Y1806 In the spring of 1952, a 64-year-old courtier sat at the center of the British court and settled a question that by every natural right belonged to a father and his son. The son was three years old. His name was Charles, and one day he would be king. But the boy's father, a serving … Read more
When Prince Philip was laid to rest in April 2021, COVID restrictions had reduced the congregation at St. George's Chapel to just 30 mourners. Every seat became a statement. The Queen sat alone. Philip's children and grandchildren were there, along with three German relatives flown in under quarantine exemptions. Near the back of that small … Read more
Alan Frederick Lascelles was born on April 11, 1887, in the small Dorset parish of Sutton Waldron. He was the only surviving son among six children and was known all his life as Tommy, a boyhood name that outlasted every title he was ever given. His grandfather was the fourth Earl of Harewood, and through … Read more
Mitt huvud värkte när de talade, när de skålade i dyrt vin och log mot mig med leenden som aldrig nådde ögonen. Min son Oscar satt vid andra änden av bordet och rörde om i glaset med ena handen, medan Klara, hans fru, lade huvudet på sned och log mot mig med den där välviljan … Read more
When Prince Philip was buried on April 17, 2021, only 30 people were permitted inside St. George's Chapel because of pandemic restrictions. Every name on the list belonged to the House of Windsor, had married into it, or was a blood relative from Germany. Every name but one. Among the mourners sat a woman who … Read more
When German officers looked at their intelligence reports in December 1944, one name appeared again and again. It was not the name of an army or a nation, but of a single American general. That name was Patton. The Germans had spent two years tracking him obsessively. According to their latest intelligence, he was about … Read more
On April 16, 1945, a strange procession left the German city of Weimar. Hundreds of well-dressed men and women walked under American guard toward a hill about five miles away. The men wore expensive suits and fedora hats. The women wore fur coats, lipstick, and high heels. Some of them chatted and smiled as they … Read more
In April 1945, the Third Reich was collapsing. The autobahns Hitler had built to showcase German industrial power were clogged with retreating soldiers. Towns that had hung swastika banners six months earlier were now hanging white sheets from the same windows. Men who had spent twelve years telling the German people they were the master … Read more
In May 1945, the war in Europe ended. The roar of artillery fell silent. Hitler was dead, and Nazi rule had collapsed. In Berlin and along the Elbe River, American and Russian soldiers embraced one another. They danced. They drank vodka and whiskey together. The world celebrated. But one man was not smiling. General George … Read more
There is a pattern of leadership that looks real on the surface. It carries all the slogans, language, and military behavior that seem appropriate. But its true nature becomes clear when you examine the leader's practices when no one of his rank is watching. Every army in every war has contained large numbers of this … Read more