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Motherland: A Journey Through 500,000 Years of African Culture and Identity by Luke Pepera.

A review by Joshua Provan.

“Motherland is one of those books that unlocks corners of your mind. It opens up byways and connections you hadn’t noticed before and allows you to think about how things interact and inform at a deeper level.”

The Only Books There Were

In 1965 the American author & civil rights activist, James Baldwin addressed the Cambridge Student union. His subject of was whether or not the ‘American Dream’ had come at the expense of the ‘American Negro.’ After listening to the conflicting arguments delivered by two erudite undergraduates, Baldwin rose and took his place at the podium.

Image of James Baldwin four years after his debate in Cambridge where he illustrated the concept of the wrong types of books and the myth of a Historically bankrupt Africa
James Baldwin, 1969, by Allan Warren. Creative Commons License https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Baldwin_37_Allan_Warren.jpg

Baldwin made many points in his methodical and flawlessly cadenced speech, which lasted about 25 minutes. In so doing he illustrated the problems at the heart of the American Dream and what that dream had cost.

‘When I was growing up,’ Baldwin said, ten minutes from closing, ‘I was taught in American history books that Africa had no history and neither did I. That I was a savage, about whom, the less said the better, who had been saved by Europe and brought to America. And of course I believed it. I didn’t have much choice. Those where the only books there were.’

These words, spoken some 60 years ago, find an echo today at a time when writers, scholars and journalists are working to show people that Africa has and had a history. Motherland is a result of the vision and hard work of Luke Pepera, who is just one of many voices asking you to think deeper about what we think we know on this subject.

A Bad Unseen Place

It is not a question of an insufficient body of evidence or a lack of interest. The Library of Congress online database returns, 30,904 results from a search of history books and printed material published between 1960 and 2025 which include the keyword ‘Africa.’ Every year in western countries, books on African economy, sociology or history compete for space in bookstore windows.

Yet stereotypes persist. Why? Because, to our minds Africa is a place on TV where bad things happen, or it is a place of invisible, unseen, but recognised suffering.

In 2024, Dr. Mai Musié of the University of Swansea (now Senior Manager for Knowledge Evidence and Resources at NCACE) hosted a series of workshops with the aid of the Institutes of Advanced and Classical Studies of the University of London. The theme was to engage public, and especially diaspora, interest in classical history by examining African representation in the ancient world.

One of the speakers at the second workshop was Dr. Serawit Debele of the University of Bayreuth. In the course of her talk on finding her own identity as an Ethiopian and an African, in (as Pepera argues) potentially the most ethnically diverse continent in the world, she referred to the common perception in Europe of Africa being a place of pain, or punishment.

It is a modern stereotype with antique roots and in many cases, lacking the education and understanding to give context to the usually depressive, outrageous or inflammatory headlines we read, it is far easier for foreigners to label, accept and move on.

I remember when, after refusing to eat something as a child, I was given the ‘children in Africa’ lesson. To a child this lesson plants a seed, and the parent who deploys it is consciously or unconsciously using the concept of Africa as a place of pain to get their child to do something. Yet in so doing they divorce both parties from actually caring or understanding about what they are engaging with.

The reason for this is that, though examples of poverty and crisis in Africa are common, few care to look deeper. In a line from the action movie Sahara (2005) the villainous military dictator, played by Lennie James observes that because his crimes are happening in Africa everything would be all right because: ‘nobody cares about Africa.’ A solid piece of screenwriting, or a glib bit of character building? That is up to the viewer, but though oversimplified, it does truthfully represent the attention span, and capacity of most of the movie’s audience.

Conflicts and famines in the continent are seen as unavoidable, easily excused, dismissed as typical, endemic, or they are not seen at all. One need only attempt to start a conversation about the war in Sudan, the crisis in Tigray or the conflict in Congo to name a few of the most recent to see how little anyone knows or cares about what is going on south of the Mediterranean Sea. To most people, whatever is happening is happening in Africa, and that is usually enough to end the conversation.

The Challenge.

Caught between ignorance, pity, and disinterest; telling the story of Africa, is a great challenge. It is, however, a vitally important one to accept in today’s increasingly polarised world. In a 1990 interview, the actor Henry Cele who portrayed Shaka kaSenzagakhona in the miniseries Shaka Zulu, said how important it was for him to be able to bring a human Shaka to the screen, not just for South Africa but so that people around the world could see that Black History existed at all.

Cele hit on the fact that history, presented in an entertaining way, was a weapon to be used to fight stereotypes. But even this requires us to engage with a new decolonised or un-colonised view of history, and many are not willing to accept such a view, in a world that is progressing from, rather than leaving behind it’s colonial past.

I once gave two visitors from the United States a walking tour of London and its major museums. At the top of our agenda was The British Museum, so that we could, in the words of one of the visitors, ‘see the loot.’ With no shortage of appropriate exhibits, I felt it was important for them to see one of the most infamous and controversial collections, housed in the Sainsbury Africa Gallery – the Benin Bronzes.

Although it is low hanging fruit, I never fail to make as many loot and plunder jokes as possible whenever I go to the museum. Guilty as I am of repeating Michael B Jordan’s eminently quotable line from Black Panther for entertainment, I make these quips because there is truth to them.

When I mentioned that Nigeria’s economy suffered because these valuable objects had to be studied and visited in London rather than Abuja or Lagos, my guest responded by saying that no one would go to Nigeria because it was a, ‘s*#@t hole.’ Disagree as I might on multiple levels, I had a suspicion that he had very little with which to back up this opinion. Upon probing this attitude, I found that as I suspected, the otherwise well-travelled gentleman had, like myself, never been to Nigeria and had no foundation for the claim beyond second-hand knowledge and common perceptions.

His remark has stayed with me because it is far from unusual for conservative people over a certain age in the United States and the UK to hold to ideas inspired by the endless cycle of well-intentioned but dispiriting charity commercials begging for middle class Euro-American people to donate and save starving orphans, or build their wells. Such people use this sort of information to contrast, compare and confirm myths dressed up as news, like White Genocide in South Africa,

Pepera’s, Motherland takes up the challenge to oppose these stereotypes and does so from a position of power, rather than victimhood, highlighting positive and influential aspects of African history and culture for an audience that desperately needs good places to start.

African history is a challenge to the way some people view the world, because to give Africa a history of its own, with its own voice before 1945 is to give it a dignity that many cannot accept. The idea of Africa being a place with no history would have almost perfectly matched the opinion of the infamous Samuel Long who appears in the closing chapters of, Motherland.

The Wrong Kind of Books.

If you read, Binyavanga Wainaina’s essay, How to Write About Africa you will see where allot of those ideas you thought made you progressive, where actually learned by absorbing work written by what he called ‘Celebrity Activists and aid workers, conservationists … Africa’s most important people …’

Wainaina’s essay stopped short of including, historians and journalists though he almost certainly had them in his sights when he wrote his critique. For Wainaina, these people saw Africa as either a Safari Park, a documentary about genocide or dictators or a Charity commercial. To such minds, the 54 countries of Africa have had no collective or individual history before 1945. They only have news.

In Allan Moorhead’s 1922 book, The Blue Nile, when writing about the background to the British invasion of the Kingdom of Abyssinia (Ethiopia and Eritrea) Moorhead confidently asserted that nothing had happened there between 1771 and 1855. The reason? James Bruce, supposedly the only European in the country, had left in 1771. For, Moorhead, not a single scribe had written a word in Ge’ez regarding history for almost a century since Bruce left.

Books like this, which still represent the bulk of popular African historiography in English, and which informed entire generations of thinkers and writers are class – A examples of the wrong kind of books.

Pepera approached his task intent on presenting African history in a more positive way. As the author points out, doing this is not only an injustice but it is historical garbage because it reduces the available spectrum of study to only the last 3-400 years.

Europeans and Americans focus on the early modern and modern periods to define their history. This was a time of great growth and progress for Europe, and as such allows them to legitimately rely on increasing amounts of contemporary European language sources, many of which attempted to argue for the inferiority of the people and cultures of Africa.

There is no coincidence in the fact that this period is also the most convenient for authors, and casual observers, to compare Africa with Europe or America. As it was in those critical centuries that the nations across the Atlantic and north of the Mediterranean finally pulled ahead in technology and wealth from the rest of the world.

Pepera does not limit himself to such a selective study, nor does he look at the continent from outside, but instead goes in a different direction. For, in fact, Africa does not need to be given a history. It already has one, and not just a history of foreigners in Africa either.

Rap Battles in Print

When James Baldwin finished his speech at the Cambridge student union and took his seat, the entire assembly, led by the president, all of whom had maintained a congregation-like silence throughout, not only applauded vociferously, but rose unanimously in a mark of approval. The drawl of the unseen television presenter remarked, that he had never been witness such a spectacle before. The ovation lasted a full minute, and brought Baldwin, whose nuanced view of white support never saw him play into considerations of realpolitik, back to his feet to acknowledge the acclaim with some surprise.

When the applause died away the president introduced William F. Buckley, a white American conservative writer and intellectual from New York who with an equally exceptional vocabulary, but without an ounce of Baldwin’s ability to use it, launched into his challenge of the question under consideration.

Buckley’s approach was the antithesis of Baldwin’s. Whereas Baldwin had illustrated, Buckley lectured and where Baldwin had been inspiring, Buckley was perverse.

Even if Buckley had not made himself instantly unlikeable to the audience by making a personal remark about Baldwin’s accent, and this within minutes of opening his mouth, his manner and argument were of such an odious and almost comically villainous tone, that the crowd actively began to opposed him during the course of his address. When Buckley yielded the floor, the applause was restrained and not one person stood. The vote on the question returned an almost 2-1 majority for Baldwin.

It so happened that this debate was on my mind as I arrived at the part in Motherland where, Pepepra traced the origins of Rap and told the story of the first rap battle. One of the many unexpected and original ways the author uses non-traditional academic sources to illustrate his point. It occurred to me that in his way, by writing this book, the author is himself engaging in something similar, clapping back against the weight of dismissive or wilfully ignorant works and mindsets that feel a need to keep African history and stories where they have lain since Baldwin’s schooldays. The concept of self, place and identity for whole sections of Western Society lie directly on the concept of an inherited superiority, and they must oppose voices that challenge it.

In some ways too, Motherland, and books like it, engage in something of a rap-battle with the historiography of the past. There has never been a more important time for a clearer, and truer understanding of the Nations of Africa than today. Nor has there been a more important time to listen to African voices, be they from inside the continent, or the diaspora.

Identity

Pepera’s book is not just about history it is about identity. It highlights threads of common cultural experience and practice from across the continent that unite to give a sense of something uniquely African, and connects this to the fabric of modern life for people around the world. Many of the things we take for granted today have roots or origins in the continent, which scientifically speaking is the origin place for human life. Music, art, storytelling, belief and belonging, all have much more diverse origins and facets than we might think. In so bringing this to light, the author utilised many sources, some were academic but he did not restrict himself only to what universities would accept as evidence. Oral and material history, the stories and legends passed down for generations, and the artefacts, objects and structures that have been left behind all have something to add.

Luke Pepera, author of Motherland.

Identity is crucial to many of the biggest arguments in today’s society. In terms of diaspora, migration, forced migration and emigration, the identity of the person, or group that is in question drives the discussion. If western society can get beyond stereotypes, and stop treating foreign nations as inherently dangerous or as charity projects, there is hope, and there is allot of hope and guidance to be found in this book.

Luke Pepera’s Motherland, is one of a rising number of books, such as Zeynab Badawi’s African History of Africa, that will eventually replace those insufficient and defamatory tomes that have for too long be accepted or tolerated on our bookshelves. It throws out the idea, fostered by those books, that the nations of Africa exist in an inherently bad place that we glimpse from our sofas and try to ignore during commercial breaks. It boldly takes up the challenge set by these same forces, and shows us that Africa’s history and its many cultures are as old and diverse as any in the world, all of which deserve respect.

Motherland is one of those books that unlocks corners of your mind. It opens up byways and connections you hadn’t noticed before and allows you to think about how things interact and inform at a deeper level. Reading this book took me on a journey, and as I sat down to write this review, influences from James Baldwin to Binyavanga Wainaina and other connections flew to me and made it more like an essay than a review.

If you have read this far, I suppose that can’t have been a bad thing.

Josh.

Find the Historyland interview with Luke Pepera here https://youtu.be/NtNnrftE18U

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Book Review: The Rebel Romanov by Helen Rappaport

“Rappaport goes beyond the scandal to the human story, with an excellent eye for detail”

This book in itself is a quality production, with maps and many high-quality pictures illustrating places and people. It is written in a relaxed, easy-read style but without being overly novelistic and is accompanied by endnotes for the more serious non-fiction reader.

  • Publisher: ‎ Simon & Schuster UK (13 Feb. 2025)
  • Language: ‎ English.
  • Hardcover: ‎ 336 pages.
  • ISBN-10: ‎ 1398525960
  • https://www.amazon.co.uk

If you read allot of history the concept of the marriage market will not be new to you. Indeed, when talking about societal aspects of Europe in the 19th century the idea of sending one of your ministers on a shopping trip to central Germany it is something of a standing joke. 

On a very high level this is what happened to Marie Antoinette, and it is exactly what happened to Catherine the Great, this is why so many of the great houses of Western and Eastern Europe had such strong connections to Germany in 1913. To a lesser extent this was the case with the princes of Germany as well, the most famous example being the Prince Consort of Great Britain, Albert.

Hundreds of young ladies with impeccable pedigrees could be used to advance a family’s fortune, and many ended up far from home in unfamiliar surroundings at perilously young ages. Some thrived and founded dynasties, others waned and faded into the margins of history, while a few struggled through and made the best of it. 

These women become better known as the 19th century progresses, but for scholars and readers the earlier generation are usually harder to find. This is not an uncommon problem with the history of the world. Women do not often play a demonstrative role in history books or history publishing. True, there is room on bookstore shelves for movers, shakers and scandal-makers, to look at some of those shelves it is hard not to sometimes wonder; where are all the women?

As such Professor Helen Rappaport’s pursuit of one such victim of the marriage market is very welcome in shedding some light on the female experience during the late 18th and early 19thcentury. The lady’s name was Julie of Saxe-Coberg. If the surname rings a bell is because she would become the aunt of Queen Victoria (and indeed Prince Albert) and would remain a central figure in the social and political scene of royal and aristocratic life during one of the most tumultuous periods of European history, but not one without her controversies. 

One of the most enthusiastic bride shoppers of the period was Catherine the Great, who had been one of those obscure German princesses, plucked from the shelf to provide heirs for a dynasty and she saw no reason why the tradition should not be upheld for her own grandsons, Alexander and Constantine.

Immortalised along many other court ladies by Vigee Le Brun, Julie was selected to be the bride of Grande Duke Constantine Pavlovich, who at one point looked set to become the Tsar of Russia. Yet, Julie would never become an empress, and not just because Constantine declined the throne on the death of his brother.

Julie hated her life at the Russian court, larlgey because of her treatment at the hands of her husband the Grand Duke, who’s mercurial temper and scheming was well known to those who served with him in the Russian Army. Indeed, he grew so impossible to deal with during the first stage of the 1812 campaign that General Barclay de Tolly eventually found and excuse to send him away from the army, which was as close as an army general could probably come to dismissing the brother of the Tsar.

This behavior leeched into his personal life, and his wife suffered for it. Yet, the startling thing about Julie was that instead of putting up with Constantine’s abusive behavior in order to maintain her position, she actively worked to find a way to be allowed to leave him. Rappaport, no stranger to Romanov dramas, shows us how Julie took control of her own future, and stood up for herself in an age where courage was more often seen in duty and conformity. She also shows us the cost of doing so.

Because of her actions, Julie did not occupy a respected place in high society, indeed she was something of a figure of scandal due to her many alleged love affairs and her numerous unrecognized children. Indeed, until now it was those scandalous liaisons which characterized Julie’s life.

In this revealing biography, Rappaport goes beyond the scandal to the human story, with an excellent eye for detail, great powers of critical thinking but also empathy and sympathy. In so doing she finds a tale of strength, perseverance and tragedy, and presents a picture, just as beguiling as that painted by Le Brun; of a woman struggling against the constraints of her society in her quest to find what most of us still struggle to find today; happiness and meaning. 

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Book Review: The Shortest History of Japan by Lesley Downer

“memorable, meaningful and engaging”

One of Akira Kurosawa’s most famous movies is called Rashōmon, but few Western people who first encounter the movie will understand the significance of the name. At first glance, it seems to have nothing to do with the movie, as it is a story told by a small group of outcasts gathered at an old ruined gate. Although famous for his westward gaze, Kurosawa probably appealed to the knowledge of his Japanese audience to appreciate the significance of the subplot here.

As you will learn from reading The Shortest History of Japan, the name of this gate is Rashōmon, one of the principal entrances of the fabulous city of Heian-kyō, the Capital of Heian period Japan, which fell into ruin and became a place where people dumped corpses and left unwanted babies.

Now, of course, you don’t need to know this to enjoy Toshiro Mifune’s performance, but when you do, it adds significance to those outcasts who are telling the story. This nugget of significance is one of the many such rewards of reading The Shortest History of Japan, by Lesley Downer.

Today, Japan’s popular culture is ever present in Europe and America, and whether in food or art, the West is a major consumer of Japanese exports. Sometimes I often wonder if the average animé or culture watcher could tell you what Ukiyo-e is or if the average foodie could give some insight into the importance of rice to the Japanese economy for the majority of its history.

There is a danger in this, as the more widespread something becomes, the more it can become misunderstood.

The roadblock to understanding is interest, as such the fewer obstacles to deterring that interest is vital. Japanese history can be daunting to people who already lead busy lives as well as the size, detail, accessibility, and often high scholarly tone of most histories of Japan.

A country with the lineage of Japan is not easy to condense, but as the Edo period Haiku master, Bashō would no doubt tell you, just because a work is short, does not mean it cannot carry the same weight

… ‘watersplash’.

If you didn’t understand that reference, reading this book will enlighten you.

Much is down to quality, and this little book delivers a lot within a short space of time. It is not just a retelling of the high points of popular history either. A real effort to weave in significant but often obscure stories has been made. This is important as many readers tend to focus on specific historical periods and don’t get the chance to learn about things that came before or after. For instance, it might interest people to know that, although traditionally thought of as a country in which political power was (and remains) the preserve of men, four of the most important rulers who took Japan from a backwater known as the Land of Dwarves to the Land of the Rising Sun, were women. Significant but less-told and less accessible stories like these, are the bedrock of this book.

Therefore, books like Shortest History are vital to many students and history fans in the understanding of their favoured part in history as a whole. There can be no doubt that in condensing a topic that has libraries devoted to each chapter some things have been omitted or left emphasized, but a book like this cannot be judged on what it leaves out, nor should anyone forget that the author created this book to be an introduction, and a starting point. Yet, even if it is the only book you read about Japan you will reach the end in a better place than when you started, and you may rest assured you have travelled in capable hands.

From the dim origins of prehistory and then through the realm of myth, to the dawn of the samurai and into the modern age, the book flows smoothly and easily through the textured history of the country, revealing little-known figures and facts and always remaining close to the heart of the matter.

With her literary and historical experience, Lesley Downer is the perfect author to bring us The Shortest History of Japan, she conveys the central stories of Japan’s succession of eras with great atmosphere and detail, so whether you need a place to start, or want to cram on the flight to Tokyo, this, memorable, meaningful and engaging book is for you.

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Ranjit Singh: Sikh, Warrior, King Exhibition and Catalogue Review.

Through the busy foyer and around the central staircase my friend and I crossed the old dining room of the Wallace Collection and emerged into the echoes of the atrium where modern visitors dine. The noise of conversation and clashing plates rose and filled the glassy vault of the room as we descended to the basement level, paid the modest entrance price, and forgoing the audio tour entered the exhibition through the colourful door.

Low intimate lighting, a dark but opulent colour palate and soft music create a personal atmosphere, as if you are going for a private audience. The initial room orients guests to the empire that Ranjit Singh ruled. We progressed from there into a long rectangular space, divided in two by cases of gleaming armour and weapons highlighting the role of the Sikhs as a warrior elite. The crowd was quite thick and we were only able to make headway after I had enthused for a few minutes about the image of Ranjit Singh meeting Yashwantrao Holkar in 1806, which I had used in one of my books.

At the turn of the room, we trailed past an imposing panoply of Punjabi and Hindustani armour, and it is always faintly satisfying to see the ornate helmets constructed so a warrior could wear a tight turban beneath them and the beautifully patterned maille. On the statement wall a bearded warrior rides to war, laden down with every conceivable weapon and military trapping, sometimes described as one of the Maharaja’s bodyguards or the man himself as a youth, he seemed to be giving everyone a parting glance as they passed by. As we began to move down the other side of the room what for many is the standout piece demanded our attention.

An iconic towering fortress of blue turban and pale steel introduces passersby to the order of Akalis, or immortals, a dedicated corps of devoted warriors who formed the beating heart of the Sikh army and were considered the epitome of religious devotion and martial prowess, connecting the spiritual and warrior traditions of the first Gurus to the modern Europeanised army that Ranjit Singh formed to defend his empire. It is impossible to pass these artifacts without being aware of their power, ‘they terrify me,’ my friend observed, daring to look into the endless gaze of the famous photograph of one of the Nizam of Hyderabad’s Akali bodyguards.

An open copy of Colonel James Skinner’s exceptional Tazkirat al-Umara greeted us as we entered the next room, meant to convey something of the drama and grandeur of the Lahore Court. This book is a brilliant example of the talent of Delhi artists of the Company School and expert Persian calligraphy celebrating the then-reigning princes and rulers of Hindustan, Rajasthan, and Punjab. The open page shows Ranjitji possibly from life, seated in 1830, and several other works of art show the Maharajah on the same distinctive throne.

We did not need to use our imaginations to give its grandeur realistic proportions, however, because the real thing was sitting square in the middle of the room. In honesty, no one except me sees, Skinner’s book first when they enter this room, the gilded chair is impossible to ignore and draws visitors to it today like moths to a flame, just as it did when the most powerful man in northern India occupied it. On the wall behind the royal seat hung a wondrous sash, just as breathtaking in its detail as the throne.

Beyond the throne stand the Firangis. The next room is dominated by two paintings, one of Jean Francois Allard, a French officer who had fought for Napoleon and became a general under Ranjit Singh, and the other of the Maharajah himself backed by marching troops semi-obscured by dust, but clearly bearing a French tricolour overhead. These colourful characters represent the military Diaspora of the Napoleonic wars, many of whom form an integral part of the story of the Sikh Empire.

The next two rooms represent the decline of Ranjit Singh’s Kingdom. After he died in 1839, it was a mere six years before internal destabilisation, exterior pressure, and political power struggles led to the first of two Anglo-Sikh Wars. Without the Lion of Punjab to rule, it took only a decade for the last independent power in India to fall, epitomised by the artifacts pertaining to the last Maharajah, Duleep Singh, in the final room. As opposed to the strength that radiates from practically every piece connected to Ranjit Singh, there is a regal but fragile sadness to the bust of Duleep. Made all the more so poignant because of its proximity to Lord Dalhousie’s replica throne which stands beside the exit door, almost brutalist in its un-gilded apery of Ranjit Singh’s golden age.

Ranjit Singh, Sikh, Warrior, King is being held at the Wallace Collection in London until the 20th of October and it is not to be missed. Important as a spectacle for history and art lovers generally, it is also a deeply important exhibition for the Punjabi and Sikh diaspora. In the capable hands of Davinder Toor, whom I was privileged to meet at the exhibition; the collection (drawn from numerous places) has an agency all its own and seems to offer an inside look at the life of Ranjit Singh that could not be done in the same way if presented outside the community.

Though in no way exclusionary to non-sikhs, I have talked with several Punjabi visitors who identify the importance of being able to hear a story told for them, not about them, and to able to get up close with these rare objects and claim them as part of their heritage. For those without this connection, there is still much to learn. The Sikh and Punjab community is an important and valued part of the UK, and it was heartening to see the excitement in the faces of young and old, who came not with school groups or on tours, but with their grandparents, aunts and uncles, nieces, sons and daughters. No one visiting this exhibition can leave without the realisation that Ranjit Singh’s court valued the input of many cultures and ideas, and there is a lesson here of what acceptance, cooperation, and understanding can achieve in a single lifetime.

For those who cannot visit, or for those who want to remember their visit and indeed add depth to it, the beautifully produced catalogue guides you through the collection on display with expertly written chapters by Davinder Toor and a chapter by historian, William Dalrymple. The book continues with the themes of unity and enlightened rule, though never with simple adoration of a great hero; and there is, I think, and rightfully so, more of the man in the book than in the exhibition. The authors have dedicated large proportions of their lives to the preservation and transmission of the written and physical heritage through visual and textual storytelling.

This slim volume is a testament to their expertise. Besides the value of this book as a memento, and for its images, the text is laudable for its detail and precision, indeed it is an excellent and accessible starting point to Sikh history and the life of Ranjit Singh. While not to the scale of the 2018 Empire of the Sikhs exhibition, this more intimate look at the court of Ranjit Singh is something that doesn’t come around every day, and is an opportunity to learn more, not just about 19th century Punjab, but the modern UK, and so I highly encourage anyone reading this to heed the words of humble vakeels such as myself and to go thence to the Wallace Collection to wait upon the Lion of the Punjab

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The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks

Review

Lightroom – The Moon

WHEN & WHO?

‘… a stirring and moving homage to the past and future of lunar exploration’

At the end of the 1995 feature film Apollo 13, Tom Hanks, playing astronaut Jim Lovell, speaks over a slow-motion scene of himself and his fellow cast-mates recreating the welcome of the returning voyagers to the USS Iwo Jima. ‘I look up at the moon and wonder,’ Hanks says in his familiarly understated but reassuring tone as the music of James Horner swells in the background, ‘when will we be going back and who will that be?’

Although, in reality, four more missions would reach the lunar surface between the ‘successful failure’ and December of 1972; when Apollo 13 came to theatres it had been twenty-three years since that last moon landing, and now half a century on from that last poignant step for mankind, the question posed in that final monologue is being answered.

In the next 3 years, NASA will launch a manned mission to the surface of the moon, comprising of Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch from NASA, with mission specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency, ushering in perhaps the next chapter of human discovery.

This event, the irrepressible enthusiasm of Hanks for space exploration, and a chance meeting with the CEO of Lightroom London, Richard Slaney presented a unique opportunity to not only celebrate the birth, (and act as a reminder) of the Artemis Program but to also look back at those small steps, and giant leaps that had come before. The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks which opened on 6 December 2023 at the Lightroom is a stirring and moving homage to the past and future of lunar exploration.

I can’t pretend to be a space geek, but I am a space fan, and so when I received an invitation from the thoughtful and charming, Alysa Beckner from the Borkowski publicity team to attend an early screening the day before opening to the public, I did not even contemplate passing up the opportunity. I chose to go.

THE VENUE

Alysa and her team greeted everyone who entered with a generous smile, a branded tote bag with the specially produced guide to the show, and directed us to where we could find refreshments. The publicity team deserve a round of applause for their smooth handling of the event, and for prioritising guests they believed would genuinely enjoy the performance.

Walking into the foyer of the Lightroom, a visitor is immediately stuck by the elegant, but modern design of your surroundings, which harmonises with an almost old-time Hollywood glamour just noticeable in the outer facade and bold red lettering above the door. A gold, statement wall adorned with mission patches strikes you through a cloud of intricately constructed light-bulbs, fashioned with what appears to be crepe so as to conjure a stillness and tranquility. These float over the smooth outline of the central staircase which curls down to a space used for merchandise, a small selection of which, including the spectacular prints of some of the most iconic lunar photography, is available on the ground floor. To the left of the door is a well-stocked bar that also serves excellent coffee and cakes.

The foyer is a relaxing place, with a warm, comforting colour-palate to rest and have a snack, and look out at the cold grey city. The Lightroom is situated 8 minutes away from Kings Cross and rests at the edge of a swanky array of chic restaurants, shops and café’s called the Coal Yard, that could easily be included in a visit.

Like many venues that offer immersive experiences, each room transitions you from the real world outside the ample glass windows to a secret place far from the familiar. Winding passages that curve, rise and fall take you to the Lightroom stage, and nothing you’ve seen online can prepare you for the scale of the room. The dimensions are immense, as if someone had built a large cinema room, common to most multiplexes, but then scooped out the usual mountainous bank of seats to leave a sort of void into which, when I was there at least, seating is artfully arranged to create a sense of distance from the crowd. In the right angle between the back wall and the stair case that leads you onto the floor, was a wedge of benches, and the rest were spread out symmetrically towards the centre, strategically leaving room around the edges.

The lighting was subdued, and a few images were already projected on the left and right walls, while the large principal wall was filled with a capsule like image and a countdown. No one can leave that theatre and not come away with an understanding of why The Moonwalkers and the Lightroom were a perfect match.

THE MOONWALKERS

‘There are not stars enough in the sky to rate this show’

Watching a feature in the Lightroom is an experience like no other, and as The Moonwalkers unfolds around you, it’s hard not to become immersed in the story, indeed you have no choice, as surrounded by the impactful music  and enfolded by projections that probably cover 90% of the available surface, you are literally a part of the spectacle. Even in the more world-renowned theme parks, where every effort is made to immerse a guest inside a story, there is nothing to match the scale of what the Lightroom can offer.

Unlike conventional cinemas, viewers are encouraged to get up and wander around the room so as to be able to take in the different perspectives around them, making it a viewing experience like no other, and perfect for the sort of info-tainment that Hanks and the collaborative forces behind the Lightroom created when they made The Moonwalkers. What better place to talk about the moon than in a multi-dimensional space, a place as immersive as this, a place almost as panoramic as the moon itself.

Production wise it is a genuine wow moment as the roar of the rocket engines travel through the floor and seats, contrasting almost violently with the serene vocals and harmonies of the score when the landing sites and lunar landscape are recreated, so that, if you have listened to the narrator’s story of the pool and the hose-pipe, and you use just a little imagination you might just think you’re there.

There are not stars enough in the sky to rate this show, and underpinning it all is the familiar, neighbour-next-door style narration of Tom Hanks, who switches from pathos, to simple enthusiasm with as much ease as Anne Nikitin’s tremendous score glides through movements.

‘… it is tremendous entertainment’

To walk around the theatre and take in the myriad of visuals playing across every wall is a bewildering but very novel experience, and though you tend to live for the big, picture moments, and to hope there aren’t too many excited children running around in the quiet ones, and even if it challenges the capacity of a single mind to take it all in, it is tremendous entertainment, and after all, who can say anyone who walked on the moon was truly able to take an earth-rise in either?

Spectacle aside, there is a rich substance to the show, not only is it Hanks’s own personal love-letter to the Lunar program, but it touches on a number of wider and greater themes. Humanity’s endless quest for discovery that began, as the narrator put it in one interview, when someone ventured beyond the confines of his cave, and left a footprint on a distant riverbank. The message of positivity, to individuals and to the whole, that there are answers to be found if we as people will only work together to solve them.

Lightroom – The Moon

THE OPTIMISM OF DISCOVERY

‘a representation of Tom Hanks’s faith in the unquenchable optimism at the heart of lunar and space exploration’

The sense of standing on the edge of a new era is neatly presaged by some of the opening lines, in which Hanks declares that the moon has always been two things to us, and so harmonising with the central theme which asks us to look back at the Apollo era and at the same time look forwards to the beginning of Artemis, the sister of Apollo.

When I asked a fellow attendee, Dr. Fian Smithwick what he thought, he said that the show had reinvigorated his excitement about space, and that he was looking forward to watching the Artemis crew launch and make their own mark on the moon in 2024.

Above all, The Moonwalkers is a representation of Tom Hanks’s creator’s faith in the unquenchable optimism at the heart of lunar and space exploration, and a call to look once more to the stars as one people and to dream of a time when we might all, to paraphrase Gene Cernan before he left the moon in 1972, to live and work ‘in peace and hope.’

Hanks’s message, in truth is more than a reminder to get excited for another age of Moonwalks rather than Spacewalks, but is for us to recall our shared humanity at a time when it is easy to become dragged down by a multitude of factors that set us apart. To look at the moon, he says early in the show, is to look at an object that every human ever born has looked at and to wonder what the stars might look like from beyond the earth.

In leaving the theatre, one cannot help but wonder if he is right, perhaps if we set our eyes to that distant familiar point where mankind has so often looked for answered, and further, to the stars beyond we will be able to see hope for the future.

The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks will be playing at the Lightroom London, from 6 December to 21 April 2024. Please see the links above for ticket information.

Josh.

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La Vie de Boucanier pour Moi!

A new video appeared on Historyland two weeks ago. My friend the legendary author René Chartrand joined me to talk about the swashbuckling rogues who went to the Americas from France and carved out an empire. Make sure you follow the links in the video description to buy René’s book

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Book Review: Eagles Over the Alps by Christopher Duffy

Pages : 304 | Images : 72 b/w illustrations & photos, 34 b/w maps | Date of Publication : 14th June 2022 | Size : 345mm x 170mm | ISBN : 9781913336134 | Helion Book Code : HEL1239 | https://www.helion.co.uk/military-history-books/eagles-over-the-alps-suvorov-in-italy-and-switzerland-1799.php

Originally published in 1999, Christopher Duffy’s Eagles over the Alps has remained the ultimate work on the 1799 Austro-Russian campaign in Italy, and thankfully it has now been republished by Helion after many years on the second hand market. Duffy, one of the foremost experts on 18th century warfare and author of numerous books on little known campaigns, identified this popular but little studied theatre of the War of the Second Coalition as a critical focus of study.

With Napoleon in Egypt, and Switzerland in revolt, Russia and Austria saw an opportunity to regain what had been lost during the first Italian campaign. The Tsar dispatched the legendary and eccentric generalissimo Suvorov to lead the allied troops. The alliance was not a smooth one, and later rifts between the Austrians and Russians have unfairly skewed the reality of these early alliances into national caricatures.

Duffy does excellently in showing that with a strong enough leader, or perhaps personality is the better word, much could be achieved if he was given enough leeway. That being said, despite Suvorov being front and centre in this work, it was more than Russian leadership and military might that counted here, as Duffy highlights the very necessary work of the Austrian Chiefs of staff who made the wishes of their Russian commander possible as indeed did their much maligned troops.

The Austro-Russians swept across northern Italy in the spring, driving back the French in confusion, talented French generals like Moreau found themselves outmatched by a reinvigorated coalition army which matched the dash and elan of the Republican armies of the last war. Only the victory of Masséna at Zurich saved the French position in Italy from utter collapse, and forced Suvorov to retreat back across the alps in one of the most famous, but little known episodes of the great French Wars. 

It is classic Duffy, who tackles the subject with clarity and aplomb, his character study of Suvorov is majestically written, and his summary of the opposing armies allows readers to understand the dynamics of the battles without loss of focus to the narrative. Key points arise in terms of the Russians, who Napoleonic readers will know of from their later campaigns, for this was the campaign that began the long process of getting the army ready for the trials of 1812.

I cannot tell you how many times I have wished for this book to be reprinted, or how happy I am that it has finally been done.

Importantly the book addresses many common conceptions that still exist today. It was common in books on the Napoleonic Wars from around 30-40 years ago, to use Suvorov as a sort of outdated relic that the Russian army of 1805 had to shake off in order to defeat Napoleon in 1812. Much was made of his famous dependence on the bayonet, his aggressiveness and supposed simplicity. This was very much the way Napoleon thought of Suvorov, but it is only the surface of a much more brilliant general, thus it is no surprise that many people characterise him as a mad, eccentric who was only successful against the Ottomans. But despite what Napoleon liked to think, not all allied leaders were either, incompetent, old, mad or all three, nor was the emperor’s genius totally original.

Suvorov was certainly from a different age than that of Napoleon, but he was undoubtedly of the Napoleonic stamp, and in reading this I am given to thinking that perhaps Napoleon was much more a product of the best of the 18th century than something freshly sprung from the soil of innovation. What Napoleon and many people who never fought Suvorov missed, was his strategic acumen and speed of movement, which had the emperor ever faced him would certainly have been an unwelcome surprise. This book, when it was written was undoubtedly meant to redress much of the thinking regarding Suvorov, and as little more has been written since then, it remains so.

Readers used to hearing of the tactical brilliance and modern practices of the French army, will be surprised to see how Suvorov adapted his forces to meet them. At the same time, it will become increasingly obvious how the allies were still prone to weakening themselves with infighting. As a case in point, most senior Austrians and certainly the Austrian government saw this operation as a way to regain lost possessions and shore up Austrian Italy, while Suvorov saw it as a literal crusade against the atheist French and had dreams of storming through Italy in into France itself.

Crucially, the importance of these operations lies in that they form the background to what Napoleon sought to address when he fought the near disastrous, but ultimately decisive, Marengo campaign the next year, which should provide more food for thought regarding, perhaps, how lucky Napoleon was that Suvorov died in early 1800 and did not face him that day when he reestablished himself as a force in Europe. It is therefore a good companion to the work done by Terry Crowdy on Marengo.

The book is illustrated with a selection of photographs taken by the author, which were present in the original publication, as were the engravings of Generals, and some of Duffy’s classic maps which readers familiar with his work will recognise the style from the good old days. The new production by Helion is true to the original with an elegant and refined cover with two figure studies executed by Patrice Courcelle. I cannot tell you how many times I have wished for this book to be reprinted, or how happy I am that it has finally been done.

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Book Review: The Battle of Gettysburg 1863 (1) by Timothy J. Orr

  • Author: Timothy Orr
  • Illustrator: Steve Noon
  • Short code: CAM 374
  • Publication Date: 17 Mar 2022

https://ospreypublishing.com/the-battle-of-gettysburg-1863-1

The beginning of Osprey’s new offering on the most famous battle fought on American soil is a crisp, from the shoulder affair and tells the story straight.

Author, Timothy Orr is obviously aware of his audience and as such gives the reader the facts and knowledge they need to understand the first day of the battle rather than how things worked during the war as a whole. 

Mr. Orr is unconcerned with pushing a particular thesis here, nor are any of his sentiments particularly judgemental. Instead the brief but detailed narrative is immediate and restricted to what happened, without a great deal of high level analysis, but with a sprinkling of first hand accounts which allow the chaotic and brutal hours of 1 July 1863 to play out with a human face.

This book sets out to give readers an accessible beginning point to understanding the utter carnage of Gettysburg. Reading through the book I was struck by the appalling casualty figures being cited, seemingly every unit suffering massive casualties with far too many recording a loss of half its strength.

As the author notes, the first days fighting,  which saw a battle of encounter expand out of Robert E Lee’s control into a four mile running fight from ridge to ridge until the confederates had driven the Union forces back beyond Gettysburg, was apocalyptic in terms of losses, and knowing that the fighting would continue for another 2 days, we can easily see how truly ghastly the cost of Lee’s invasion of the north would become.

Noting the stubborn struggle which neither side was really prepared for, Orr shows the reader that warfare had indeed changed. Where once a battle such as this might have been won convincingly by a gifted tactician like Lee, in fact, despite the confederate victory on the first day, their losses were almost as bad as those of their enemy, much as it had been at Chancellorsville. 

Orr gives us also a clear idea that Lee was in this fight as much to seek the decisive and elusive battle he wanted, as he was to ensure his army stayed together and wasn’t parcelled out from Richmond to the Mississippi. Neither senior commander will exercise much control over the battle at this stage. And why Lee thought he could win a napoleonic war winner after Chancellorsville, or why he chose to fight on into the next day is left an open question.

The book is amply illustrated with photographs of interesting uniforms and portraits of participants, many of whose stories will be unfamiliar but form the heart of this book. Detailed maps of a high quality support the text and I cannot praise the original artwork of Steve Noon highly enough. It is not easy to find original ways to portray this battle but Noon has done a splendid job. Definitely a book to seek out if you want an detailed introduction to the battle that doesn’t get too bogged down in theory and critique.

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5 Examples of Fine Mughal Architecture you must Know About.

Thank you for visiting Historyland today. I am delighted to share with you this post about Mughal architecture by fellow blogger, Richard Marrison from the HistoryTen website.

Richard Marrison is from Budapest, Hungary. He has an MBA in Cultural Anthropology and loves history. His love and passion for history got him to indulge in creating content on history-related topics

Introduction

The Mughals developed a style of Indo-Islamic architecture, the Mughal architecture, in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries as their empire expanded throughout the Indian subcontinent. The styles of earlier Muslim kingdoms in India evolved as a combination of Islamic, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and Indian architecture.

This style of architecture has giant bulbous domes, thin minarets at corners, massive halls, large arched doorways, and exquisite ornamentation with a consistent pattern of construction and character. Some examples of the style may be encountered in modern Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.

After Babur’s victory at Panipat in 1526, the Mughal empire was created. Babur took a keen interest in buildings during his five-year reign. However, few have survived. His grandson Akbar constructed much, and the style flourished under his rule.

Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri Fort, and the Buland Darwaza were among his achievements. Jahangir, Akbar’s son, commissioned the Shalimar Gardens in Kashmir.

, Mughal architecture achieved its pinnacle during the rule of Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal – one of the World’s Seven Wonders, the Jama Masjid, the Shalimar Gardens of Lahore – one of the greatest inventions of Indus Valley civilization, the Wazir Khan Mosque, and reconstructed the Lahore Fort. Aurangzeb, the last great Mughal architect, created the Badshahi Mosque, Bibi Ka Maqbara, Moti Masjid, and other structures.

Mughal inlay art is a notable aspect of Mughal architecture in India, and overlay art was a vibrant expression tool throughout the Mughal Empire’s golden period. The Monuments of Agra (India) depict the many stages of the evolution of Mughal Inlay art from the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries, as practiced by Akbar (r. 1556-1605), Jahangir (r. 1605-1627), and Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658).

One of the most beautiful and popular Mughal art developed indigenously in India is marble inlay, also known as ‘Pachchikari’ or ‘Parchinkari.’ It is thought to be of Italian origin.

However, some argue that it is actually of Indian origin. Combining Hindu, Persian, and Islamic themes, the Mughal architecture mainly features large bulbous onion domes, frequently flanked by four smaller domes. White marble and red sandstone are also frequently used.

Other attributes of Mughal architecture also comprise delicate ornamentation work, such as Pachin Kari ornamental work and jali-latticed screens. Monumental structures are enclosed on all four sides by gardens. Mosques also feature expansive courtyards. Likewise, inscriptions in Persian and Arabic calligraphy also include Quranic verses. Moreover, Mughal architecture also inspired later Indian architectural designs such as the British Raj’s Indo-Saracenic style, the Rajput style, and the Sikh style.

Here are some of the most celebrated Mughal Architectures of all time.

The Shalimar Gardens in Lahore

The Shalimar Gardens are a Mughal garden complex in Lahore, Pakistan. The gardens date from the Mughal Empire’s artistic and aesthetic zenith and are today one of Pakistan’s most famous tourist sites. Designed as a Persian paradise garden, the Shalimar Gardens depict an earthly ideal in which humans coexist in perfect equilibrium with all aspects of nature.

The gardens’ construction began in 1641, under the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan, and was completed in 1642. The Shalimar Gardens were included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1981 because they represent Mughal garden design at its pinnacle.

Mughal Gardens were inspired by Timurid gardens created between the 14th and 16th centuries in Central Asia and Iran. A high brick wall elaborately ornamented with complex fretwork encloses the location, allowing for the development of a Charbagh paradise garden – a perfect illustration of earthly heaven.

The Shalimar Gardens are architecturally shaped in the form of a rectangle with a north-south axis, measuring 658 meters by 258 meters and covering an area of 16 hectares. Each terrace level is 4–5 m (13–15 ft) taller than the one before. The gardens’ highest terrace is Bagh-e-Farah Baksh, which translates as “Bestower of Pleasure.” The second and third embankments are the Bagh-e-Faiz Baksh, which translates as Bestower of Goodness.

Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi

The Humayun’s Tomb is the Mughal Emperor Humayun’s tomb in Delhi, India. Empress Bega Begum (also known as Haji Begum) commissioned the tomb in 1558, and it was created by Mirak Mirza Ghiyas and his son, Sayyid Muhammad, Persian architects chosen by her.

It was the earliest garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent. It is located in Nizamuddin East, Delhi, India, near the Dina-Panah Citadel, also known as Purana Qila (Old Fort), which Humayun discovered in 1533. It was also the first skyscraper on a large scale to use red sandstone. The tomb was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 and has since undergone substantial repair work, which has now been completed.

The complex includes the main tomb of Emperor Humayun, which contains the graves of Empress Bega Begum, Hamida Begum, and Dara Shikoh, Humayun’s great-great-grandson and son of the later Emperor Shah Jahan, as well as the graves of numerous subsequent Mughals, including Emperor Jahandar Shah, Farrukhsiyar, Rafi Ul-Darjat, Rafi Ud-Daulat, Muhammad Kam.

It was a breakthrough in Mughal construction. It established a precedent for succeeding Mughal architecture with its accomplished Charbagh garden, typical of Persian gardens but had never been seen in India previously. It is viewed as a significant divergence from his father, the first Mughal Emperor, Babur’s humble monument in Kabul, known as Bagh-e Babur (Gardens of Babur) (Afghanistan).

Lahore Fort

The Lahore Fort is a fortress in the Pakistani city of Lahore. The stronghold is positioned at the northern extremity of Lahore’s walled city and covers an area of more than 20 hectares. It is home to 21 famous monuments, some of which date back to the reign of Emperor Akbar. The Lahore Fort is famous for being virtually entirely constructed in the 17th century when the Mughal Empire was at its apex of splendor and opulence.

Though the Lahore Fort site has been inhabited for millennia, the oldest trace of a fortified structure was an 11th-century mud-brick fort. The contemporary Lahore Fort was built in 1566 by Emperor Akbar, who gave the fort a syncretic architectural style with Islamic and Hindu influences.

Shah Jahan’s period additions are distinguished by sumptuous marble with inlaid Persian floral designs. At the same time, the fort’s grand and famous Alamgiri Gate was built by Aurangzeb, the last of the great Mughal Emperors, and confronts the renowned Badshahi Mosque.

The Tomb of Jahangir in Lahore

The Tomb of Jahangir is a 17th-century tomb constructed for Mughal Emperor Jahangir. The mausoleum was built in 1637 in Shahdara Bagh, near Lahore, Pakistan, along the banks of the Ravi River.

The site is noteworthy for its interiors, which are highly painted with frescoes and marble, and its exterior is richly ornamented with pietra dura.

The mausoleum, along with the nearby Akbari Sarai and the Tomb of Asif Khan, is part of an ensemble that has been proposed for UNESCO World Heritage classification.

The tomb was built in the Mughal style, influenced by Persia’s Safavid-style architecture. The mausoleum is designed as a takhtgah, or a mausoleum built on a pedestal that acts as a Takht, or “throne.” Except there is no takhtgah on the podium, and it does not appear to have ever been erected.

Jahangir’s mausoleum, like Akbar’s, lacks a central dome because the Emperor is said to have expressly forbidden the erection of a dome over his tomb. Domes were also initially utilized in Mughal funerary architecture at the Tomb of Humayun and were revived by Shah Jahan.

The Taj Mahal

And finally, perhaps the most famous example of the most exemplary Mughal architecture in the world, the Taj Mahal (translated as the ‘Crown of the Palace’), is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the Yamuna river in Agra, India.

It was built in 1632 by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658) to house the tomb of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It also houses Shah Jahan’s tomb.

The tomb is the focal point of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex containing a mosque and a guest house. It is placed in traditional gardens surrounded by a crenelated wall on three sides.

In 1983, UNESCO declared the Taj Mahal a World Heritage Site for being “the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the globally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage.”

Many consider it an outstanding example of Mughal architecture and a symbol of India’s rich past.

The Taj Mahal receives about 6 million tourists every year[3], and it was named one of the New 7 Wonders of the World (2000–2007) initiative’s winners in 2007.

The Taj Mahal includes and develops on Indo-Islamic and older Mughal architectural design traditions. Specific inspiration came from successful Timurid and Mughal buildings such as the Gur-e Amir (the tomb of Timur, the progenitor of the Mughal dynasty, in Samarkand), Humayun’s Tomb, which inspired the Charbagh gardens and hasht-behesht (architecture) plan of the site, and the Itmad-Ud-Tomb Daulah’s (also known as the Baby Taj).

Shah Jahan Earlier Mughal structures were mainly made of red sandstone, but Shah Jahan encouraged the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones. Buildings built under his patronage attained unprecedented heights of refinement, as seen on the Taj Mahal.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the most significant feature of Mughal architecture?

The inflated dome structure found in every building was the primary characteristic of Mughal architecture. The roof of the dome is hemispherical.

What distinguishes Mughal architecture?

The Mughal era saw a remarkable renaissance of Islamic architecture in northern India. Persian, Indian, and diverse regional styles were combined under the patronage of the Mughal emperors to extract works of remarkable quality and finesse.

Conclusion

With its ideal blend of Islamic, Turkish, Indian, and Persian components, Mughal architecture has created masterpieces that never cease to astound visitors.

During their 300-year reign in India, the Mughals built a lot of magnificent first mosques, tombs, and palaces, leaving their imprint on the country’s heritage splendor.

The sheer aesthetic brilliance and grandeur of these creations continue to elevate the country’s tourism. Millions of people visit India and Pakistan to see the grandeur and splendor of Mughal structures today.

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Book Review: An account of the Military Campaign of the Year 1812 : Edited and translated with additional notes and commentary by Jimmy Chen

  • Format Paperback | 102 pages
  • Dimensions 152 x 229 x 6mm | 159g
  • Publication date 25 Dec 2018
  • Publisher Independently Published
  • Language English
  • Illustrations note Illustrations, black and white
  • ISBN10 1983002119
  • ISBN13 9781983002113

Maligned as the cautious, wily, German General in War and Peace, forgotten as just another Fabian General who should’ve been behind a desk in St Petersburg who feared to oppose Napoleon, by historians, Field Marshal Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly was one of Russia’s foremost soldiers in the Napoleonic Wars, but due to these perceptions and a multitude of factors people are quick to discount him. 

” … never has a commander-in-chief of any army found himself in such an unfavourable position as I did” noted Barclay de Tolly, remembering the warm days of mid summer in 1812 as the 1st and 2nd Western Armies at marched to combine at Smolensk.

Barclay de Tolly was not a coward, nor was he, in the early months of the campaign disinterested in opportunities to strike at Napoleon’s monstrous array as it trudged towards the heart of the Russian empire, but he knew what later would become clear to the allied planners who formulated the Trachenberg plan; that glamorous maneuvers were not the only way to win wars. In his own words to the Tsar he plainly argued that during these first months of marching and fighting, in war the state was the army and as went one so would follow the other.

“would not a fanciful attempt at glory by handing the fate of the Empire to the powers of blind fate amount to a betrayal of the fatherland? Were such dreams of glorious maneuvers necessary at that time, when the aim of the war was to destroy the enemy, the enslaver of Europe?”

In his account Barclay made no secret of his opinion that he had followed the logical course to keep the army moving unless certain victory was at hand, and attributed the chaos of Borodino to General Bennigsen , who redistributed the staff officers of the army after the amalgamation under Kutuzov and thus ‘The commanding generals themselves were left with no staff officers who could report to them’ and was “sufficient to undermine the direction of the army as established by the new procedures, and amounted to the nullification of the commander-in-chief’s power.” 

Though only a few names are mentioned, Barclay is very careful not to mention his issues with Grand Duke Constantine for instance, and took great care to state his case concisely. The procedures Barclay spoke of were of course his own reforms as minister of war, that in great part had prepared the Russian army for the complicated and dangerous maneuvers they had undertaken so far, reminding us that his main object in writing this account was to present a record of his services.

Wether or not, as Barclay noted ‘the commanders-in-chief of the two armies were made completely redundant,’ in the leadup to Borodino therefore reflects a bias or reality, the ruinous performance of the Russian staff at the battle is plain to see, helping us to see Barclay’s point of view, and as such readers will benefit from some foreknowledge of the campaign.

The style is terse and factual, though not onerously laboured with military minutia or theory, laced throughout is instead a forceful appeal to see things as Barclay saw them. In these pages his exhaustion through physical and mental fatigue, the veritable slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, and the strain of opposing Napoleon are plainly laid out.

This is not to say that the account is dry entirely, a novelist or man of letters Barclay de Tolly may not have been, but he did pick out some excellent moments of interaction that form colourful vignettes especially the council of Fili, and his summations come through with the greatest force, for in the end history did bear him out, because as it proved, neither Smolensk, Moscow nor even the very soil occupied by Napoleon’s horde constituted Russia in 1812, and so long as the army survived so too would the country.

The book is rounded out by a short biographical introduction and an index of names for those figures highlighted in the text as well as notes and a commentary section. This edition has one picture of Barclay, and at this time no maps. 

Such as being the case this summary of the operations of the 1st western army (and to some degree the second) translated into English for the first time, giving insight into the political infighting in Russian headquarters alongside an outline of Barclay’s intentions, is a vital aid to research, and will help improve our understanding of this pivotal event in the Napoleonic Wars.