Blog
Welcome
I have been a teacher of Economics and Political Economy my entire professional career. After graduation from Stanford University in 1965, I continued my studies at the University of Warwick in the Midlands of England, and was awarded an M.A. and then Ph.D. in...
Introducing the Addlestone Trilogy
The Addlestone Chronicles was written as a result of my lifelong interest in economics and economic history, and particularly the events that occurred between the two world wars. Prior to that, the conventional wisdom was that free-market capitalism was a successful...
Hitler’s 1933 Strategy
What follows is an excerpt from Lebensborn, the second novel in the series, The Addlestone Chronicles. James and Donald have been captured by a rogue MI6 cell of agents who have switched their allegiance to Nazi Germany. One of these was Max Kingsley-Paige, an avowed...
Voter Suppression: The Apostles Paper – Part 4
Below is the final excerpt from Addlestone, the first book in the series, The Addlestone Chronicles. It is taken from James Harcourt-Heath’s discussion paper given to the Cambridge University Trinity College Apostles on May 4th 1936. “Next, I’d like to consider...
Voter Suppression: The Apostles Paper – Part 2
This article is taken from Addlestone, the first book in the series the Addlestone Chronicles. This follows on from the previous posting which was an excerpt from James Harcourt-Heath’s paper he delivered to the Marxist leaning secret society called the Apostles. In...
Voter Suppression: The Apostles Paper
My next four postings contain consecutive sections of a paper that is presented to the Cambridge Apostles, a Marxist leaning secret society based in Trinity College. These segments are taken from Addlestone, the first novel in the series The Addlestone Chronicles. In...
George Orwell and the Spanish Civil War
George Orwell “When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing” George...
ICE vs SS
Nazi tactics repeated in Oklahoma In Lebensborn, Louise and Bea, in their guises as being part of the Frauenshaft are allowed to tour the women’s section of Dachau, Germany’s first Konzentrationslager. While there, they interview several of the women in the crowded...
The Nazi Salute
Here’s another snippet from Addlestone, the first book in the trilogy, The Addlestone Chronicles: James and Louise are on their way to Munich and then Berlin, on assignment for the British Secret Services department, MI5. “At the German border, it was sleeting...
John Maynard Keynes – (1883 – 1946)
Keynes appears with speaking parts in all three of my Addlestone Chronicles historical novels. In these, James and Louise are Cambridge undergraduate students in 1934. James studies Maths at King’s College, and Louise studies Modern Languages at Newnham College....
Joachim von Ribbentrop
What follows is an extract from the Historical Background section of Lebensborn, the second book in The Addlestone Chronicles trilogy: “Joachim von Ribbentrop is mentioned on several occasions in Addlestone and Lebensborn. He was a sycophantic supporter of Hitler, who...
1934 Christmas Eve at Woburn Hall
Here’s a topical excerpt from Addlestone, the first book of The Addlestone Chronicles trilogy. “After bundling up against the winter weather, the ‘men’ found Smalbridge, Woburn’s farm manager, at his cottage. He fetched a bow saw and led them to a stand of Scots...
Trump and the Free Press
Trump and his allies have taken another leaf out of the Nazis’ playbook. What follows is a snippet from Addlestone, the first book of The Addlestone Chronicles trilogy: James’s math tutor, Richard Chillingworth, said, “Last month, Hitler banned all opposition parties...
The Trinity College Apostles
In Addlestone, James Harcourt-Heath, a final-year Maths student at King’s College, Cambridge, is recruited by the British Secret Service, Section MI5. His first assignment is to infiltrate a Trinity College-based secret society called The Apostles. John Maynard...
Maria Mandl (or Mandel)
Maria Mandel was proud of her nickname, "The Beast," given to her by both prisoners and SS staff. She was the top-ranking female guard (SS-Helferin) at Auschwitz II (Birkenau) extermination camp. Mandel was personally and directly involved in the deaths of over half a...
Hitler’s Generals
Hitler, as Führer, was the leader of the German High Command, which directed Germany’s armed forces. The High Command consisted of the War Ministry, the Armed Forces High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht – OKW), and the high commands of the three services: the air...
The Battle of Cable Street
Sunday, October 4, was the 88th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street. In Magdalene, the third novel in the series The Addlestone Chronicles, James Harcourt-Heath is invited to attend a mass rally organized by the British Union of Fascists (BUF). As an agent...
Hitler Trump Similarities – Part 2
Previously, I identified five areas of similarities between Adolf Hitler and Donald J. Trump. What follows are four more, as highlighted in The Addlestone Chronicles: Trump openly supports white billionaires, old white men with guns, and the NRA. He has asserted that...
Hitler – Trump Similarities Part 1
In all three novels in the series, The Addlestone Chronicles, I attempt to offer parallels between Hitler and his version of Nazi fascism. Here are nine I have identified: Isolationism: Once in power, both moved quickly to isolate their respective countries from other...
British Fascists in the 1930’s
Captain Archibald Henry Maule (Jock) Ramsay was elected as a Conservative Party member of Parliament in 1931, after which he developed increasingly outspoken and strident antisemitic rhetoric. He became the head and founder of the ultra-right-wing fascist organization...
David Ricardo and the English Corn Laws
In Lebensborn, the second novel in the trilogy, The Addlestone Chronicles, I have James and Donald talking with their captor, Max Kingsley-Paige, who is a rogue MI6 agent. Max argues: “It’s the working classes who’ve been the victims of this worldwide Depression....
Boys in the Boat
Lebensborn, the second novel in the trilogy, The Addlestone Chronicles, covered the 1936 Berlin Olympics and Jesse Owens’ four gold medals. Hitler attended the games but refused to award the gold medal to a Black athlete, despite press claims that he intended to do so...