Premise.

Set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, between 2008 and 2010, "Breaking Bad" follows Walter White, a meek high school science teacher who transforms into a ruthless player in the local methamphetamine drug trade, driven by a desire to provide for his family after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Initially making only small batches of meth

Production.

Conception.

"Breaking Bad" was created by Vince Gilligan, who spent several years writing the Fox series "The X-Files". Gilligan wanted to create a series in which the protagonist became the antagonist. "Television is historically good at keeping its characters in a self-imposed stasis so that shows can go on for years or even decades," he said. "When I realized this, the logical next step was to think, how can I do a show in which the fundamental drive is toward change?" He added that his

Development history.

The network ordered nine episodes for the first season (including the pilot), but the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike limited the production to seven episodes, as well as delaying the start of production for the second season. Within the original nine-episode arc, he had planned to kill off Jesse or Hank, as a "ballsy" moment to end the season on. This death was eliminated with the limited episode count, which Gilligan found to be a net positive given the strength of acting that both Paul and Norris brought to these roles through the seasons. The strike also helped to slow down production long enough for Gilligan and his writing team to readjust the pacing of the show, which in the original arc had been moving too quickly. Gould stated that

Casting.

"Breaking Bad" creator Vince Gilligan cast Bryan Cranston for the role of Walter White based on having worked with him in the "Drive" episode of the science fiction television series "The X-Files", on which Gilligan worked as a writer. Cranston played an anti-Semite with a terminal illness who took series co-protagonist Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) hostage. Gilligan said the character had to be simultaneously loathsome and sympathetic, and that "Bryan alone was the only actor who could do that, who could pull

Scientific accuracy.

Donna Nelson, a professor of organic chemistry at the University of Oklahoma, checked scripts and provided dialogue. She also drew chemical structures and wrote chemical equations which were used as props. According to creator Vince Gilligan,  Dr. Donna Nelson from the University of Oklahoma approached us several seasons back and said, "I really like this show, and if you ever need help with the chemistry, I'd love to lend a hand." She's been a wonderful advisor. We get help wherever we need it, whether it's chemistry, electrical engineering, or physics. We try to get everything correct. There's no full-time [advisor] on set, but we run certain scenes by these experts

Technical aspects.

Michael Slovis was the cinematographer of "Breaking Bad" beginning with the second season and he received critical acclaim for his work throughout the series. Critics appreciated the bold visual style adopted by the TV series. Although series creator Vince Gilligan and Slovis wanted to shoot "Breaking Bad" in CinemaScope, Sony and AMC did not grant them permission. Gilligan cited Sergio Leone's Westerns as a reference for how he wanted the series to look. For his work, he received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Cinematography

Episodes.

The complete series was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 26, 2013, in a collectable box shaped like one of the barrels used by Walt to bury his money. The set contains various features, including a two-hour documentary and a humorous alternative ending that features Cranston and his "Malcolm in the Middle" co-star Jane Kaczmarek playing their characters Hal and Lois, in a nod to the final scene from "Newhart".

Season 1 (2008).

The first season was originally intended to be nine episodes, but due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike only seven episodes were filmed. It ran from January 20 to March 9, 2008.  Walter, diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, conspires with Jesse to cook methamphetamine ("meth") as a

Season 2 (2009).

Jesse's dealers become unsafe, and Walter hires a corrupt lawyer Saul to connect them to a high profile drug dealer Gus as a buyer for their latest batch. Jesse dates his apartment manager Jane, and she relapses on heroin; Jesse becomes unreliable. Walter

Season 3 (2010).

On April 2, 2009, AMC announced that "Breaking Bad" was renewed for a third, 13-episode season. It premiered on March 21, 2010, and concluded on June 13, 2010. The complete third season was released on Region 1 DVD and Region A Blu-ray on June 7, 2011.  Gus offers Walter a job cooking meth at a hidden lab. Walter demands Jesse

Season 4 (2011).

On June 14, 2010, AMC announced "Breaking Bad" was renewed for a fourth, 13-episode season. Production began in January 2011, the season premiered on July 17, 2011, and concluded on October 9, 2011. Originally, mini episodes of four minutes in length were to be produced before the premiere of the fourth season, but these did not come to fruition.  Gus tightens security at

Season 5 (2012–13).

On August 14, 2011, AMC announced that "Breaking Bad" was renewed for a fifth and final season consisting of 16 episodes. Season five is split into two parts, each consisting of 8 episodes. The first half premiered on July 15, 2012, while the second half premiered on August 11, 2013. In August 2013, AMC released a trailer promoting the premiere of final season with Bryan Cranston reading the poem "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley, over timelapse shots of "Breaking Bad" locations. After the death of Gus, Walter, Jesse, and Mike start a new meth business. When their accomplice Todd kills a child witness during their theft of methylamine, Jesse and Mike sell their share to Declan. Walter produces

Themes and symbols.

Moral consequences.

In an interview with "The New York Times", creator Vince Gilligan said the larger lesson of the series is that "actions have consequences". He elaborated on the show's philosophy:  In a piece comparing the show to "The Sopranos", "Mad Men" and "The Wire", Chuck Klosterman said that "Breaking Bad" is "built on the uncomfortable premise that there's an irrefutable difference between what's right and what's wrong, and it's the only one where the characters have real control over how they choose to live". Klosterman added that the central question

Devotion to family.

The show explores most of the main characters' connections to their families in great detail. Walt justifies his decision to cook crystal meth and become a criminal because of his desire to provide for his family. In the third season he tries to exit the business because it has driven Skyler to leave him. Gus convinces him to stay, telling him it is a man's job to provide for his family, even if he is unloved. In the final episode of the series,

Pink teddy bear.

A motif within the second season is the image of a damaged teddy bear and its missing eye. The teddy bear first appears at the end of the music video "Fallacies" for Jesse's band "TwaüghtHammër", which was released as a webisode in February 2009 leading to the second season. The teddy bear can also be spotted on the mural on Jane's bedroom wall during the final episode of the second season, further connecting the crash to Jane. It is seen in flashforwards during four episodes, the titles of which, when put together in order, form the sentence "Seven Thirty-Seven down over ABQ". The flashforwards are shot in black and white, with the sole exception of the pink teddy bear, which is

Walt Whitman.

Walter White's name is reminiscent of the poet Walt Whitman. During the series, Gale Boetticher gives Walt a copy of Whitman's "Leaves of Grass". Prior to giving this gift, Boetticher recites "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer". In the episode "Bullet Points", Hank finds the initials W.W. written in Boetticher's notes, and jokes with Walt that they are his initials, although Walt indicates that they must refer to Whitman.  In the episode "Hazard Pay", Walt finds the copy of "Leaves of Grass" as he is packing up his bedroom, briefly smiles and

Reception and legacy.

Critical reception.

"Breaking Bad" received widespread critical acclaim and has been praised by many critics as one of the greatest television shows of all time. On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the first season scored 73 out of 100, the second 84 out of 100, the third 89 out of 100, the fourth 96 out of 100, and the fifth 99 out of 100. The American Film Institute listed "Breaking Bad" as one of the top ten television series of 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. In 2013, "TV Guide" ranked it as the ninth greatest TV series of all time. By its end, the series was among the most-watched cable shows on American television, with audience numbers doubling from the fourth season to the fifth. A 2015 survey by "The Hollywood Reporter" of 2,800 actors, producers, directors, and other industry people named "Breaking Bad" as their #2 favorite show. In 2016, "Rolling Stone" ranked it third on its list of 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.  For the first season, the series

Criticism.

"Breaking Bad" has been accused by some members of law enforcement and the legal community of normalizing or glorifying methamphetamine usage. Some point to statistics suggesting that meth usage was

Viewership.

"Breaking Bad" premiered on the same night as both the NFC and AFC Championships in the 2008 NFL playoffs, an intentional decision by AMC hoping to capture the adult male viewership immediately following the planned end of the NFC game. However, the game ran into overtime, cutting into the show's timeslot in most of America. As a result, the pilot had only about 1.4 million viewers. Coupled with the

Awards and nominations.

The series received numerous awards and nominations, including 16 Primetime Emmy Awards and 58 nominations, including winning for Outstanding Drama Series in 2013 and 2014. It also won two Peabody Awards, one in 2008 and one in 2013.  For his portrayal of Walter White, Bryan Cranston won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times, in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2014. Cranston also won the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama in 2009 and the Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series: Drama in 2008, 2009, and 2010, as well as the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series and the Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television in 2012.  Aaron Paul won the Primetime

Retrospective conversations.

Writers reunion.

"Variety" held a Q&A with most of the original writing staff to reflect on the show's run, the final season, the writing process and alternative endings. Along with creator Vince Gilligan, fellow writers and producers Peter Gould, Thomas Schnauz, Gennifer Hutchison, Moira Walley-Beckett, Sam Catlin and George Mastras joined to discuss memories from the show's humble beginnings, character transformations that concluded in the final season as well as surprising developments along the way. For instance, the character of Jesse Pinkman was originally supposed to die halfway through season one in a tragic drug deal gone horribly wrong. The reasoning behind this decision was that Jesse served his purpose "in a meat-and-potatoes, logistical sense. The character would give Walt his entrée into the business" before meeting his demise. However, this was eventually done away with as the story progressed beyond Gilligan's early scripts.  The writers also opened up on their collaborative process and how their form of storytelling evolved with the show. According to writer George Mastras,  "Screen time was precious, and infusing every moment with the emotion [was the point], not just forming the pieces of

Rian Johnson's experience on the show.

Director Rian Johnson worked on three episodes ("Fly", "Fifty-One" and "Ozymandias") and in an interview with IGN shared his memories from behind the camera. He shed some light on the process including the fact that he sat through "tone meetings" with Vince Gilligan. The two of them talked about every dramatic beat in a script, the distinct visual look of the show and how the tonal shift of each scene had to feel natural while serving the main storyline of the particular episode. Johnson also revealed that he learned so much about working with actors because of his directing

Spin-offs and adaptations.

"Metástasis".

On March 13, 2013, after several days of speculation fueled by Univision, Sony confirmed that it would be making a Spanish-language remake of "Breaking Bad" titled "Metástasis" starring Diego Trujillo as Walter Blanco (Walter White) and Roberto Urbina

"Better Call Saul".

Bob Odenkirk's character of Saul Goodman had become one of the show's more popular characters, and Odenkirk, Gilligan, and Peter Gould, who wrote the episode "Better Call Saul" in which the character was introduced, started discussions near the end of "Breaking Bad" of a possible series expanding on the character, eventually settling on the idea of a prequel to show the origins of Saul about six years prior to the events of "Breaking Bad". In April 2013, AMC and Sony Pictures Television expressed interest in Gilligan

"Talking Bad".

From August 11, 2013, to September 29, 2013, eight episodes of the live talk show, "Talking Bad", aired on AMC, following "Breaking Bad". The host, Chris Hardwick, and guests – who included celebrity fans,

"Breaking Bad: Criminal Elements".

On June 6, 2019, FTX Games released "", a strategy-mobile video game for both iOS and Android. The game

Fan edit film.

In 2017, French editors Lucas Stoll and Gaylor Morestin created a fan edit, simply titled "Breaking Bad: The Movie", condensing the entire series into a two-hour feature film and uploaded it onto Vimeo. They had worked on the film for around

Other.

In July and August 2013, amidst the host of games, merchandise, podcasts, and various media AMC had released on the "Exclusives" section of the show's official website, over the course of the series, the digital comic book "Breaking Bad: All Bad Things" was released in August 2013. The comic "recaps the first four-and-a-half seasons of Walter White's descent from mild-mannered chemistry teacher to drug kingpin".  In October 2013, New York composer Sung Jin Hong announced his intentions

Sequel feature film.

Rumors of a "Breaking Bad" film, under the working title "Greenbrier", had arisen beginning in 2018. The film was formally announced in February 2019, and was later revealed to be

Real-life influence.

Cult following.

In 2015, series creator Vince Gilligan publicly requested fans of the series to stop reenacting a scene from "Caballo sin Nombre" in which Walter angrily throws a pizza on his roof

Walter White obituary and funeral.

A "Breaking Bad" fan group placed a paid obituary for Walter White in the "Albuquerque Journal", October 4, 2013. On October 19, 2013, a mock funeral procession (including a hearse and a replica of White's meth lab

Others.

Several attempts to create a real restaurant concept after Los Pollos Hermanos have occurred, most notably in 2019, Family Style, Inc., a chain

Breaking Bad is an American neo-Western crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. The show aired on AMC from January 20, 2008 to September 29, 2013, consisting of five seasons for a total of 62 episodes. It was set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and tells the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underemployed and depressed high school chemistry teacher who is struggling with a recent diagnosis of stage-three lung cancer. White turns to crime, partnering with his former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), by producing and selling crystallized methamphetamine to secure his family's financial future before he dies, while navigating the dangers of the criminal underworld. The title is a Southern colloquialism meaning to turn to a life of crime. Gilligan characterized the series as showing Walter's transformation from a soft-spoken Mr. Chips into Scarface.

Perníkový táta (v anglickém originále Breaking Bad) je americký televizní seriál poprvé vysílaný v USA 20. ledna 2008 na kabelové televizní stanici AMC. První sezóna měla 7 dílů, druhá 13, další pak 13, 13 a 16. Příběh seriálu se odehrává v oblasti Albuquerque v Novém Mexiku. Poslední epizoda seriálu byla odvysílána 29. září 2013.


Life and career.

Early life and childhood.

Boyle was raised in Blackburn, West Lothian. Her father, Patrick Boyle, was a miner and veteran of the Second World War who also worked as a singer at the Bishop's Blaize; her mother Bridget was a shorthand typist. Both her parents were born in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, but also have family links to County Donegal in Ireland. Born when her mother was 45 years old, Boyle was the youngest of four brothers and five sisters. She was raised thinking that she had been briefly deprived of oxygen during a difficult birth resulting in a learning disability. However, she was told in 2012–13 that she had been misdiagnosed and has Asperger syndrome with an IQ "above average". Boyle says she was bullied as a child.  After leaving school with few qualifications, Boyle took part in government training programmes, and performed at local venues.

Early musical training and career.

Boyle took singing lessons from vocal coach Fred O'Neil. She attended Edinburgh Acting School and took part in the Edinburgh Fringe. She also long participated in her parish church's pilgrimages to the Knock Shrine, County Mayo, Ireland, and sang there at the Marian basilica.  In 1995, she auditioned for Michael Barrymore's "My Kind of People".  In 1998, Boyle recorded three tracks—"Cry Me a River", "Killing Me Softly", and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina"—at Heartbeat Studio, Midlothian. She used all her savings to pay for a professionally cut demo, copies of which she later sent to record companies, radio talent competitions, local and national TV. The demo consisted of her versions of "Cry Me a River" and "Killing Me Softly with His Song"; the songs were uploaded to the Internet after her "BGT" audition.  In 1999, Boyle submitted a track for a charity CD to commemorate the Millennium produced at a West Lothian school. Only 1,000 copies of the CD, "Music for a Millennium Celebration, Sounds of West Lothian", were pressed. An early review by Amber McNaught in the "West Lothian Herald & Post" said Boyle's rendition of "Cry Me a River" was "heartbreaking" and "had been on repeat in my CD player ever since I got this CD..." The recording found its way onto the internet following her first televised appearance and the "New York Post" said it showed that Boyle was "not a one-trick pony." "Hello!" said the recording "cement[ed] her status" as a singing star.  After Boyle won several local singing competitions, her mother urged her to enter "Britain's Got Talent" and take the risk of singing in front of an audience larger than her parish church. Former coach O'Neil said Boyle abandoned an audition for "The X Factor" because she believed people were being chosen for their looks. She almost abandoned her plan to enter "Britain's Got Talent" believing she was too old, but O'Neil persuaded her to audition nevertheless. Boyle said that she was motivated to seek a musical career to pay tribute to her mother. Her performance on the show was the first time she had sung in public since her mother died.

"Britain's Got Talent" (2008–2009).

In August 2008, Boyle applied for an audition for the third series of "Britain's Got Talent" (as contestant number 43212) and was accepted after a preliminary audition in Glasgow. When Boyle first appeared on "Britain's Got Talent" at the city's Clyde Auditorium, she said that she aspired to become a professional singer "as successful as Elaine Paige". Boyle sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from "Les Misérables" in the first round, which was watched by over 10 million viewers when it aired on 11 April 2009. Programme judge Amanda Holden remarked upon the audience's initially cynical attitude, and the subsequent "biggest wake-up call ever" upon hearing her performance. Boyle was "absolutely gobsmacked" by the strength of the reaction to her appearance. Afterwards, Paige expressed interest in singing a duet with Boyle, and called her "a role model for everyone who has a dream". Boyle's rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" was credited with causing a surge in ticket sales in the Vancouver production of "Les Misérables". Cameron Mackintosh, the producer of the musical, also praised the performance, as thrilling and uplifting".  Boyle was one of 40 acts that were put through to the semi-finals. She appeared last on the first semi-final on 24 May 2009, performing "Memory" from the musical "Cats". In the public vote, she was the act to receive the highest number of votes to go through to the final. She was the clear favourite to win the final, but ended up in second place to dance troupe Diversity; the UK TV audience was a record of 17.3 million viewers.  The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) became concerned by press reports about Boyle's erratic behaviour and speculation about her mental condition and wrote to remind editors about clause 3 (privacy) of their code of press conduct. The day after the final, Boyle was admitted to The Priory, a private psychiatric clinic in London, Talkback Thames explained, "Following Saturday night's show, Susan is exhausted and emotionally drained." Her stay in hospital attracted widespread attention, with Prime Minister Gordon Brown wishing her well. Simon Cowell offered to waive Boyle's contractual obligation to take part in the BGT tour. Her family said "she's been battered non-stop for the last seven weeks and it has taken its toll [...but...] her dream is very much alive," as she had been invited to the Independence Day celebrations at the White House.  Boyle left the clinic three days after her admission and said she would participate in the BGT tour. Despite health concerns, she appeared in 20 of the 24 dates of the tour, and was well received in cities including Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dublin, Sheffield, Coventry, and Birmingham. "The Belfast Telegraph" stated that "Despite reports of crumbling under the pressure..., she exuded a confidence resembling that of a veteran who has been performing for years".

"I Dreamed a Dream" and tour (2009–2010).

Boyle's first album, "I Dreamed a Dream", was released on 23 November 2009. The album includes covers of "Wild Horses" and "You'll See" as well as "I Dreamed a Dream", and "Cry Me a River". In Britain, Boyle's debut album was recognised as the fastest selling UK debut album of all time selling 411,820 copies, beating the previous fastest selling debut of all time, "Spirit" by Leona Lewis. "I Dreamed a Dream" also outsold the rest of the top 5 albums combined in its first week.  In the US, the album sold 701,000 copies in its first week, the best opening week for a debut artist in over a decade. It topped the "Billboard" chart for six straight weeks and although it narrowly failed to become the best-selling album of 2009, with sales of 3,104,000 compared to 3,217,000 for Taylor Swift's "Fearless", it was one of only two albums to sell over 3 million copies in the US, and was also the top selling "physical" album of 2009, with only 86,000 of its sales coming from digital downloads. This has in turn garnered more media attention, as mentioned by "People" magazine.  In Italy, it was the first album of the month in the Italian No. 1 Account by a non-Italian artist ever. In only a week, it sold more than 2 million copies worldwide, becoming the fastest selling global female debut album.  On 13 December 2009 she appeared in her own television special "I Dreamed a Dream: the Susan Boyle Story", featuring a duet with Elaine Paige. It got ratings of 10 million viewers in the United Kingdom and in America was the TV Guide Network's highest rated television special in its history.  In November 2009 it was reported that Boyle's rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" would be the theme song of the anime movie "Eagle Talon The Movie 3" which was later released in Japan on 16 January 2010. Boyle performed for Pope Benedict XVI on his tour of Britain in 2010. In May 2010, Boyle was voted by "Time" magazine as the seventh most influential person in the world. Boyle's original song "Who I Was Born To Be" was the theme song of anime film Welcome to the Space Show, which opened in Japan on 26 June 2010.

"The Gift" (2010–2011).

On 9 July 2010, Boyle announced that her second album would be a Christmas album entitled "The Gift". As part of the lead-up to the album, she held a competition called "Susan's Search", the winner of which sang a duet with her on her new CD. The album was released on 8 November 2010.  The album was produced by Steve Mac, who said that "Now Susan's used to the studio and the recording process, this time round we might go even further down a traditional route of recording by getting a band together and rehearsing songs before we go into the studio to see what works, how she reacts with certain parts, and so we can change the arrangements that way. I think that's going to work much better...With Susan it's very important she connects with the public and the public connect with her. She doesn't want to sing anything that hasn't happened to her or she can't relate to."  In November 2010, Boyle became one of only three acts ever to top both the UK and US album charts twice in the same year. On 30 November 2010, in the United States, Boyle performed on ABC's "The View" singing "O Holy Night" and then on NBC's "Christmas at Rockefeller Center" program performing "Perfect Day" and "Away in a Manger". During her appearance on "The View" she was unable to finish her song, stating that she had a "frog in her throat"; she wanted to start the song over but was not allowed to. The audience applauded her anyway and she later performed an unaired version of the song which was uploaded to "The View's" YouTube account.  In October 2010 Boyle's autobiography "The Woman I Was Born To Be – My Story" was published.

"Someone to Watch Over Me" (2011).

Boyle performed on the second semi-final results show of the sixth season of "America's Got Talent", which aired on 31 August 2011.  Boyle made her first appearance in Australia, on "X Factor Australia", on 8 November 2011 and sang "Autumn Leaves".

"Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs from the Stage" (2012).

Boyle released her fourth album "" in November 2012. She reportedly took piano lessons as she planned on playing it for the album. A reporter told "The Sun" "Susan loves the piano and always dreamed of being able to reach a standard which would allow her to play on stage and on her albums." In October 2012 renowned opera star Placido Domingo released his album "Songs" which included a duet with Boyle of Shania Twain's "From This Moment On".

Acting debut and "Home for Christmas" (2013–2014).

Boyle made her first acting appearance as Eleanor Hopewell in "The Christmas Candle". The film is based on a book written by author Max Lucado about a 19th-century village of simple people in the English Cotswolds in need of a miracle. The film was released on 22 November 2013 in the US and 29 November 2013 in the UK. Talking about her first acting role, Boyle said, "I can't believe I'm making a film. I'm very excited to be a part of "The Christmas Candle". Everyone on set is a delight to work with and it's a fantastic experience to be part of the team." In the movie Boyle sings an original song, "Miracle Hymn", the anthem for the film and a track from her album "Home for Christmas", which also featured a duet with Elvis Presley singing "O Come All Ye Faithful". The album was released on 29 October 2013 in the US. Previously in television, Boyle starred as herself in "" and in a 2011 documentary titled "". Boyle also starred in a second documentary titled "There's Something About Susan" in the UK, which first aired on ITV on 12 December 2013. It aired in the US on Ovation Channel under the title "Susan Boyle Her Secret Struggle" with the premiere on 9 April 2014. In October 2013 American vocalist Johnny Mathis released an album titled "Sending You a Little Christmas". The album includes "Do You Hear What I Hear?" a duet performed with Boyle.

"Hope" (2014).

Boyle released her sixth album, "Hope", in October 2014 in the US and in November 2014 in the UK. The album, whose theme is hope and inspiration, includes a recorded live performance by Boyle of "You Raise Me Up" with the Lakewood Church choir.  The album spent 35 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Top Inspirational Albums chart.

Return to music and "A Wonderful World" (2016–2018).

Following the release of previous album, "Hope" in 2014, Boyle took a break during 2015 to "take a little me time and spend time at home with family and friends", and thus the recording of her seventh studio album was postponed to 2016. In October 2016, Boyle announced the release of "A Wonderful World".

"America's Got Talent: The Champions" and "Ten" (2019–present).

In September 2018, Boyle was confirmed to be a contestant in "". When asked why she joined the competition, she stated that she wanted to win this time. She performed on 7 January 2019, singing "Wild Horses" from her 2009 debut album "I Dreamed a Dream" and received a golden buzzer from judge Mel B. She progressed straight to the finals where she sang the song "I Dreamed a Dream" from her original audition back in 2009.  Boyle's eighth studio album, "Ten", was released on 31 May 2019 and features a duet with Michael Ball on the track "A Million Dreams".  On 21 August 2019, Boyle performed on the results show for season 14 of "America's Got Talent".

Media impact.

Websites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have been crucial in facilitating Boyle's rapid rise to fame. The most popular YouTube video submission of her audition garnered nearly 2.5 million views in the first 72 hours. On the day following the performance, the YouTube video was the most popular article on Digg and made the front page of Reddit. Within a week, the audition performance had been viewed more than 66 million times, setting an online record, while on Wikipedia her biography attracted nearly half a million page views. A total of 103 million video views on 20 different Web sites was reached within nine days. The "Los Angeles Times" wrote that her popularity on YouTube may in part be due to the broad range of emotion packed into a short clip which was "perfect for the Internet". In December 2009, her audition was named the most watched YouTube video of the year with over 120 million viewings, more than three times higher than the second most popular video.  Additionally, Boyle's first on camera interview with Scots journalist Richard Mooney for her local newspaper the "West Lothian Courier", was named as YouTube's Most Memorable Video of 2009. The video went viral after being uploaded to YouTube on 14 April 2009.  Many newspapers around the world (including China, Brazil and the Middle East) carried articles on Boyle's performance. Later, the British press took to referring to her by a short-form of her name, 'SuBo'. In the US, several commentators drew parallels between Boyle's performance and that of Paul Potts. "ABC News" hailed "Britain's newest pop sensation", and its Entertainment section headlined Boyle as "The Woman Who Shut Up Simon Cowell".  Within the week following her performance on "Britain's Got Talent", Boyle was a guest on STV's "The Five Thirty Show". She was interviewed via satellite on CBS's "The Early Show", NBC's Today, FOX's "America's Newsroom". and "The Oprah Winfrey Show". Via satellite on "Larry King Live", She was also portrayed in drag by Jay Leno, who joked that they were related through his mother's Scottish heritage.  At the invitation of NHK, a major Japanese broadcaster, Boyle appeared as a guest singer for the 2009 edition of Kōhaku Uta Gassen, annual songfest on 31 December in Tokyo. She was introduced as the by the MCs and appeared on the stage escorted by Takuya Kimura, and sang "I Dreamed a Dream".  Although Boyle was not eligible for the 2010 Grammy Awards, its host Stephen Colbert paid tribute to Boyle at the ceremony, telling its audience "you may be the coolest people in the world, but this year your industry was saved by a 48-year-old Scottish cat lady in sensible shoes." There was also earlier controversy, when Boyle was not nominated in any of the categories for the 2010 Brit Awards.

Stage musical.

A stage musical of Boyle's life was originally planned with Boyle appearing as herself. She said she hated "having to sit watching people up there" who are actors. However it was later decided that actress Elaine C. Smith would portray her and Boyle would join the cast of "I Dreamed a Dream" for a cameo appearance.  "I Dreamed a Dream" opened on 27 March 2012 with fans from all over the world occupying the Theatre Royal, Newcastle, for the opening week. The musical received generally warm reviews. The musical toured the UK and Ireland in 2012.  Boyle said she was initially upset by the show, because she was "not used to it". She called it "surreal", but later changed her mind and found it "clever and amusing".  Fox Searchlight has bought life rights to Boyle along with rights to the musical "I Dreamed a Dream". Fox plans to develop a film version of the musical.

Social analyses.

Judging by appearance.

"The Huffington Post" noted that the producers of the show would have anticipated the potential of this story arc, by deliberately presenting Boyle in a manner that would enhance this initial reaction. "The Herald" described Boyle's story as a modern parable and a rebuke to people's tendency to judge others based on their physical appearance. Similarly, "Entertainment Weekly" said that Boyle's performance was a victory for talent and artistry in a culture obsessed with physical attractiveness and presentation. In an interview with "The Washington Post", Boyle said:  "The Washington Post" believed that her initial demeanour and homely appearance caused the judges and audience to be "waiting for her to squawk like a duck". New York's "Daily News" said that an underdog being ridiculed or humiliated but then enjoying an unexpected triumph is a common trope in literature, and the stark contrast between the audience's low expectations and the quality of her singing made Boyle's performance such an engaging piece of television.

Feminist view.

R.M. Campbell, music critic for "The Gathering Note," compared Boyle to iconic American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, who had a long and distinguished career despite being overweight: "[it is] really, really hard to make a career if a woman isn't attractive". In another "Huffington Post" article, Letty Cottin Pogrebin wrote that although people may "weep for the years of wasted talent", Boyle's performance was a triumph for "women of a certain age" over a youth culture that often dismisses middle-aged women. Tanya Gold wrote in "The Guardian" that the difference between Boyle's hostile reception and the more neutral response to Paul Potts in his first audition reflected society's expectation that women be both good-looking and talented, with no such expectation existing for men. Los Angeles vocal coach Eric Vetro stated, "She's an Everywoman as opposed to an untouchable fantasy goddess, so maybe that's why people react to her."

American Dream.

Several media sources have commented that Boyle's success seemed to have particular resonance in the United States. An American entertainment correspondent was quoted in "The Scotsman" comparing Boyle's story to the American Dream, as representing talent overcoming adversity and poverty. The Associated Press described this as Boyle's "hardscrabble story", dwelling on her modest lifestyle and what they characterised as urban deprivation in her home town. Similarly, "The Independent"'s New York correspondent David Usborne wrote that the United States will always respond to "the fairy tale where the apparently unprepossessing suddenly becomes pretty, from "Shrek" to "My Fair Lady"".

Personal life.

Boyle still lives in the family home, a four-bedroom ex-council house in Blackburn which she purchased from her earnings in 2010. Her father died in the 1990s, and her siblings had left home. Boyle has never married, and she dedicated herself to caring for her ageing mother until her death in 2007 at the age of 91. A neighbour reported that when Bridget Boyle died, her daughter "wouldn't come out for three or four days or answer the door or phone". Boyle is a practising Roman Catholic and sang in her church choir at her church in Blackburn. Boyle remains active as a volunteer at her church, visiting elderly members of the congregation in their homes. On a 2010 episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show", Boyle summarised that her daily life was "mundane" and "routine" prior to stardom.  In 2012, Boyle was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. She made her diagnosis public in a BBC interview in December 2013.  In November 2012, when asked if she had tried to find love through Internet dating, Boyle said she was too scared, saying: "Knowing my luck I'd go out on a date and you'd find my limbs scattered around various Blackburn dustbins!"  In July 2013, Boyle endorsed the Better Together campaign to keep Scotland as part of the United Kingdom in the 2014 independence referendum. In so doing, she stated, "I am a proud, patriotic Scot, passionate about my heritage and my country. But I am not a nationalist", going on to say, "We have still been able to retain our proud identity whilst being a part of Britain."  In November 2014, it was reported that Boyle was dating her first boyfriend, who was "around the same age" as she was.

Philanthropy.

Charity performances.

On 26 January 2010, Boyle sang together with other major artists on the charity recording "Everybody Hurts" put together by Simon Cowell for Haiti Relief for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. On 30 January 2010, Boyle performed at the Indsamling Charity Gala, a telethon for Haiti and Africa held at the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Boyle has appeared on the three major UK charity telethons. On 19 March 2010 she sang for the Sports Relief charity on BBC1. On 18 March 2011 she sang a duet of "I Know Him So Well" with Peter Kay on the BBC's Comic Relief; in addition to the television performance, the duet was sold on CD, DVD, and MP3 download to raise more money for charity. The CD was #21 on the all-time Comic Relief CDs sold. She has performed for BBC Children in Need telethon five times thus far: on 19 November 2010; on 18 November 2011, and on 16 November 2012. on 16 November 2013. on 14 November 2014.  On 10 November 2010, Boyle performed at the Pride of Britain Awards in London. On 19 March 2011 in Glasgow at the Scottish Variety Awards Boyle performed; the money raised was donated to Cash for Kids Charity.  On 28 August 2013 Boyle travelled down with the Lothian Special Olympics Team to the Special Olympics Great Britain National Summer games in Bath. In the evening she performed at the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics GB at the Royal Crescent in Bath, England and also stayed to watch the events and hand out medals to the first day's winners.  On 14 August 2013 it was announced that Boyle would sing at the Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice 30th Anniversary Variety Performance at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow on 27 October 2013.

Community and faith.

On 16 September 2010 Boyle sang at the Papal Mass performed for Pope Benedict XVI in Glasgow at Bellahouston Park in front of a crowd of 65,000.  For three years Boyle has launched the Wee Box campaign for the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) in Glasgow, on 9 March 2011, on 21 February 2012, and on 12 February 2013. In May 2012 it was reported that Boyle would become patron of the struggling Regal Theatre, Bathgate where she first performed "I Dreamed a Dream".  On 24 October 2012 Boyle, together with the West of Scotland and Edinburgh Garrison Military Wives choirs, launched the Poppy Scotland appeal on the steps of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

Other.

In January 2012, Boyle donated a performance dress, which she had worn on "America's Got Talent" on 31 August 2011, to The Laura McPhee Memorial Fund (Asthma) UK Charity. The dress was sold at auction for £521 and helped raise awareness of the charity.  In July 2012 Boyle donated a performance dress designed by Suzanne Neville, which she had worn at performances in Madrid on the "Ana Rosa Show" on 12 February 2010 and in Paris on "Vivement Dimanche" on 17 February 2010. £6,523 was raised and presented to the Prince's Trust.  Also in June 2013 Boyle donated for auction a performance dress which she had worn on "The Oprah Show" on 19 October 2010, with proceeds of the auction going to Metro Radio Newcastle England's Cash For Kids Campaign, with all funds raised going to disadvantaged kids across the region. The winning bid was £400.  Prior to performing at the International Music Festival "White Nights of St. Petersburg", at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, on 13 June 2013, Boyle visited Children's Hospital Number 17 and presented to the hospital a gift of an anesthetic machine.  It was announced 28 October 2013 that Boyle is a new ambassador for Save the Children UK. Boyle released a music video 8 December 2013 featuring children from the FAST program singing "O Come All Ye Faithful" with Elvis Presley. All royalties will go towards Save the Children UK and money raised in the US will be donated to the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation.

In popular culture.

The "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" show aired a comedy sketch showing the "feel good" effect that Boyle's performance has had on people.  "The Simpsons" aired a new commercial for its 20th-anniversary show "Springfield's Got Talent", in which Homer Simpson talks about his dreams "to be a great singer like Boyle".  A European trailer for the video game "The Sims 3" includes a character mocked up as Boyle.  In June 2009, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a short story called "I Dreamed a Dream" that was based on a combination of Boyle's appearances on "Britain's Got Talent" and the political difficulties of the then UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.  The 5 November 2009 episode of the show "30 Rock" showed recurring character Kathy Geiss (Marceline Hugot) – who has a dowdy appearance – singing in the style of Boyle as Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy teared up.  In the 2010 episode of "Futurama", "Attack of the Killer App", it is revealed that Leela has a singing boil named Susan on her butt, who sings "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Amazing Grace".  In 2016 Boyle made a cameo appearance in "Zoolander 2" where she is ambushed by paparazzi.

Awards and nominations.

Honorary doctorates.

In 2012 Boyle was awarded an honorary doctorate for her contribution to the creative industries from Edinburgh's Queen Margaret University, where she obtained a Certificate of Higher Education in caring.  In 2015 Boyle was awarded an honorary doctorate in the field of music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow.

Guinness World Records.

In September 2010 Boyle was presented with three Guinness World Records which were featured in the Guinness World Records 2011 edition published 16 September 2010. The three records were for Fastest-selling Album by a Female (UK), Most Successful First Week UK Debut Album Sales, as well as Oldest Artist to Reach No. 1 with a Debut Album (US & UK).  On 20 November 2010 Boyle achieved another World Record for Oldest Female at No. 1 on UK Albums Chart with her second album "The Gift".  On 20 November 2010 Boyle received two other Guinness World Records due to the success of "The Gift", one record being "Only British female artist to top both the US and UK album charts with two releases" and the other being "Most successful Christmas album in the UK" – "On 20 November 2010, Susan Boyle's (UK) album The Gift became the first Christmas album to ever top the UK chart."

External links.

Susan Magdalane Boyle (born 1 April 1961) is a Scottish singer, who rose to fame after appearing as a contestant on the third series of "Britain's Got Talent", singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from "".

Susan Boyle (* 1. dubna 1961, Blackburn, Západní Lothian) je skotská zpěvačka, která se proslavila svou účastí v třetí sérii britské soutěže "Britain's Got Talent", v níž 11. dubna 2009 ohromila publikum i porotu fantastickou interpretací písně "I Dreamed a Dream" z muzikálu "Les Misérables". Porotce Piers Morgan ji následně označil za největší překvapení všech tří sérií; druhý porotce, Simon Cowell, jí poté vyjednával nahrávací smlouvu se Sony BMG. Soutěžní vystoupení Boylové se na YouTube stalo videem s největším vzestupem sledovanosti (4,5 milionu zhlédnutí během 24 hodin), zhlédly na tomto serveru stejně jako na televizní stanici ITV1, celkem řádově již desítky milionů lidí.


Origin.

The date commemorates the anniversary of the 1939 Nazi storming of the University of Prague after demonstrations against the German occupation of Czechoslovakia and the killings of Jan Opletal and worker Václav Sedláček. The Nazis rounded up the students, murdered nine student leaders and sent over 1,200 students to concentration camps, mainly Sachsenhausen. They subsequently closed all Czech universities and colleges. By this time Czechoslovakia no longer existed, as it had been divided into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the Slovak Republic under a fascist puppet government.  In late 1939 the Nazi authorities in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia suppressed a demonstration in Prague held by students of the Medical Faculty of Charles University. The demonstration was held on 28 October to commemorate the anniversary of the independence of the Czechoslovak Republic (1918). During this demonstration the student Jan Opletal was shot, and later died from his injuries on 11 November. On 15 November his body was supposed to be transported from Prague to his home in Moravia. His funeral procession consisted of thousands of students, who turned the event into an anti-Nazi demonstration. However, the Nazi authorities took drastic measures in response, closing all Czech higher education institutions, arresting more than 1,200 students, who were then sent to concentration camps, executing nine students and professors without trial on 17 November. Historians speculate that the Nazis granted permission for the funeral procession already expecting a violent outcome, in order to use that as a pretext for closing down universities and purging anti-fascist dissidents.  The nine students and professors executed on 17 November in Prague were:  An initial idea to commemorate the atrocities inflicted on students in German-occupied Czechoslovakia was discussed among Czechoslovak Army troops in England in 1940. A small group of soldiers, former elected student officials, decided to renew the Central Association of Czechoslovak Students (USCS) which had been disbanded by the German Protectorate in Czechoslovakia. The idea of commemorating the November 17 tragedy was discussed with the British National Union of Students of England and Wales and other foreign students fighting the Nazis from England. With the support of Edvard Beneš, President-in-Exile of Czechoslovakia, the USCS was reestablished in London on 17 November 1940, one year after the events at the Czech universities, with the following members: Throughout 1941 efforts were made to convince students of other nations to acknowledge November 17 as a day of commemoration, celebrating and encouraging resistance against the Nazis and the fight for freedom and democracy in all nations. These negotiating efforts were mostly carried out by Zink, Paleček, Kavan and Lena Chivers, Vice President of the NUS. Fourteen countries eventually agreed and signed the following proclamation:  "We, students of Great Britain and its territories and India, North and South America, the USSR, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, China, Holland, Norway, Poland, Yugoslavia and all free nations, to honour and commemorate the tortured and executed students who were the first to raise their voices to reject Nazi oppression and condemn the occupation of 1939, proclaim November 17 as International Students' Day."  The inaugural meeting was held in London's Caxton Hall on 16 November 1941, with support from President Beneš. The proclamation was read and accepted by all attendees, among them representatives of all governments who were in exile in London. The meeting was presided over by USCS Chairman Paleček; the key speakers were Sergej Ingr, Czechoslovak Secretary of Defence; Lena Chivers and Elizabeth Shields-Collins of the UK; Olav Rytter of Norway; Claude Guy of France, A. Vlajčić representing Yugoslavia.  On 17 November 1941, members of the USCS Executive Committee had a long audience with President Beneš, and similar meetings with the President took place annually on November 17 throughout WWII. The BBC's Czechoslovakian department prepared a special report for November 17 which was broadcast to occupied Czechoslovakia. Many British universities interrupted their schedule to commemorate the events in Prague two years earlier, by reading the proclamation of November 17. Among them were Manchester, Reading, Exeter, Bristol, Aberystwyth, Leicester, London, Holloway College, Bournemouth, Sheffield, King's College London, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Bangor, Cardiff, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. During the war Oxford University extended assistance to the closed Charles University, allowing dozens of Czechoslovak students in exile to graduate.

Observances.

In 1989 independent student leaders together with the Socialist Union of Youth (SSM/SZM) organized a mass demonstration to commemorate International Students’ Day. The students used this 50th-anniversary event to express their dissatisfaction with the ruling Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. By nightfall, what had begun as a peaceful commemorative event turned violent, with many participants brutally beaten by riot police, red berets, and other members of law enforcement agencies. About 15,000 people took part in this demonstration. The only person left lying where the beatings took place was thought to be the body of a student, but in fact turned out to be an undercover agent. The rumour that a student had died due to the police brutality triggered further actions; the same night, students and theatre actors agreed to go on strike. The events linked to the International Students' Day of 17 November 1989 helped spark the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. "Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day" is today observed as an official holiday in both the Czech Republic (since 2000, following a campaign by the Czech Student Chamber of the Council of Higher Education Institutions) and Slovakia.  After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the resulting crisis within the International Union of Students, celebrations for 17 November were held in only a few countries without any international coordination. During the World Social Forum held in Mumbai, India, in 2004, some international student unions such as the Organization of Caribbean and Latin American Students (OCLAE) and some national unions such as the Italian Unione degli Studenti decided to re-launch the date and to call for a global demonstration on 17 November 2004. Student movements in many countries mobilised again that year and continued observing International Students' Day in following years with the support of the Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU) and the European Students' Union (ESU).  In 2009, on the 70th anniversary of 17 November 1939, OBESSU and ESU promoted a number of initiatives throughout Europe to commemorate the date. An event was held from 16 to 18 November at the University of Brussels, focusing on the history of the students' movement and its role in promoting active citizenship against authoritarian regimes, and followed by an assembly discussing the role of student unions today and the need for the recognition of a European Student Rights Charter. The conference gathered around 100 students representing national students and student unions from over 30 European countries, as well as some international delegations.

International Students' Day is an international observance of the student community, held annually on November 17. Originally commemorating the Czech universities which were stormed by Nazis in 1939 and the students who were subsequently killed and sent to concentration camps, it is now marked by a number of universities, sometimes on a day other than November 17, as a nonpolitical celebration of the multiculturalism of their international students.

Mezinárodní den studentstva, někdy též "Světový den studentstva", je připomínkou tragických událostí, k nimž došlo v období od 28. října do 17. listopadu 1939 v tehdejším Protektorátě Čechy a Morava. Byl vyhlášen v roce 1941 v Londýně při příležitosti druhého výročí těchto událostí. Stalo se tak na zasedání Mezinárodní studentské rady, jehož se zúčastnili delegáti z 26 zemí.


Early life and family.

Catherine was born at the Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa, as the second surviving daughter of John, 8th Duke of Braganza and his wife, Luisa de Guzmán. Following the Portuguese Restoration War, her father was acclaimed King John IV of Portugal, on 1 December 1640. With her father's new position as one of Europe's most important monarchs, Portugal then possessing a widespread colonial empire, Catherine became a prime choice for a wife for European royalty, and she was proposed as a bride for John of Austria, François de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort, Louis XIV and Charles II. The consideration for the final choice was due to her being seen as a useful conduit for contracting an alliance between Portugal and England, after the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 in which Portugal was arguably abandoned by France. Despite her country's ongoing struggle with Spain, Catherine enjoyed a happy, contented childhood in her beloved Lisbon.  Commonly regarded as the power behind the throne, Queen Luisa was also a devoted mother who took an active interest in her children's upbringing and personally supervised her daughter's education. Catherine is believed to have spent most of her youth in a convent close by the royal palace where she remained under the watchful eye of her protective mother. It appears to have been a very sheltered upbringing, with one contemporary remarking that Catherine, "was bred hugely retired" and "hath hardly been ten times out of the palace in her life". Catherine's older sister, Joana, Princess of Beira, died in 1653, leaving Catherine as the eldest surviving child of her parents. Her husband was chosen by Luisa, who acted as regent of her country following her husband's death in 1656.

Marriage.

Negotiations for the marriage began during the reign of King Charles I, were renewed immediately after the Restoration, and on 23 June 1661, in spite of Spanish opposition, the marriage contract was signed. England secured Tangier (in North Africa) and the Seven Islands of Bombay (in India), trading privileges in Brazil and the East Indies, religious and commercial freedom in Portugal, and two million Portuguese crowns (about £300,000). In return Portugal obtained British military and naval support (which would prove to be decisive) in her fight against Spain and liberty of worship for Catherine. She arrived at Portsmouth on the evening of 13–14 May 1662, but was not visited there by Charles until 20 May. The following day the couple were married at Portsmouth in two ceremonies – a Catholic one conducted in secret, followed by a public Anglican service. On 30 September 1662 the married couple entered London as part of a large procession, which included the Portuguese delegation and many members of the court. There were also minstrels and musicians, among them ten playing shawms and twelve playing Portuguese bagpipes, those being the new Queen’s favourite instruments. The procession continued over a large bridge, especially designed and built for the occasion, which led into the palace where Henrietta Maria, the Queen Mother waited, along with the British court and nobility. This was followed by feasting and firework displays.  Catherine possessed several good qualities, but had been brought up in a convent, secluded from the world, and was scarcely a wife Charles would have chosen for himself. Her mother in law the Dowager Queen Henrietta Maria was pleased with her and Henrietta wrote that she is "The best creature in the world, from whom I have so much affection, I have the joy to see the King love her extremely. She is a Saint!". In reality, Catherine's personal charms were not potent enough to wean Charles away from the society of his mistresses, and in a few weeks after her arrival she became aware of her painful and humiliating position as the wife of a licentious king.  Little is known of Catherine's own thoughts on the match. While her mother plotted to secure an alliance with England and thus support in Portugal's fight for independence, and her future husband celebrated his restoration by dallying with his mistresses, Catherine's time had been spent in the sombre seclusion of her convent home, with little opportunity for fun or frivolity. Even outside the convent her actions were governed by the strict etiquette of the royal court of Portugal. By all accounts Catherine grew into a quiet, even-tempered young woman.  At the time of her marriage she was already twenty-three, something which was not lost on her critics, and had long since resigned herself to the necessity of making a grand match abroad. Contented and serene, Catherine's response on being told of her impending nuptials was to request permission to make a pilgrimage to a favourite shrine of hers in Lisbon. Devoted to her beloved Portugal, as she set sail for England any distress she may have felt at leaving her family and her home was no doubt lessened by the knowledge that her marriage had been hailed as "the welcomest news that ever came to the Portuguese people".  Catherine became pregnant and miscarried at least three times, and during a severe illness in 1663, she imagined, for a time, that she had given birth. Charles comforted her by telling her she had indeed given birth to two sons and a daughter. Her position was a difficult one, and though Charles continued to have children by his many mistresses, he insisted she be treated with respect, and sided with her against his mistresses when he felt she was not receiving the respect she was due. After her three miscarriages, it seemed to be more and more unlikely that the queen would bear an heir. Royal advisors urged the monarch to seek a divorce, hoping that the new wife would be Protestant and fertile – but Charles refused. This eventually led to her being made a target by courtiers. Throughout his reign, Charles firmly dismissed the idea of divorcing Catherine, and she remained faithful to Charles throughout their marriage.

Queen consort (1662–1685).

Catherine was not a particularly popular choice of queen since she was a Roman Catholic. Her religion prevented her from being crowned, as Roman Catholics were forbidden to take part in Anglican services. She initially faced hardships due to the language barrier, the king's infidelities and the political conflicts between Roman Catholics and Anglicans. Over time, her quiet decorum, loyalty and genuine affection for Charles changed the public's perception of her.  Although her difficulties with the English language persisted, as time went on, the once rigidly formal Portuguese Infanta mellowed and began to enjoy some of the more innocent pleasures of the court. She loved to play cards and shocked devout Protestants by playing on Sundays. She enjoyed dancing and took great delight in organising masques. She had a great love for the countryside and picnics; fishing and archery were also favourite pastimes. In a far cry from her convent-days the newly liberated Catherine displayed a fondness for the recent trend of court ladies wearing men's clothing, which we are told, "showed off her pretty, neat legs and ankles"; and she was even reported to have considered leading the way in wearing shorter dresses, which would show off her feet. In 1670, on a trip to Audley End with her ladies-in-waiting, the once chronically shy Catherine attended a country fair disguised as a village maiden, but was soon discovered and, due to the large crowds, forced to make a hasty retreat. And when in 1664 her favourite painter, Jacob Huysmans, a Flemish Catholic, painted her as St Catherine, it promptly set a trend among court ladies.  She did not involve herself in English politics, instead she kept up an active interest in her native country. Anxious to re-establish good relations with the Pope and perhaps gain recognition for Portuguese independence, she sent Richard Bellings, later her principal secretary, to Rome with letters for the pope and several cardinals. In 1669 she involved herself in the last-ditch effort to relieve Candia in Crete, which was under siege by the Turks and whose cause Rome was promoting, although she failed to persuade her husband to take any action. In 1670, as a sign of her rising favour with the pontiff she requested, and was granted, devotional objects. In 1670 Charles II ordered the building of a Royal yacht HMY "Saudadoes" for her, used for pleasure trips on the Thames and to maintain communications with the Queen's homeland of Portugal, making the journey twice.  Catherine fainted when Charles's official mistress, Barbara Palmer was presented to her. Charles insisted on making Palmer Catherine's Lady of the Bedchamber. After this incident, Catherine withdrew from spending time with the king, declaring she would return to Portugal rather than openly accept the arrangement with Palmer. Clarendon failed to convince her to change her mind. Charles then dismissed nearly all the members of Catherine's Portuguese retinue, after which she stopped actively resisting, which pleased the king, however she participated very little in court life and activities.

Catholicism.

Though known to keep her faith a private matter, her religion and proximity to the king made her the target of anti-Catholic sentiment. Catherine occupied herself with her faith. Her piety was widely known and was a characteristic in his wife that the King greatly admired; in his letters to his sister, Catherine's devoutness is described almost with awe. Her household contained between four and six priests, and in 1665, Catherine decided to build a religious house east of St James's to be occupied by thirteen Portuguese Franciscans of the order of St Peter of Alcantara. It was completed by 1667 and would become known as The Friary. In 1675 the stress of a possible revival of the divorce project indirectly led to another illness, which Catherine's physicians claimed and her husband cannot fail to have noted, was "due as much to mental as physical causes". In the same year, all Irish and English Catholic priests were ordered to leave the country, which left Catherine dependent upon foreign priests. As increasingly harsher measures were put in place against Catholics, Catherine appointed her close friend and adviser, the devoutly Catholic Francisco de Mello, former Portuguese Ambassador to England, as her Lord Chamberlain. It was an unusual and controversial move but "wishing to please Catherine and perhaps demonstrate the futility of moves for divorce, the King granted his permission. De Mello was dismissed the following year for ordering the printing of a Catholic book, leaving the beleaguered Catherine even more isolated at court". One consolation was that Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth, who replaced Barbara Palmer as reigning mistress, always treated the Queen with proper deference; the Queen in return showed her gratitude by using her own influence to protect Louise during the Popish Plot.

Popish plot.

The Test Act of 1673 had driven all Catholics out of public office, and anti-Catholic feelings intensified in the years to come. Although she was not active in religious politics, in 1675 Catherine was criticised for supposedly supporting the idea of appointing a bishop to England who, it was hoped, would resolve the internal disputes of Catholics. Critics also noted the fact that, despite orders to the contrary, English Catholics attended her private chapel.  As the highest-ranking Catholic in the country, Catherine was an obvious target for Protestant extremists, and it was hardly surprising that the Popish Plot of 1678 would directly threaten her position. However, Catherine was completely secure in her husband's favour ("she could never do anything wicked, and it would be a horrible thing to abandon her" he told Gilbert Burnet), and the House of Lords, most of whom knew her and liked her, refused by an overwhelming majority to impeach her. Relations between the royal couple became notably warmer: Catherine wrote of Charles' "wonderful kindness" to her and it was noted that his visits to her apartments became longer and more frequent.

Later life and death.

At Charles' final illness in 1685, she showed anxiety for his reconciliation with the Roman Catholic faith, and she exhibited great grief at his death. When he lay dying in 1685, he asked for Catherine, but she sent a message asking that her presence be excused and "to beg his pardon if she had offended him all his life." He answered, "Alas poor woman! she asks for my pardon? I beg hers with all my heart; take her back that answer." Later in the same year, she unsuccessfully interceded with James II for the life of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, Charles's illegitimate son and leader of the Monmouth Rebellion – even though Monmouth in rebellion had called upon the support represented by the staunch Protestants opposed to the Catholic Church.  Catherine remained in England, living at Somerset House, through the reign of James and his deposition in the Glorious Revolution by William III and Mary II. She remained in England partly because of a protracted lawsuit against her former Lord Chamberlain, Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, over money that she claimed as part of her allowance and that he claimed was part of the perquisite of his office. Catherine's fondness for money is one of the more unexpected features of her character: her brother-in-law James, who was himself notably avaricious, remarked that she always drove a hard bargain.  Initially on good terms with William and Mary, her position deteriorated as the practice of her religion led to misunderstandings and increasing isolation. A bill was introduced to Parliament to limit the number of Catherine's Catholic servants, and she was warned not to agitate against the government.  She finally returned to Portugal in March 1692. In 1703, she supported the Treaty of Methuen between Portugal and England. She acted as regent for her brother, Peter II, in 1701 and 1704–05. She died at the Bemposta Palace in Lisbon on 31 December 1705 and was buried at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora Lisbon.

Legacy.

Catherine is often credited with the introduction of tea drinking to Britain, although Samuel Pepys makes reference to drinking tea for the first time in his diary entry for 25 September 1660, prior to Catherine's emigration to England and marriage to Charles. It is more likely that she popularised the drink, which was unusual in Britain at the time. Beyond tea, her arrival brought and promulgated goods such as cane, lacquer, cottons, and porcelain. Queens, a borough of New York City, was supposedly named after Catherine of Braganza, since she was queen when Queens County was established in 1683. Queens' naming is consistent with those of Kings County (the borough of Brooklyn, originally named after her husband, King Charles II) and Richmond County (the borough of Staten Island, named after his illegitimate son, the 1st Duke of Richmond). However, there is no historical evidence that Queens County was named in her honor, neither is there a document from the time proclaiming it so. Some written histories of Queens skip over the monarch entirely and make no mention of her.  After the tri-centennial of the establishment of Queens County in 1983, a group of Portuguese-Americans began raising money to erect a 35-foot statue of Queen Catherine on the East River waterfront in Long Island City. The sculptor of the proposed statue was Audrey Flack, and the project received support from several notable public figures, including Donald Trump. However, the project was well into development when opposition arose.Historians objected to the statue on the grounds that there was no evidence that Queens was actually named after her, and furthermore a British monarch was an inappropriate subject for a public monument in the United States. Various other groups raised their objections to the statue of Catherine, and the controversy forced Borough President Claire Shulman to withdraw her support, and the statue was never erected. A quarter-scale model survives at the site of Expo '98 in Lisbon, Portugal, facing west across the Atlantic.  Catherine Street, formerly Brydges Street, in central London is named after her.  Novelists, notably Margaret Campbell Barnes in "With All My Heart", Jean Plaidy in her Charles II trilogy and Susanna Gregory in her "Thomas Chaloner" mystery novels, usually portray the Queen in a sympathetic light. So did Alison Macleod in her 1976 biography of the queen, "The Portingale" and Isabel Stilwell in her 2008 historical novel "Catherine of Braganza - The courage of a Portuguese Infanta who became Queen of England".  Catherine's marriage had an important result for the later history of India and of the British Empire, though the Queen personally had little to do with it: soon after acquiring the Seven Islands of Bombay as part of her dowry, Charles II rented them to the East India Company which moved its Presidency there – resulting in Bombay/Mumbai eventually growing to become one of the main cities of India.

Arms.

The royal arms of the British monarch are impaled with the royal arms of her father. For supporters, she used the crowned lion of England on the dexter side, and on the sinister, the wyvern Vert of Portugal.

External links.

Catherine of Braganza (; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was queen consort of England, of Scotland and of Ireland from 1662 to 1685, as the wife of King Charles II. She was the daughter of King John IV, who became the first king of Portugal from the House of Braganza in 1640 after overthrowing the rule of the Spanish Habsburgs over Portugal. Catherine served as regent of Portugal during the absence of her brother in 1701 and during 1704–1705, after her return to her homeland as a widow.

Kateřina z Braganzy, portugalsky "Catarina de Bragança") (25. listopadu 1638, Vila Viçosa – 31. prosince 1705, Lisabon), byla rodem portugalská infantka a jako manželka anglického krále Karla II. anglická královna.


Background.

Panzer Army Africa (/, "Generalfeldmarschall" Erwin Rommel), composed of German and Italian tank and infantry units, had advanced into Egypt after its success at the Battle of Gazala (26 May – 21 June 1942). The Axis advance threatened British control of the Suez Canal, the Middle East and its oil resources. General Claude Auchinleck withdrew the Eighth Army to within of Alexandria where the Qattara Depression was south of El Alamein on the coast. The depression was impassable and meant that any attack had to be frontal; Axis attacks in the First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July) were defeated.  Eighth Army counter-attacks in July also failed, as the Axis forces dug in and regrouped. Auchinleck called off the attacks at the end of July to rebuild the army. In early August, the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill and General Sir Alan Brooke, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), visited Cairo and replaced Auchinleck as Commander-in-chief Middle East Command with General Harold Alexander. Lieutenant-General William Gott was made commander of the Eighth Army but was killed when his transport aircraft was shot down by "Luftwaffe" fighters; Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery was flown from Britain to replace him.  Lacking reinforcements and depending on small, underdeveloped ports for supplies, aware of a huge Allied reinforcement operation

Prelude.

Allied plan.

Operation Lightfoot.

Montgomery's plan was for a main attack to the north of the line and a secondary attack to the south, involving XXX Corps (Lieutenant-General Oliver Leese) and XIII Corps (Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks), while X Corps (Lieutenant-General Herbert Lumsden) was to exploit the success. With Operation Lightfoot, Montgomery intended to cut two corridors through the Axis minefields in the north. One corridor was to run south-west through the 2nd New Zealand Division sector towards the centre of Miteirya Ridge, while the second was to run west, passing north of the west end of the Miteirya Ridge across the 9th Australian and 51st (Highland) Division sectors. Tanks would then pass through and defeat the German armour. Diversions

Operation Bertram.

The Commonwealth forces practised a number of deceptions in the months before the battle to confuse the Axis command as to the whereabouts of the forthcoming battle and when the battle was likely to occur. This operation was code-named Operation Bertram. In September, they dumped waste materials (discarded packing cases, etc.) under camouflage nets in the northern sector, making them appear to be ammunition or ration dumps. The Axis naturally noticed these but, as no offensive

Operation Braganza.

As a preliminary, the 131st (Queen's) Infantry Brigade of the 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division, supported by tanks from the 4th Armoured Brigade, launched Operation Braganza attacking the 185th Airborne Division Folgore on the night of 29/30 September in an attempt to capture the Deir el Munassib area. The Italian paratroopers repelled the attack, killing or capturing over 300 of the attackers. It was wrongly assumed that "Fallschirmjäger" (German paratroopers) had manned the defences and been responsible for the British reverse. The "Afrika Korps" war diary notes that the Italian paratroops "bore the brunt of the attack. It fought well and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy."

Axis plan.

With the failure of the offensive at the Battle of Alam el Halfa, the Axis forces went onto the defensive but losses had not been excessive. The Axis supply line from Tripoli was extremely long and captured Allied supplies and equipment had been exhausted, but Rommel decided to advance into Egypt.  The Eighth Army was being supplied with men and materials from the United Kingdom, India, Australia and New Zealand, as well as with trucks and the new Sherman tanks from the United States. Rommel continued to request equipment, supplies and fuel but the priority of the German war effort was the Eastern Front and very limited supplies reached North Africa. Rommel was ill and in early September, arrangements were made for him to return to

Battle.

Phase one: the break-in.

Prior to the main barrage, there was a diversion by the 24th Australian Brigade, which involved the 15th Panzer Division being subjected to heavy fire for a few minutes. Then at 21:40 (Egyptian Summer Time) on 23 October on a calm, clear evening under the bright sky of a full moon, Operation Lightfoot began with a 1,000-gun barrage. The fire plan had been arranged so that the first rounds from the 882 guns from the field and medium batteries would land along the front at the same time. After twenty minutes of general bombardment,

Phase two: the crumbling.

Dawn aerial reconnaissance showed little change in Axis disposition, so Montgomery gave his orders for the day: the clearance of the northern corridor should be completed and the New Zealand Division supported by 10th Armoured should push south from Miteirya Ridge. 9th Australian Division, in the north, should plan a crumbling operation for that night, while in the southern sector, 7th Armoured should continue to try to break through the minefields with support, if necessary, from 44th Division. "Panzer" units counter-attacked the 51st Highland Division just after sunrise, only to be stopped in their tracks. The morning of Saturday 24 October brought disaster for the German headquarters.The Axis forces were stunned by Allied attack and their messages became confused and hysterical, with one Italian unit communicating to Germans that it had been wiped out by "drunken negroes with tanks" The reports that Stumme had received that morning showed the attacks had been on a broad front but that such penetration as had occurred should be containable by local units. He went forward himself to observe the state of affairs and, finding himself under fire, suffered a heart attack and died. Temporary command was given to Major-General Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma. Hitler had already decided that Rommel should leave his sanatorium and return to North Africa. Rommel flew to Rome early on 25 October to press the "Commando Supremo" for more fuel and ammunition and then on to North Africa to resume command that night of the Panzer Army Africa, which that day was renamed the German-Italian

Phase three: the counter.

D + 3: 26 October.

Rommel, on his return to North Africa on the evening of 25 October, assessed the battle. Casualties, particularly in the north, as a result of incessant artillery and air attack, had been severe. The Italian "Trento" Division had lost 50 per cent of its infantry and most of its artillery, the 164th Light Division had lost two battalions. The 15th Panzer and "Littorio" divisions had prevented the Allied tanks from breaking through but this had been a costly defensive success, the 15th Panzer Division being reduced to 31 tanks. Most other units were also under strength, on half rations and many men were ill; had only enough fuel for three days.  Rommel was convinced by this time that the main assault would come in the north and determined to retake Point 29. He ordered a counter-attack against it by the 15th Panzer Division and the 164th Light Division, with part of the Italian XX Corps to begin at 15:00 but under constant artillery and air attack this came to nothing. According to Rommel this attack did meet some success, with the Italians recapturing part of "Hill 28",  The bulk of the 2/17th Australian Battalion, which had defended the

D + 4: 27 October.

By this time, the main battle was concentrated around Tel el Aqqaqir and the Kidney feature at the end of 1st Armoured Division's path through the minefield. A mile north-west of the feature was Outpost Woodcock and roughly the same distance south-west lay Outpost Snipe. An attack was planned on these areas using two battalions from 7th Motor Brigade. At 23:00 on 26 October 2 Battalion, The Rifle Brigade would attack Snipe and 2nd Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC) would attack Woodcock. The plan was for 2nd Armoured Brigade to pass round the

D + 5–6: 28–29 October.

On 28 October, 15th and 21st Panzer made a determined attack on the X Corps front but were halted by sustained artillery, tank and anti-tank gun fire. In the afternoon, they paused to regroup to attack again but they were bombed for two and a half hours and were prevented from even forming up. This proved to be Rommel's last attempt to take the initiative and as such his defeat here represented a turning point in the battle.  At this point, Montgomery ordered the X Corps formations in the Woodcock-Snipe area to go over to defence while he focused his army's attack further to the north. Late on 27

D + 7–9: 30 October – 1 November.

The night of 30 October saw the third Australian attempt to reach the paved road and by the end of the night they were astride the road and the railway, making the position of the Axis troops in the salient precarious. A battle group from the 21. launched four attacks against "Thompson's Post" on 31 October, all being repulsed. Sergeant William Kibby (2/48th Infantry Battalion) who, for his heroic actions from the 23rd until his death on the 31 October, including a lone attack on a machine-gun position at his own initiative, was awarded the Victoria Cross

Phase four: Operation Supercharge.

D + 10: 2 November.

This phase of the battle began at 01:00 on 2 November, with the objective of destroying enemy armour, forcing the enemy to fight in the open, reducing the Axis stock of petrol, attacking and occupying enemy supply routes, and causing the disintegration of the enemy army. The intensity and the destruction in Supercharge were greater than anything witnessed so far during this battle. The objective of this operation was Tel el Aqqaqir, the base of the Axis defence roughly north-west of the Kidney feature and situated on the Rahman lateral track.  The initial thrust of Supercharge was to be carried out by the 2nd New Zealand Division. Lieutenant-General Bernard Freyberg, had tried to free them of this task, as they had lost 1,405 men in just three days, at El Ruweisat Ridge in July. However, in addition to its own 5th New Zealand Infantry Brigade and 28th (Maori) Infantry Battalion, the division was to have had placed under its command 151st (Durham) Brigade from 50th Division, 152nd (Seaforth and Camerons) Brigade from 51st Division and the 133rd Royal Sussex Lorried Infantry Brigade. In addition, the division was to have British 9th Armoured Brigade under command.  As in Operation Lightfoot, it was planned that two infantry brigades (the 151st on the right and 152nd on the left) each this

D + 11: 3 November.

At 20:30 on 2 November, Lumsden decided that one more effort by his X Corps would see the gun screen on the Rahman track defeated and ordered 7th Motor Brigade to seize the track along a front north of Tell el Aqqaqir. The 2nd and 8th Armoured Brigades would then pass through the infantry to a distance of about. On the morning of 3 November 7 Armoured Division would pass through and swing north heading for the railway at Ghazal

Phase five: the break-out.

On 2 November, Rommel signalled to Hitler that  and at 13.30 on 3 November Rommel received a reply,  Rommel thought the order (similar to one that had been given at the same time by Benito Mussolini through ),  Rommel ordered the Italian X and XXI Corps and the 90th Light Division to hold while the withdrew approximately west during the night of 3 November. The Italian XX Corps and the Division conformed to their position and Rommel replied to Hitler confirming his determination to hold the battlefield. The Desert Air Force continued its bombing and in its biggest day of the battle

D + 12, 4 November.

On 4 November, the Eighth Army plan for pursuit began at dawn; no fresh units were available and the 1st and 7th Armoured divisions were to turn northwards to roll up the Axis units still in the forward lines. The 2nd New Zealand Division with two lorried infantry brigades and the 9th Armoured and 4th Light Armoured brigades under command, was to head west along desert tracks to the escarpment above Fuka, about away. The New Zealanders got off to a slow start because its units were dispersed after the recent fighting

D + 13, 5 November.

The 7th Armoured Division was ordered cross-country to cut the coast road at Sidi Haneish, west of the Rahman track, while the 1st Armoured Division, west of El Dada, was ordered to take a wide detour through the desert to Bir Khalda, west of the Rahman track, preparatory to turning north to cut the road at

D + 14, 6 November.

By 11:00 on 6 November, the "B" Echelon support vehicles began to reach the 1st Armoured Division but with only enough fuel to replenish two of the armoured regiments, which set off again hoping to be in time to cut off the Axis. The regiments ran out of fuel again, south-west of Mersa Matruh. A fuel convoy had set out from Alamein on the evening of 5 November but progress was slow as the tracks had become very cut up. By midday

D + 15, 7 November.

On 7 November, waterlogged ground and lack of fuel stranded the 1st and 7th Armoured divisions. The 10th Armoured Division, on the coast road and with ample fuel, advanced to Mersa Matruh while its infantry mopped up on the road west of Galal. Rommel intended to fight a delaying action at Sidi Barrani, west of Matruh, to gain time for Axis troops to get through the bottlenecks at Halfaya and Sollum. The last rearguards left Matruh on the night of

Aftermath.

Analysis.

El Alamein was an Allied victory, although Rommel did not lose hope until the end of the Tunisia Campaign. Churchill said,  The Allies frequently had numerical superiority in the Western Desert but never had it been so complete in quantity and quality. With the arrival of Sherman tanks, 6-pounder anti-tank guns and Spitfires in the Western Desert, the Allies gained a comprehensive superiority. Montgomery envisioned the battle as an attrition operation, similar to those fought in the First World War and accurately predicted the length of the battle and the number of Allied casualties. Allied artillery was superbly handled and Allied air support was excellent, in contrast to the "Luftwaffe" and "Regia Aeronautica", which offered little or no support to ground forces, preferring to engage in air-to-air combat. Air supremacy had a huge effect on the battle. Montgomery wrote,  Historians debate the reasons Rommel decided to advance into Egypt. In 1997, Martin van Creveld wrote that Rommel had been advised by the German and Italian staffs that his army could not properly be supplied so far from the ports of Tripoli and Benghazi. Rommel pressed ahead with his advance to Alamein and as predicted, supply difficulties limited the attacking potential of the axis forces. According to Maurice Remy (2002), Hitler and Mussolini put pressure on Rommel to advance. Rommel had been very pessimistic, especially after the First Battle of El Alamein, and knew that as US supplies were en route to Africa and Axis ships were being sunk in the Mediterranean, the Axis was losing a race against time. On 27 August, Kesselring promised Rommel that supplies would arrive in time but Westphal pointed out that such an expectation would be unrealistic and the offensive should not begin until they had arrived. After a conversation with Kesselring on 30 August, Rommel decided to attack, "the hardest [decision] in my life".

Italian troops.

Italian Defence ministry chief of staff Luigi Binelli Mantelli said: "The spirit of service and cohesion are fundamental elements for the operational capacity of the armed forces... The (Folgore) Paratroopers have always shown this. El Alamein was a battle that was lost with great honour, facing up to overwhelmingly superior fire power with poor weapons but with great spirit and capacity to resist and to hold up high the honour of Italy". German General Erwin Rommel described the Italians as "extraordinary, courageous, disciplined, but badly commanded and equipped." He also said the famous phrase (written

Casualties.

In 2005, Niall Barr wrote that the casualties, was an estimate because of the chaos of the Axis retreat. British figures, based on Ultra intercepts, gave German casualties as and captured. Italian losses were and captured. By 11 November, the number of Axis prisoners had risen to In a note to "The Rommel Papers", Fritz Bayerlein (quoting figures obtained from ) instead estimated German losses in the battle as 1,100 killed, 3,900 wounded and 7,900 prisoners and Italian losses as 1,200 killed, 1,600 wounded and 20,000 prisoners.  According to the Italian official history, Axis losses during the battle were 4,000 to 5,000 killed or missing, 7,000

Subsequent operations.

The Eighth Army was surprised by the Axis withdrawal and confusion caused by redeployments between the three corps meant they were slow in pursuit, failing to cut off Rommel at Fuka and Mersa Matruh. The Desert Air Force failed to make a maximum effort to bomb a disorganised and retreating opponent, which on 5 November was within range and confined to the coast road. Supply shortages and a belief that the "Luftwaffe" were about to get strong reinforcements, led the DAF to be cautious, reduce the number of offensive sorties on 5 November and protect the Eighth Army.

Battle of El Agheila.

The Axis made a fighting withdrawal to El Agheila but the Axis troops were exhausted and had received few replacements, while Montgomery had planned to transport material over great distances, to provide the Eighth Army with of supplies per day. Huge quantities of engineer stores had been collected to repair the coast road; the railway line from El Alamein to Fort Capuzzo, despite having been blown up in over 200 places, was quickly repaired. In the month after Eighth Army reached Capuzzo, the railway carried of supplies. Benghazi handled a day by the end of December, rather than the expected.  Montgomery paused for three weeks to concentrate his forces and prepare an assault on El Agheila to deny the Axis the possibility of a counter-attack. On 11 December, Montgomery launched the 51st (Highland) Division along the line of the coast road with the 7th Armoured Division on the inland flank. On 12 December the

Tripoli.

On 15 January 1943, the 51st (Highland) Division made a frontal attack while the 2nd New Zealand Division and the 7th Armoured Division drove around the inland flank of the Axis line. Weakened

Tunisia.

Rommel was by this time in contact with the Fifth Panzer Army, which had been fighting against the multi-national First Army in northern Tunisia, since shortly after Operation Torch. Hitler was determined to retain Tunisia and Rommel finally started to receive replacement men and materials. The Axis faced a war on two fronts, with the Eighth Army approaching from the east and the British, French and Americans from the west. The German-Italian Panzer Army was renamed the Italian First Army (General Giovanni Messe) and Rommel assumed command of the new Army Group Africa, responsible for both fronts. The two Allied armies were commanded by the 18th Army Group (General Harold Alexander). The failure of the First Army in the run for Tunis in December 1942 led to a longer North African campaign which ended when the Italian-German forces in North Africa capitulated in May 1943.

The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented the Axis from advancing further into Egypt.

Druhá bitva u El Alameinu byla součást druhé světové války, odehrála se v říjnu 1942 v severní Africe. Začala 19. října, kdy Britové zahájili protiofenzívu. 23. října pod vedením britského generála Bernarda Lawa Montgomeryho Spojenci vyhráli. Erwin Rommel byl nucen ustoupit nejprve k Al Agheile a poté do Tunisu. Německo-italské jednotky byly postupně vytlačovány z Afriky.


History.

Sabbioneta was founded by Vespasiano I Gonzaga in the late 16th century along the ancient Roman Via Vitelliana, on a sandy bank of the Po (whence the name, meaning "sandy" in Italian); he was its first duke, using it as a personal fortress and residence.  It was also during this period that it became a minor musical centre; composers such as Benedetto Pallavicino (c. 1551-1601) were employed here by Vespasiano Gonzaga, prior to his moving to the main Gonzaga city of Mantua.  Located on an alluvial ground between the Po and Oglio rivers, as well as along the route of the ancient Via Vitelliana, it occupied a strategic position in the heart of the Po Valley. For Vespasiano Gonzaga, Sabbioneta was to be above all a fortress and, at that time, the power of its walls certainly made it one of the most well-equipped bulwarks in Lombardy of Spanish domination.  Sabbioneta was above all the capital of a small state placed between great regional states: the Duchy of Milan to the west, ruled at that time by the Spanish governorate; the Duchy of Mantua to the east, over the River Oglio, governed by ancient line of the Gonzaga, cousins of Vespasiano; the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza to the south of Po, under the domain of Farnese family, supportive of Gonzaga himself.  The territory of the small state of Sabbioneta was mainly concentrated in the eastern extremity of the diocese of Cremona and it represented a necessary crossroads both for trade midway along the Po and for communications between the lowlands of Brescia and Emilia Romagna. The most prosperous period in the history of this city was in its reconstruction years, in which it was under the dominion of Prince Vespasiano I Gonzaga, which also became his residence. Sabbioneta has been honored with the “orange flag” eulogy of the Touring Club of Italy.

Main Sights.

The territory features the church of St. Anthony Abbot in the district of Villa Pasquali, designed by Ferdinando Galli-Bibbiena and built by his son Antonio Galli, and the small sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Vigoreto that in ancient times was annexed to the convent of the Capuchins. Outside the gunnel city, the district banks of Vespasiano I Gonzaga are also reported: a system of artificial raised parts that enclose the city of Sabbioneta and a wide part of the adjacent council territory, marking a vast ring-like circuit of about twenty kilometers.In 2008, Sabbioneta was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List as a recognition of its perfect example of practical application of Renaissance urban planning theories.  Sabbioneta is also known for its historic Jewish Ghetto and Synagogue, and in particular for its Hebrew printing-press. In 1551 Tobias Foa set up the press; he had, however, published certain "anti-Christian books" and his career was "forcibly ended". His work and possibly his type were taken up by a Christian printer, Vicenzo Conte.  Vespasiano Gonzaga's town, designed according to the Renaissance principles of the Ideal City, included:  The church and the summer palace contain frescoes by artists of the Campi family of Cremona.

World Heritage Site.

On 7th July 2008, Sabbioneta, together with Mantua was declared by UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site due to its exceptional nature as a newly founded city built in just over 30 years by the will of Prince Vespasiano I Gonzaga. According to UNESCO, Sabbioneta represents a perfect example of the application of Renaissance theories on how an ideal city should be designed.  The vicissitudes that immediately occurred after the death of Vespasiano, especially the long-standing question of the succession of the small duchy, which divided the heirs for almost a century, as well as the Austrian dominion first and the Napoleonic one later, deprived the city of important buildings, such as the fortress, the armoury and the lunettes placed outside the city wall.  Pillage and confiscation deprived the city of some prestigious features, firstly, the confiscation of the antique collection to the Academy of Mantua in 1772 by the Teresian decree and the burning of the "Sala dei Cavalli" in the Palazzo Ducale in 1815. The church heritage remains conspicuous, promoted and redeveloped by a policy of recovery and enhancement over the last 25 years.

References in Art.

According to the American lawyer and writer Richard Paul Roe, the play "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" by William Shakespeare was not set in Athens but in Sabbioneta, known as “little Athens” ever since its foundation.

Cinema and Television.

In 1970 in Sabbioneta shooting of the film "The Spider's Strategem" by Bernardo Bertolucci was made. On the occasion of the film, the village takes on the imaginary name of Tara. Inside the Gallery of the Ancients and in some rooms of the Palace Garden, some scenes of "'Tis Pity She's a Whore", were filmed in 1971. More recently (1980s) in Sabbioneta the shooting of the RAI television show "I Promessi Sposi" ('The Betrothed') was also filmed: in particular, amid the columns of the Gallery of the Ancients, scenes of the plague were shot.  Also for the French film Marquise, released in 1997 under the direction of Véra Belmont, some scenes were shot in Sabbioneta, as well as for the 1999 film "" by Salvatore Maira, in which the Teatro all'Antica was used.  The second season of the television series "I Medici", broadcast in 2018, used Sabbioneta in some scenes to represent Renaissance Florence.  Paperback: 332 pages; Publisher: SugarCo (1990);

Sabbioneta (Casalasco-Viadanese: ) is a town and "comune" in the province of Mantua, Lombardy region, Northern Italy. It is situated about north of Parma, not far from the northern bank of the Po River. It was inscribed in the World Heritage List in 2008.

Sabbioneta je malé město v severní Itálii v Lombardii, asi 30 km severně od Parmy, s několika tisíci obyvateli. Ke konci 16. století je založil císařský generál Vespasiano Gonzaga (1531–1591) asi 2 km severně od řeky Pád. Městečko si zachovalo svůj renesanční charakter a spolu s Mantovou bylo v roce 2008 zařazeno mezi kulturní památky světového dědictví UNESCO.