JB: 11.05.05

In the “There’ll Always Be an England” category: Remembrance Day approaches, and a friend points us to this column by Timothy Garton Ash in the Guardian :

“In Britain, many people wear poppies as we approach Remembrance Day on November 11. The central ceremony is a wreath-laying at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, and the traditional understanding has been that this commemorates above all the soldiers, sailors and airmen who died to keep us free. More recently, a grand memorial was erected on Park Lane to commemorate animals that were the victims of war. More recently still, a monument to women who died in the Second World War appeared in Whitehall, just up from the Cenotaph. The order of commemoration seems to me peculiarly British: first the armed forces, then animals, then women.”

OK, so I look like a Neanderthal in need of a haircut, but if you missed these pictures of this year’s Erasmus Lecture, delivered by Timothy George, you should take a look. It’s a fun event. Join us next year, when the speaker will be Philip Jenkins.