HOME

BATTLEGROUND PERTHSHIRE is a concise account of the battles and minor military events that have taken place within the county of Perthshire. Comprising two thousand years of battles, raids, rebellions, sieges, riots, feuds, ambushes and skirmishes, Battleground Perthshire shines the spotlight on the military history of Scotland’s big county. Drawn from extensive primary and secondary sources: archives, eyewitness accounts and official records, it tells the fascinating stories of struggles for wealth, power, freedom and the right to self-determination. This chronicle of Perthshire’s military history stands as an important reminder of some of the events that have marked the development of the Scottish people. It will appeal both to the reader interested in the history of Scotland and to those interested in military history.

Battleground Perthshire can be bought from most bookshops in the Perthshire area: The Watermill at Aberfeldy; Sweet Words at Dunkeld; Waterstones - various stores including Perth; WHSmith - Perth and Pitlochry. And, in Perth Museum, the AK Bell Library, Gloagburn Farm Shop, the Brig Farm Shop by Bridge of Earn. Alternatively, it may be purchased for £7.00 with FREE postage and packing to any UK address {Please email for postage costs for locations outside UK}. Send cheque or postal order (payable to Tippermuir Books) to Tippermuir Books, c/o 3 Graham's Place, King Street, Perth, Perth, PH2 8HZ. It can also be bought through most of the UK online (internet) booksellers.

Spanish Thermopylae: Cypriot Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39 SPANISH THERMOPYLÆ is the story of the fifty-seven Cypriots who served in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39. It is also the story of a war that defined the lives of a generation and whose outcome decided the fate of hundreds of millions of people across the world. Drawing on recently released records from the Comintern Archive in Moscow, Spanish Thermopylae will appeal both to the reader interested in the experiences of the Cypriot volunteers, and to anyone looking for a concise history of the Spanish Civil War. 'This is the first book devoted solely to the contribution made by Cypriots to the cause of democracy and progress in the Spanish Civil War. It bears witness to the injustice committed against humanity by fascism in Spain and the inspirational sacrifices made by a small band of Cypriot volunteers. Spanish Thermopylae is a fitting tribute to them, and the International Brigades.' Demetris Christofias, President of the Republic of Cyprus 'True to the best traditions of their Greek forefathers, the heroes of the Greek War of Independence, the Cypriots rallied to the support of Spanish democracy and independence, realising that a defeat for the Spanish people would have meant world war. On the Spanish battlefields was being decided the fate of Europe and with it that of Cyprus. They recognised fascism as the greatest enemy of humanity and volunteered to help crush it... Many Cypriots lie buried in the Spanish soil fighting fascism. Cyprus is proud of her heroic sons who fell in the anti-fascist cause, but the fight is not over. We fight on until fascism is destroyed from the face of the earth.' Ezekias Papaioannou, Cypriot International Brigades volunteer and General Secretary of AKEL (1949-88) "Before many years have passed, their own countries will feel equally proud of the volunteers. That will be their best and highest reward." Juan Negrín, Prime Minister of the Spanish Republic (1937-39). It is available from www.amazon.co.uk

 

 

 


HISTORY

William Archer - Dramatic Critic, Playwright and Translator of Ibsen

Described as the most advanced prophet of the new theatre of his day, William Archer was born in Perth in 23 September 1856. By 1914 he was considered the foremost theatre critic in London.

A close friend of George Bernard Shaw, William Archer initially studied at Edinburgh University before becoming a journalist with the Edinburgh Evening News in 1875. Between 1876 and 1877 he journeyed to Australia and then settled in London, rapidly becoming that city's foremost dramatic critic although scathing of London's parochialism. Archer worked for the Figaro (1879-81) and then the London World (1884-1905). In later life he contributed dramatic criticism to the Nation, the Manchester Guardian, the Morning Leader and the Star.

Oscar Wilde was welcomed by William Archer onto the literary scene, who also collaborated with George Bernard Shaw on Widowers's Houses. Further collaboration with his brother led to important translations of Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt (1892) and collected editions of prose works and plays running to 12 volumes (1906-12). These translations helped establish Ibsen in the pantheon of great dramatists."The first of his translations of Ibsen, Quicksands, was performed in London in 1888 ... In 1898 Archer joined with the actress and writer, Elizabeth Robins, to form the New Century Theatre to sponsor non-profit productions of Ibsen." These included Peer Gynt and John Gabriel Borkman.

Contribution to the theatre came also from a series of theoretical works and books about the theatre written by William Archer:

About the Theatre (1886)

Masks or Faces (1888)

The Theatrical World (1893-7) 5 volumes

Study and Stage (1899)

Play-Making (1912)

Old Drama and the New (1923)

Two further books cover Archer's observations in the United States of America:

America To-Day (1900)

Through Afro-America (1910)

The Green Goddess (1921) is one of several plays written by William Archer and successfully performed on the stage in 1923.

Life, Trail and Death (1911) is an emotional account of the arrest and execution of the Spanish educational anarchist Francisco Ferrer:

"Ferrer had discovered anarchism in the clubs and bars of Paris, where he had been exiled after the 1885 republican uprising. [in Spain] It was there that he met the anarchist Paul Robin, head of the Cempuis School and the inspiration for the League for Libertarian Education. Ferrer then 24 years old, dreamed of creating a similar school in Spain. Having been left a million francs by a benefactor, Ferrer opened his Modern School in Barcelona on September 8th, 1901. Until that time, Spanish schooling was entirely controlled by the Church. Only one town in three had a school, and all schools were supervised by priests, with teachers sworn to uphold Catholic dogma. ferrer intended the Modern School to challenge all that - 'I want to form a school of emancipation with banning from the mind whatever divides peoples, the false concepts of property, country and family so as to attain the liberty and well-being which all desire. I will teach only simple truth. I will not ram dogma into their heads. I will not conceal one iota of fact. I will teach not what to think but how to think.' Ferrer was opposed to both Church and State schooling. The Modern School had no rewards or punishments, exams or marks - the everyday tortures of conventional schooling. And because practical knowledge is more useful than theory, lessons were often held in factories, museums or the countryside. The school was also used by parents and Ferrer planned a Popular University. The Modern School was also a propaganda centre, a training ground for revolutionary activity. Soon the school had 125 pupils and the example spread. By 1905 there were 50 similar schools in Spain. On Good Friday of that year, Ferrer led 1700 children in a demonstration for free education. Within weeks the government acted and forcibly closed all the schools. Earlier that year anarchists had twice thrown bombs at Spain's King Alphonso. One of them Mateo Morral, worked at the Modern School's printing press and was a close friend of Ferrer. For this Ferrer was jailed for a year. On his release he travelled throughout Europe spreading the Free School message. After returning to Spain, Ferrer was again arrested following the Tragic Week of 1909 [an insurrection in Barcelona against the introduction of general conscription for the Moroccan War] and was executed by firing squad. But his death did nothing to diminish the force of his ideas. modern Schools were founded in Britain, France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, China, Japan and, on the greatest scale, in the USA. "

William Archer was certainly a writer on the Left; he was an early advocate of the National Theatre and an opponent of censorship and was a great champion of progressive writing for the stage - Ibsen, Shaw and Galsworthy amongst others. His contribution to the theatre was an important one and he single-handedly improved British theatre standards. Archer's position on the First World War was less progressive and he was employed by the War Propaganda Bureau.

At the end of the First World War, William Archer assisted in the establishment of the New Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon.

He died on 27 December 1924 in London during an operation on a cancerous tumour.
email: ap@alternative-perth.org