richard Pendavingh 18.01.17

Photos by Asmaa Waguih and Joey Lawrence of Kurdish fighters provide a face for a revolution that is quietly taking place behind the front lines of the war with ISIS.