Was Bavaria's Fairytale King murdered?  Why did the French and the British really get involved in the Crimean War? And what on earth was the Beast of Gevaudan? (above)

History throws up  fascinating mysteries, all the more so, because no one really knows for sure what went on in the past. It was Winston Churchill who said that history is written by the victors, so how much of what we think we know about the past, is the same sort of spin we've come to accept as normal from today's politicians and their PR people?

History isn't just interesting, its also useful and can provide insights into what's going on today. If, that is, you look at what people actually did and do, rather than what they tell you they did and what they're going to do. And definitely not at what people today, think they should have done.

Philosopher of War, Carl Von Clausewitz once wrote: "If criticism dispenses praise or censure, it should seek to place itself as nearly as possible at the same point of view as the person acting, that is to say, to collect all he knew and all the motives on which he acted, and to leave out of consideration, all that the person acting could not or did not know, and above all the result."

Sounds like a good start point for an investigation!