"Mr Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall" - Berlin, 50 years On

Today is the 50th anniversary of the division of Berlin and the coming of the Wall on August 13th 1961.

At the Berlin Wall in 2006

It was the single most visible monument to the failure of Communism. It was an attempt by the authorities to stop their own people from migrating to the democratic west.

It was also as a result, the single seminal moment that marked the end of the Cold War. The indredulous scene of Berliners climbing the Wall unhindered by the East German Security Guards sparked joys throughout the free world.

The wall, which had torn a city in two, witnessed over its 28 years in existence, the deaths of at least 136 Berliners who attempted to scale it to flee that East for life in the free West.

My Pilgrimage to Berlin
As a historian, I have greatly enjoyed my many visits to countries around the world over the past 6 years. There is however, only one city that I would without hesitation put above all of the rest.

Being a historian in Berlin is like leaving a child loose on a box of chocolates. I was that child, in 2006. Is it quite simply, the best city in the world that I have ever visited.

Yes, there is little architecture left from down through the centuries that has survived the devastation of two World Wars and the division of the Cold War Era. But this is nevertheless, a part of that history.

From the concrete East, Alexanderplatz and Unter Den Linden to the Brandenburg Gate, the Wall itself, the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie, the Olympic Stadium and the Monument to the Holocaust alongside Hitler's underground war bunkers, every street in this city speaks and has a story to tell.

I fell in love with Berlin and lapped it all up. In particular, I become wholly engrossed in the post-war, Cold War era and the devastating division that the Wall brought to this city.

Here is JFK speaking at the Wall shortly after it was built in 1961...



In 1987, on the 750th anniversary of the city, President Ronald Reagan called on Mikhail Gorbachev to "Tear Down This Wall".



"A Cheerfully Anarchic Night"
In 1989, the unthinkable became visibly thinkable.

I'm unable to watch scenes of November 9th 1989 in Berlin without shedding tears. When in Berlin, I bought at Checkpoint Charlie a DVD of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. It is moving and incredibly emotional. To see the uncontrolled joy, shock, incredulity and sheer disbelief in the faces of the Berliners who either crossed the border or welcomed those who did so, moves me to tears every time.

The same can be said of a number of the clips that follow from the BBC news bulletins that covered the story. In particular, Brian Hanrahan's piece for me, captured the essence of what was a moment of history in the fall on the Iron Curtain. I blogged on this when he sadly passed away last December.







Here, in brief, is a concise and insightful history of the Berlin Wall to the very apt sound of Scorpion's Wind of Change.



For me, in audio, the perfect accompaniment to the Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall is Beethoven's 7th Symphony in full. The despair of the 2nd movement followed by the joy of the 3rd and 4th for me, hauntingly sums it up perfectly.



It is only right to give the final words on today's sombre anniversary to the current President of Germany, Christian Wulff who said:

"The world situation, of which this wall was a symbol, seemed irreversible to many people. But this was not the case. In the end, freedom is unconquerable. No wall can survive the will for freedom in the long term. The violence of just a few has no hold over the drive for freedom of many."

...and finally to the Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit who told a ceremony on Bernauer Street today:

"The Wall is history but we must not forget it."

Amen to that

An Oslo Tragedy

The news from Oslo tonight is truly horrific.


The author perched above Oslo Harbour in 2007

The numbers of dead is increasing by the hour and whilst the deaths of at least 7 in a probable car bomb attack in the city centre is bad enough, the shootings on a remote island at a Labour Party Youth Camp is shocking beyond comprehension. It has now been confirmed that at least 10 have been killed on the island with eye-witnesses mentioning the sight of 20-25 bodies. These unprecedented attacks on Norwegian soil look as if they are linked and this minimal total of 17 deaths will shock Norway to its core.

TV stations are connecting these actions to the global war on terror. Norway is indeed involved in Afghanistan but for a country that has been on the fringes of the war on terror, it would be a shocking development if this were the case. It may be a locally based group at work. It is too early to be sure and caution must be exercised at present until more is known.

I have been in Oslo myself as part of a Scandinavian holiday with friends back in 2007. It's a lovely city and as one of the homes of the Nobel Peace Prize (along with Stockholm), I took to it quickly.

This is a truly petrifying attack and reminds us that we live in a society where our safety can not be guaranteed. As one who has visited Scandinavia, this has really shocked me. The fact that children have been targeted makes it all the more incomprehensible.

Philadelphia Freedom - Happy Birthday America!

It's the 235th anniversary of the signing of America's Declaration of Independence in 1776.


A younger, leaner looking author
with Liberty Bell in 2005

 It's a day of great celebration for our cousins on the other side of the pond and I for one am happy to pass on my very best wishes to them on this day.

Philadelphia Freedom
When I holidayed along the east coast of America in 2005, I visited Boston which was of course the home of the Famous Tea Party which galvanised local feeling against the colonial repressors.

I've also been to Philadelphia and I must admit that I greatly underestimated the city before my arrival. On a whirlwind 2 week tour that took in Toronto in Canada before Boston and New York, Philadelphia was to be our final stop and it wasn't one that filled me with great excitement.

For a historian, this was a near sacrilegious underestimation of a city that lies at the very heart of what it is that America are celebrating today.

For Philadelphia was at the heart of the actions and ideas that fuelled the American Revolution and led to its Independence. It was there in Independence Hall that the declaration of Independence was signed after the Second Continental Congress voted for independence and for the first decade, the city served as the American capital between 1790-1800 before Washington took over the reins of power.

Having quickly grappled with the historic significance of this final city of my holiday, I lapped it all up. I visited Independence Hall, the venue of that famous declaration and also the adjacent Congress Hall which housed the initial meetings of Congress during this period - both the Senate and House of Representatives.


A Philadelphia Montage with
Independence Hall in the bottom right.

I also visited the nearby Liberty Bell Center to see the famous cracked bell that was one of many that reputedly rang in the news when the Declaration was publicly read on July 8, 1776. I also visited the wonderful National Constitution Center which tells you anything and everything that you could ever want to know about America's constitution which though far from perfect (particularly when dealing with the Native Americans), remains in my book, one of the purest expressions of democracy that has ever been written - and in the 18th century!

I have my copy of the Declaration of Independence which I bought then with me now. As it famously stated:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that amongst these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness".

In tribute to my American friends and this day of pride in their nation and on a belief that at its core was as near perfect as could be expected now, let alone then, this apt Elton John composition with a visual montage of Philadelphia by a native of the city.

Happy Birthday America!

Circus Wild Animal Ban Must Become a Reality

I was very pleased to see a rare showing of unanimity this past week in Parliament in support for Conservative MP Mark Pritchard's non-binding motion to ban the use of wild animals in the circus here in the UK.

The fact that he stood up so resolutely against his own leader and party Whips under intense pressure to withdraw his motion is to his personal credit and it is lamentable of the Conservative Party and David Cameron that they attempted to silence Mr Pritchard in the manner of which he described at the start of his debate.

My Thailand Experience
I can't recall having ever visited a Circus but my thoughts on this matter come from an episode of my life when I was on holiday in Thailand back in 2008.


Are Elephants supposed to be great artists?

I was in Chiang Mai in the north of the country when we took up the option of visiting an elephant trekking centre and I was very excited at the prospect. The trekking itself through a forest was a real 'once-in-a-lifetime' experience and I felt comfortable with it. For in history, these animals have been well versed in carrying human kind and indeed were powerful weapons of force and strength in battles past under Alexander the Great and Hannibal.

What I found greatly disconcerting however was the use of elephants before hand, to perform 'acts'. I couldn't help but notice that their feet were chained into position so their movement was limited and what followed for me, was a crass attempt to attract visitors and their tourist baht (the local Thai currency).

The two photos you'll find in this blog post are those taken by me whilst we were there. I must admit that I was not enamoured by the sights of elephants drawing pictures with their trunks or playing a form of basketball.

Are Elephants supposed to be great sports stars?

Because I may be wrong here but somehow I don't think elephants were put on this Earth to play basketball or to paint (please note the sarcastic tone).

It all felt un-natural and I can remember feeling a great sense of unease at what I was watching and felt guilty for my wilfull visual participation in the event.

A "barbaric" practise that has "no place in civilised society in the 21st Century".

Those were the words of Liberal Democrat MP for Colchester Bob Russell during the debate last week. I have to agree with his sentiment.

The RSPCA estimate that only a handful of circuses in England still keep wild animals which includes any non-domestic species, such as tigers, zebras and camels but that there are currently some 46 of these naturally wild animals currently being used in circus performance in the UK.

This is not their natural habitat. This is not what they were born to do.

I will leave the final word to Mr Pritchard who said in the debate that he orchestrated, that these performances are cruel and outdated and compared them to outlawed practices such as dog-fighting and badger-baiting.

It is simply for these reasons that I hope that the Government legislates fully on the clear will of Parliament on this issue and ensures that this form of 'entertainment' is disgarded to the history books which is the only place where it belongs.

History, Culture and Hi-De-Hi! My Positive Chiang Mai Story

Today's Independent carries this worrying story of a spate of sudden deaths in Thailand's northern city Chiang Mai which have not been properly explained.

A British couple, a 23 year-old New Zealander and a Thai tour guide have all died within 16 days of each other in adjoining rooms in the same hotel - the 3-star Downtown Inn. They all died in remarkably similar circumstances and whilst the local authorities are blaming it on food poisoning - and specifically to 'toxic seaweed', others believe that it can not be so straightforward.

My Chiang Mai Experience

Whatever it is that has happened here, it is clearly a tragedy for those involved. To go away on holiday and to never return, for whatever reason, must be a great shock to those back at home who never could have expected such a scenario.

But it would be in this case, a tragedy also if the good name of Chiang Mai as a tourist destination was irrevocably damaged because of these happenings. I can say that as one who has visited this wonderful city, back in 2008.

It was during my 2-week holiday of Thailand back at the start of that year that I visited, on my second stop having landed in Bangkok, the city of Chiang Mai. I've mentioned the holiday in passing before on this blog in a previous post here.

Having been rather underwhelmed by the overbearing experience of Bangkok, my friend Kendal and I who were travelling at the time decided to cut our 3 night stay in Thailand's capital city short and after two nights, caught a flight up north to our next destination on our world-wind tour of Thailand.


More Hi-De-Hi than the Ritz!



 The flight up I must say, was one of the dodgiest I have ever encountered. I can't recall the name of the company with whom we flew, but it was a domestic service which resembled and felt more like travelling inside a rattling box of eggs. It wasn't a long flight thankfully because I didn't feel particularly safe but we landed and we found our way to the accommodation which we had booked earlier that morning - the Eagle 2. It was like something from 1950s Maplins in the BBC spoof comedy Hi-De-Hi. The decour was old-fashioned and the security on the doors were not necessarily the best and all-in-all it really was incredibly cheap and basic. But having said that, we were paying the equivalent of £2 each a night for the stay so we were delighted!

A Buddhist Temple in Chiang Mai

The city is located some 435 miles north of Bangkok in the northern Thai hills and is therefore a good deal cooler than most other areas of the country. This in itself made this pale skinned lad like the place! It is not that big and is medieval in origin which instantly attracted this historian's attention. It was founded in 1296 and the old city was surrounded by a moat and defensive wall because nearby Burma was always a potential threat. We were located at the heart of the city, within the city walls.

Wales 2-0 Scotland!

There were Buddhist temples aplenty and I found the religious bedrock on which this country is based fascinating. In Chiang Mai alone there are over 300 temples (or 'wats' as they are known locally). The city is important culturally as well because of its links with the River Ping on the banks of which it is located. I travelled up and down this river on a bamboo boat and it was magic!

The night-life was a lot more relaxed than it was in Bangkok. An enjoyable recollection that I had was of bumping into a Scottish lad and an Australian woman who were in the town one night and the 4 of us met up later that evening for some drinks. He challenged me to a Celtic duel on a pool table in one particular pub (played on a half-sized snooker table!) and I'm glad to say that Wales beat Scotland 2-0!



Elephant Trekking

We also went elephant trekking whilst on our stay up in the north which was one of the most surreal experiences of my life and I also had the experience of having a snake being put around my neck! After all, you may only ever get these opportunities once!


So this particular leg of my journey was undoubtedly one one of the best that I experienced on what was in the round, a wonderful holiday.

With my new mate, Sid the Snake!

Chiang Mai will always go down in my affections as a 'real' Thai city. Not a modern cosmopolitan giant like Bangkok, but a real city with history and character.

So for all of the awful news that has come from that city in recent weeks, please don't let it put you off what was for me, a wonderful experience.

Would I go back to Chiang Mai? In a shot.

My Flirtation with Burma

I've been nursing my poorly Alyson these last few days. She's been getting better but today she's been struggling with dizziness. As a result, she's currently sleeping on the sofa in the living room.

This means I've been watching BBC News 24 and have been able, completely through luck, to watch the joyous scenes of Aung An Suu Kyi's release this morning in Burma.

She has spent some 15 of the last 21 years under house arrest after her 1990 democratic election win was quashed by the military junta who have kept a secure grip over the country ever since. It feels like a 'Mandela' moment and it's wonderful to watch her long-suffering supporters showing so much enthusiasm for her long-awaited for release.

I've been a scholar of history since I can barely remember. Recent history tells us that Burma is one of the most reserved, closed nations in the world. It's up there with North Korea in being one of the most mysterious of nations in the world at this present time.

My Thailand Odyssey
In early 2008, I found myself a matter of miles from Burma on my trek to Thailand.

Thailand is a wonderful country and on my 2 week stay there I travelled through as much of it as possible. I visited Bangkok of course (not recommended), the wonderful Chiang Mai in the north, the spell-binging Koh Samui on the Gulf of Thailand in the south and then finally Phuket.

During the middle of my holiday, I made a one night stop-over with Kendal who I was with at the time, at Kanchanaburi. Or to give it its more prominent name-check - to the Bridge on the River Kwai.

It remains one of the most mind-blowing experiences of my life. When I made the not small decision of going to Thailand (having never left the 'western world' before in my life), I checked the 'Rough Guide' to see what there was to see. Kanchanaburi stood out to this historian as the one 'must see' location and I persuaded Kendal to stay there overnight instead of just seeing it on a day trip.

The Death Railway

Why? Because the 258 mile Thailand-Burma Railway, built by the Japanese during WWII saw some 106,000 POWs die as a direct result of their strenuous efforts to build this 'Death Railway'. Some 6,318 of the 16,000 Allied POWs to die in the building of this railway were British. It was built to protect Japanese advances in Burma by giving them a more stable route to supply their new territories from Allied attack. The construction of the railway began on June 22nd 1942. The two ends met some 11 miles south of the Three Pagodas Pass on the Thailand/Burma border on October 17th 1943.

'Bridge 277' was bombed 3 times by the RAF and US Army Air Forces before the war came to an end with Japanese surrender. After the war, the British Army removed some 3.9km of the track on the border with a report showing that the railway, in poor condition, would not support commercial traffic. After the war, an 80 mile section of the railway between Ban Pong and Nam Tok (either side of and going through Kanchanaburi) was reconstructed - finally completed in 1958. Beyond Nam Tok, the track was abandonned with the steel rails salvaged for other use.

So it is now impossible to reach Burma from Thailand, via the old railway. I should know, because I've travelled it.

My Flirtation with The Union of Myanmar (Burma)

We stayed in a semi-detached tin hut on the banks of the River Kwai. From our veranda, we could see the Bridge. It was an awe-inspiring experience.

We walked across the bridge (see photo above) and when the time came, took a trip on the train itself from Kanchanaburi, over the bridge itself and up to Nam Tok. It's a haunting journey as it was only initially made possible by the toil, sweat and ultimately, the blood of Allied and Asian POWs. Some of the stretches of track stretch the imagination such is the incredulity of the engineering feats that these prisoners achieved (see photo on right). As the crow flies, there could have been little more than some 20 miles between our railway ride from Kanchanaburi to Nam Tok, to Burma to the south west.

I had wanted, on arriving at Nam Tok, to go further and to travel to the Three Pagodas Pass on the Thai/Burmese border where it's possible to obtain a one-day pass to Payathonsu on the Burmese side of the border. But it was too much extra time required out of what was an already packed 2-week schedule.

My Burmese Hopes
So I've never been to Burma - but I have been bloody close.

Until I went to Thailand, I had never had any interest in going to the Orient. It would be too hot. I wouldn't like the food. How silly was I? Of course, I absolutely adored it. The food was incredible and the heat was something you'd quickly get used too. The landscape was beautiful and the history of the region absolutely fascinating. I've always said since that one day (when I can afford it!) I'll re-visit this wonderful part of the world. Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam.

Also, hopefully in the future when Aung An Suu Kyi and her supporters take the democratic reigns of government in Myanmar, I will visit Burma too.

There's a long road ahead and this is merely the small righting of a bad, bad wrong. But, it's a small step forward for Burma and for the Far East.

For today at least, we rejoice. Tomorrow is another day and hopefully, it will be brighter still. For, without hope, what else is there?

My Qatar Airlines Seal of Approval

I've seen today on the news that this bomb from Yemen that was contained within a printer, had previously travelled on passenger planes with Qatar Airlines.

That's quite a scary thought. Clearly there's great issues of security continuing to emanate from the Middle East with terror levels being increased back here in the UK as a result.

It's also a sobering thought for me because I've flown on Qatar Airlines in the past. Back in early 2008, I had the great fortune to fly by Qatar Airlines to and from Manchester to Thailand via Doha, in Qatar.

They were very long 7 or so hour flights either side of Doha for a combined flight time of some 14 hours. Combined with the return flight, that's around 28 hours of travel that I've experienced with Qatar Airlines.

I was fortunate to have received a good deal for my return flight as I was under 26 at the time and got a discount. As it was, it was in my experience (and I've flown around a fair bit in all fairness), the best in-flight experience that I've ever encountered.

The service was excellent and the facilities really were first class. The choice of TV channels and music channels that I had on my own individual TV were wide and I had no problem at all in keeping myself occupied for the long travel to and from Thailand.

So it saddens me to hear that one of these bombs from the last week, had travelled on Qatar Airlines. But credit must go to the authorities for intercepting the package when they did.

I for one would love to travel again on Qatar Airlines. Today's honest announcement wouldn't change that. They have my seal of approval.