Jean M. Fasse (Red Cross during WWII, and later the Special Service). Shirley Ann Thacker (WAVE). Just two of the interviews from the extensive collection of material (photographs, letters, diaries, scrapbooks, oral histories and posters) at the Women Veterans Historical Collection.
posted by tellurian on Oct 14, 2009 - 4 comments

Soldier's Mail: Letters Home from a New England Soldier, 1916-1919.
posted by Pater Aletheias on Jul 9, 2009 - 11 comments

In 2009, a remarkably gifted politician, confronting a remarkably difficult set of challenges, will have to learn to say "No we can't", Guantánamo will prove a moral minefield, economic recovery will be invisible to the naked eye, governments must prepare for the day they stop financial guarantees, we will judge our commitment to sustainability, scientists should research the causes of religion, we will all be potential online paparazzi, English will have more words than any other language (but it's meaningless), Afghanistan will see a surge of Western (read: American) troops, Iran will continue its nuclear quest while diplomacy lies in shambles, the sea floor is the new frontier, we should rethink aging, (non-)voters will continue to thwart the European project -- but cheap travel will continue to buoy it -- though it has some unfinished business to attend to, and a Nordic defence bond will blossom.

The Economist: The World in 2009. [more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Nov 27, 2008 - 31 comments

According to the photographer's daughter, "All photos in this collection were taken by then Lt. and later Capt. George S. White, my Father, while he was serving in the Pacific as a pilot. They are generally between 1945 and 1948 from what is documented." My favorites? The barmaid or postwar Tokyo or wrecked planes and airplane graveyards.
posted by zzazazz on Jul 5, 2008 - 10 comments

With the death of Louis de Cazenave, Lazare Ponticelli is the last surviving French veteran of World War One, and the country has been wondering how to mark the inevitable. By contrast, Germany's response to the recent death of Erich Kaestner has been a more muted affair, indeed, all but unnoted. [more inside]
posted by IndigoJones on Jan 26, 2008 - 10 comments

WWI-era aviation photos (page 2): Biplanes and triplanes and Zeppelins-- oh my!
posted by dersins on Oct 16, 2007 - 27 comments

Zeitgeist, the movie [Google Video link embedded] - An interesthing, if bizarre, mix of buffed-up comparative mythology, 9/11 conspiracy theories and New world order rambling about banks, loans, debts and war. Is paranoia the spirit of our times?
posted by Baldons on Jul 26, 2007 - 32 comments

Shingle Street is a tiny, picturesque hamlet on the coast of Suffolk harbouring a big WW2 mystery: the best developed rumour is of an attempt by the Germans to invade Britain at this spot which was anticipated and intercepted by pumping fuel onto the sea surface and setting fire to it. UK files on the subject are closed, again mysteriously, until 2021. Ronald Ashford, who claims to have been an eye witness, has a lot more information. You can stay.
posted by rongorongo on Jul 5, 2007 - 17 comments

The Great War in the Air is a 69-part video project, clearly a labor of love, by one Jan Goldstein, a musician, painter, and publican. Overwhelmed? Here's a representative sample: Part 7, on the French ace Georges Guynemer. Please note: extensive use of YouTube. Many of the images seen in the film may be perused at earlyaviator.com.
posted by mwhybark on Nov 11, 2006 - 12 comments

A 10 minute home movie taken by an SS officer has been discovered in an English church. It shows SS officers and secretaries relaxing in the summer of 1942 in southern Russia. The last couple of minutes shows footage from a slave labor camp in that area. The footage was taken at the height of the German success in Russia, a few months before the turning point in the Russian campaign - and probably the turning point in the Second World War.
posted by bobbyelliott on Oct 26, 2006 - 51 comments

The Great War: "People at the time experienced it differently. We may think they were misinformed and deluded, and perhaps they were, or maybe we have become incredibly cynical and mistrusting. What were once considered to be civic virtues are now thought to be quaint anachronisms at best or grand delusions at worst. Things change." The site proffers an incredible variety of popular-press articles and imagery concerning the unfortunate European events of 1914 to 1918.
posted by mwhybark on Sep 1, 2006 - 40 comments

O'Reilly insults American victims of a WWII war crime, and Keith Olbermann calls him out. It's been a while since I've seen pure outrage so eloquently expressed. The facts about Malmédy are well known. (WMV and QT video links via Crooks and Liars).
posted by fourcheesemac on Jun 2, 2006 - 66 comments

World War IV As Fourth-Generation Warfare
posted by Gyan on Feb 1, 2006 - 49 comments

Oh, Color! From abstract artistic applications to the history of pigments, color has lots splainin' to do. For example, who put color in my World War I photos?! (insert Michael Jackson joke here)
posted by Lockeownzj00 on Oct 31, 2005 - 2 comments

Erik Petersen. Danish newspaper photographer. Died in 1997. He took a number of pictures around WWII. He never developed them. Fortunately, sixty years later, someone else has. Now they can be found in a book. Here's a bit of bloggery as well.
posted by IndigoJones on Jun 2, 2005 - 14 comments

World War Two Songs. CBS World News audio from World War II. Also, vintage audio and songs from the World War I era.
posted by jasonspaceman on May 11, 2005 - 8 comments

Alfred Anderson, last survivor of the 1914 Christmas Truce
Apparently, Alfred Anderson is the last man still living who spent 25 December 1914 serving in a conflict that left 31 million people dead, wounded or missing.
posted by tomcosgrave on Dec 19, 2004 - 36 comments

Poland at War - Photographs of Nazi-occupied Poland taken between 1939 and 1945
posted by cmonkey on Dec 8, 2004 - 22 comments

Armistice Day: WW1 Document Archive. Verdun memorial. The Western Front today. A World War One Literature Blog. Trenches on the Web, unsurprisingly slammed today, it seems.

Consider visiting a nearby military cemetary today. I've found it to be a worthwhile use of my time in the past.
posted by mwhybark on Nov 11, 2004 - 6 comments

Mass grave of 24 World War I dead discovered in France. There's no way history is boring. Especially to a Belgian or French farmer.
posted by luser on Jun 20, 2001 - 8 comments