Tag Archives: Iraq

The Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth

Posted on April 3, 2018 by Stephen Liddell

The Fourth Plinth is probably the most famous public art commission in the world and it all began back in 1994 when after 150 years with an empty plinth, Prue Leith, then chair of the Royal Society of Arts wrote … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, history, Life, London, News | Tagged Fourth Plinth, Iraq, ISIS, Michael Rakowitz, Nelson, Nineveh, Terrorism, Trafalgar Square | 6 Comments

Gertrude Bell – The Ketrun – Desert Queen

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Stephen Liddell

From time to time, I have written about iconic and pioneering women in relative recent history, well recent by British standards 🙂 I also sometimes write about the Middle-East which is actually the one area of life that I can … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Life, WW1 | Tagged Baghdad, Gertrude Bell, Iraq, Islam, Lawrence of Arabia, Lest We Forget, Mesapotamia, Sykes-Picot, WW1 | 19 Comments

Rebuilding the Great Library of Mosul

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Stephen Liddell

Libraries are one of the hallmarks of civilisation, the availability of knowledge and ideas has been inherent to our progress as a species for thousands of years. The destruction of such knowledge is also an often repeated and always unforgivable crime … Continue reading →

Posted in Life | Tagged books, charity, Iraq, Library, Life, Mosul, Terrorism, war | 4 Comments

WW1 Iraq & The Desert Campaigns

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Stephen Liddell

Last week I wrote on how it was the 100th anniversary of the death of my Great Grandfather in Iraq in WW1. In fact just last night I found a bookmark from my Great Grandmother who must have had it … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Life, WW1 | Tagged General Allenby, history, Iraq, Israel, Lawrence of Arabia, Ottoman Empire, Turkey, war, WW1 | 2 Comments

Remembering My Great Grandad Ernest Heard Who Died 100 Years Ago Today in Amarah, Iraq.

Posted on January 25, 2017 by Stephen Liddell

Today marks the 100th anniversary of one of the biggest moments in 20th century history, if not for many people, at least for myself and perhaps a few others. For on this day, January 25th 1917, my Great Grandad Ernest … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, WW1 | Tagged Amara, Amarah, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Death, history, Iraq, Lest We Forget, Mesapotamia, Private Ernest Heard, Remembrance, WW1 | 18 Comments

Visualising the spread of cities throughout time

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Stephen Liddell

As I’m really busy with my tours this week and don’t have a great deal of time to do a lot of writing, instead I found neat little video that I found that conveys a fascinating subject. The creation and … Continue reading →

Posted in geography, history | Tagged City, Civilisation, Culture, history, Iraq, Life, Maps, Roman | 9 Comments

Cultural Vandalism – The destruction of priceless monuments by ISIS / ISIL

Posted on March 21, 2015 by Stephen Liddell

One of my most popular blog posts that I have ever written was on the ongoing destruction of historic Mecca by Saudi Arabia and whilst one day soon I hope to write more on the topic, I thought for now … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, history, Politics, Travel | Tagged Art, history, Iraq, ISIL, ISIS, Islam, Libya, Life, News, Syria, Terrorism, Travel, war | 17 Comments

21st century genocide – The Yazidi

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Stephen Liddell

Few can have escaped seeing the footage in the last week of the “genocide” being inflicted on the Yazidi people in Iraq. To many they are just another bad news story but for various reasons I have always had an … Continue reading →