Aristocracy · London · Monarchies · People

Princess Alexandra of Kent, the most Russian member of the British royal family, turns 87

First cousin of Elizabeth II, granddaughter of Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna and great-great-granddaughter of Emperor Alexander II

Faith · Books · People

Tolkien's words to his son Michael about Holy Communion and talk of canonisation

Pope Francis quoted Tolkien's letter to his son in his Christmas address:. "Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament… There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the

NB! · Archive · People

Possibly the Boldest of Winston Churchill's Photographs

NB! · Archive · Science · People

Einstein Is Three Years Old

Art · Monarchies · People

Delaroche’s painting of Napoleon crossing the Saint Bernard Pass and the guide’s reward

Most often Napoleon crossing the Alps is imagined as in the portrait by Jacques-Louis David: a proud horseman astride a white stallion. Delaroche's painting, created more than thirty years after Napoleon's death, shows the then First Consul crossing the Great St Bernard Pass, the shortest

NB! · Art · Monarchies · People

Death of a King in a Veil, by the Victorian Artist Charlotte Minor Will, 1893

NB! · Archive · Books · People

Jorge Luis Borges at the Edgar Allan Poe Memorial in 1983

NB! · Archive · Books · People

Romain Gary, one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century, in the uniform of the Free French Air Force at the funeral of General de Gaulle, the founder of that formation, in November 1970

Film still: a character with cat ears and light fluffy fur, with the face of an elderly woman with blue eyes.

Cinema · Mores · People · Nature

Recollection of 17 cats in the family during the war and a love of cats

Judi Dench recalls that during the war there were 17 cats in their house:. “I definitely love cats. During the war nobody could feed their animals, so we had 17 cats; that is how I was brought up, and I have always had a cat ever since.”

Interviews · Cinema · Society · People

Otar Ioseliani in an interview with Yury Rost on culture and cinema in Russia

Last year saw the publication of a long interview by Yury Rost with Otar Iosseliani, who passed away today in his 90th year. The director describes how he found culture and cinema in Russia. — You haven't been in the country for a long time. What has changed in

Books · Monarchies · People

The small stature of Marina Mnishek and Tsar Dmitry and the story of the 1606 conspiracy

Aleksey Tolstoy has lines about how the pretender (False Dmitry) climbed onto the throne with his bride (Marina Mniszech) and dangled his legs with her. Marina Mniszech, the first crowned Russian tsaritsa, and her husband were indeed of very small stature. And if Tsar Dmitry was simply described as "

British officers walk on foot by the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem, a mounted rider nearby, with crowds and spectators on balconies and walls.

NB! · Faith · The East · People

General Allenby entered Jerusalem on foot through the Jaffa Gate in December 1917

When the British General Allenby accepted the surrender of Jerusalem in December 1917, he entered the city on foot through the Jaffa Gate, saying that he would not ride his horse into a city into which the Lord had ridden on a donkey. Allenby was the first Christian to capture