Wondering whether it would be better to be 'an able seaman in a wellfound ship than mate of a doomed vessel', Edwards agreed to discreetly meet Murdoch away from the Herald's offices.

Small wonder that history has become such a hotly contested battleground, or that otherwise unbellicose professors are so often pressed into front-line service in the culture wars.

Energetic Malouda was denied twice by Jussi Jaaskelainen late on before Ancelotti ran down the clock by introducing Salomon Kalou and Paulo Ferreira in the closing seconds as Chelsea arrested their slide.

To be sure, the Treaty of Versailles was not a Carthaginian peace as many contemporaries, most notably John Maynard Keynes, believed. Germany was not crippled as an economic power. It remained the most populous state in Europe, its industrial potential was largely intact, and with the demise of the Habsburg, Ottoman, and Russian empires Eastern Europe was now populated by small, fragile states. While on the surface reparations seemed to impose a huge burden on Germany’s public finances, Weimar’s inflation and the speculation that came with it led to a substantial net flow of capital into Germany.