Okay Cromwell is no Hitler, but you have the Irish sieges of Drogheda and Wexford, where thousands of Irish Catholic soldiers and civilians were massacred. I suppose he brought Britain out of the “Divine Right of Kings” concept to some extent. And, was more tolerant to the Jewish than others. So, yeah, not all warts-
And so he set off with his army, cutting a bloody swathe through the country, ruthlessly slaughtering soldiers and innocent civilians alike. Take the bloody siege of Drogheda, for example.
Soldiers seeking refuge in a church steeple were burnt alive when the building was set alight
After a stand-off with the commander in charge of enemy forces there, Cromwell ordered the town to be stormed. Thousands were killed in the attack, including an unknown number of civilians. In one particularly gruesome moment, soldiers seeking refuge in a church steeple were burnt alive when the building was set alight. Cromwell recounted how he literally heard someone scream ‘God damn me, God confound me: I burn, I burn.’…
So yes, it’s fair to say that – despite the counter-arguments and efforts at redeeming Cromwell’s actions by some historians – he will likely remain one of the great villains of history to the Irish. And yet another reason why everyone hates the English.
Yeah, hardly an ideal example of marriage, I will give you that.
Good “warts and all” subject matter?
Homeopathy, from its very questionable beginning, to its nonsense science, to its skeevy protection provided by certain congresscritters, to its inclusion on most store shelves nestled in with all the real medicines. I believe the Behind The Bastards podcast had a 2-parter titled The Bastard Who Invented Homeopathy.
All warts- except that at least Homeopathic drugs didnt outright kill you or make you an addict as many drugs did in that period, before the FDA. Homeopathic drugs are worthless sugar pills- but also harmless- mostly,
Thinking Lenin, and probably him being poisoned by Stalin, which seems very likely (I think, its been a while since I looked at that). On a similar vein of “people being murdered by someone on their way to power”, Kurt von Schleicher (penultimate chancellor of pre-nazi Germany), perhaps mixed with Ernst Röhm (creator of the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi party) leading to their deaths on the Night of the long knives.
Well, some of them, when their subjects are still living, will be incredibly problematic.
I’d like to see the last year of Zeppelin, covering the paedophelia (not just the “it’s fun being a rock star, look at the hedonism, throw a tv out the window” cliche), and how it was Pages deep drug addiction which broke up the band, the death of Bonham being really just an excuse.
However, with these sort of bios, you can’t use their music. Which was why Bohemian Rhapsody was on the kind side, needed approval from the band. Stones might be covered too, lets not forget that Wyman was in a relationship with a 12 year old until her married her at age 19, she was on birth control since the age of 14.
Henry Ford was also a Nazi sympathizer. As a business owner, he practically created the middle class by paying his employees a living wage and only requiring them to work a 40 hour week. He didn’t do those things out of the goodness of his heart though; he realized that if he was going to sell cars to the general public, they needed spending money and spare time to shop for and buy his cars.
His son Edsel Ford had a private retreat at what is now Highland Recreation Area, not far from my home. The main log cabin burned down in the 90s, but the foundation with the main fireplace and chimney still standing remains. A series of plaques describes the retreat, including the fact that the place had been visited by Charles Lindbergh, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford. I’ve often hiked up to where the cabin was and stood next to that fireplace, wondering what sorts of conversations took place there. I would watch a movie featuring a night with Charles Lindbergh, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford, three of the most famous people in the world at the time, but also all awful people in their own ways: sitting around the fire, after-dinner drinks and maybe cigars in hand, talking about their views on business and world events. I’m sure there’d be a lot of conversational warts involved.
So far as I know, Lenin died from complications of a stroke. Stalin was a relatively minor official at the time, though he was already using his position as Party Secretary to gather dirt on people.
I’d like to know if there’s any evidence of Lenin being poisoned by anyone. I know he’d been shot by an anarchist after coming to power, and he never completely recovered. But I’ve never heard of a poisoning attempt.
Yeah, over a long time (multiple strokes), and something his father also died of. So I don’t think claims of poisoning make sense
I would absolutely love a warts and all depiction of the Russian Revolution up to the rise of Stalin. Most especially if it’s done by Armando Iannucci as a prequel to Death of Stalin.
I’d love to see Hitler: The Last Ten Days again, and the miniseries Inside the Third Reich,
just because they star Alec Guinness and Derek Jacoby as Adolf, respectively.
