About

This blog is produced by “Pangloss” who is a student at a major university somewhere in the Anglophone world. Besides apparently having too much time on his hands, this blog forms part of an attempt to get more people interested in his research field, the history of Belgium, and to answer the difficult question of “how it got that way”. For a more emphatic treatment of what this blog sets out to do, it might be worthwhile to read its first post.

The author’s pseudonym is taken from the character in Voltaire’s Candide. It is a tribute to the author’s optimism that, after having laboured over writing popular history articles about Belgium, someone might actually read some them.

Where would we be without chocolate, though?

One quick disclaimer: Pangloss is not a native French or Dutch speaker and, although fairly proficient in both, may make the occasional error. If you see a particularly egregious one, please do get in touch.