Agincourt and Babies
The Illusory Universality Of Military Art
Bazaar Of War | 27th October 2026
How did Henry V triumph over the French at the Battle of Agincourt? The answer is not as simple as French vainglory or English longbows. The basic tactic was the formation — dismounted knights in the centre, flanked by longbowmen. This funnelled the enemy towards the centre, a crowding effect well-known from Hannibal’s victory in Cannae. The muddy downhill slope tipped the scales in Henry’s favour (1,700 words)
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Would You Pay To Have The ‘Best Baby’?
Jan Grue | Guardian | 27th October 2026
The neo-eugenic revival is taking two forms. One talks about birthrates, IQ levels and civilisational collapse. The other, called liberal eugenics, is framed as parental freedom of choice. Companies promise prospective parents that they can now have their “best baby”. Both forms are about predictability and control, at the heart of eugenics’ utopia. What gets erased is human variation, of which disability is a part (3,900 words)
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