Did the CIA really steal Nikola Tesla's papers after he died? Why did the Catholic Church wipe out the Cathars? And what on earth was the Beast of Gevaudan? (above)
History throws up fascinating mysteries, all the more so because, no one really knows for sure what went on in the past. We've only got second hand accounts and at best, a few documents, to go on. One look at some of the PR masquerades as news, today, should be enough to show, that even those can't be relied upon.
It was Winston Churchill who said that history is written by the victors. Maybe he learnt that from his dad, Lord Randolph Churchill, during the Jack the Ripper scandal.
History can provide insights into what's going on today. If you look at what people actually do, rather than what they tell you they're going to do, that is.
Everyone was surprised when Putin sent his troops into the Crimea, last year, but isn't that just the sort of thing that Russian leaders have always done. Ivan the Terrible? Peter the Great?
When Czar Nicholas I invaded the Crimea, in 1853, the British PM, the Earl of Aberdeen, sent his armies to sort the Russians out. David Cameron sent William Hague. But then again, no one really cares about the Straits of Constantinople, these days.
