Blog
There is a discomforting moment in Peter Pomeratsev’s brilliant book “Nothing is True and Everything is Possible” when it dawns on the reader that this really isn’t funny any more. The book – subtitled “Adventures in Modern Russia” – is a journalistic survey of a dysfunctional, corrupt kleptocracy. Through his work as a TV journalist, […]
The emissions scandal that has engulfed Volkswagen this week is a reminder of the precariousness of even the most apparently established brands in the modern marketplace. Just as a misjudged aside at a conference sank Gerald Ratner’s jewellery business in 1991, so it seems some eco-fibbing might just torpedo the second largest car manufacturer on […]
I had the privilege this week to see a preview of “Portrait of a Soldier”, a new documentary by the film-maker Marianna Bukowski about the Warsaw Rising of 1944, in which Polish forces attacked the retreating Germans in a brave, doomed attempt to seize control of their capital. The film tells the story – through […]
On this day in 1937, the Italian socialist Antonio Gramsci died, at the tender age of 46. The chances are that you haven’t heard of him, but – as you will see – he is one of the most important thinkers of the 20th Century. Gramsci was born in modest circumstances on the island of […]
Alongside his many other faults, Adolf Hitler had very bad teeth – catastrophically bad teeth. It is not clear precisely why – bad genes, bad diet or poor personal hygiene – but some among his entourage would later claim that his halitosis was sometimes so bad that they involuntarily took a step back when talking […]
I spent last weekend in Copenhagen, launching the Danish edition of my last book “The Devils’ Alliance”. Beautifully presented by the Kristeligt Dagblads Forlag, “En djaevelsk alliance” is a handsome looking volume and is the first foreign-language edition of this book to be published. So, as you can imagine, it was a great pleasure to […]
So, it was finally announced today that a new edition of Adolf Hitler’s autobiography/manifesto “Mein Kampf” will be published early in 2016. Cue much gnashing of liberal teeth and wringing of progressive hands. Though some lunatics and professional fibbers will tell you otherwise, we are now 70 years after the date of Hitler’s death – […]
Seventy-three years ago today, on 20th January 1942, fifteen Nazi officials met in an elegant villa at Wannsee outside Berlin to discuss genocide. It was not a disagreeable meeting, only around 90 minutes or so followed by a buffet lunch, but it has gone down in history as one of the lowest points to which humanity has […]
I have long harboured doubts about the so-called “Sleepwalkers” thesis – the idea that the world slithered into war in 1914 due to some sort of collective misunderstanding and lapse of concentration – finding it all rather too neat. Of course, history books often chime subconsciously or not with the times in which they are […]
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Leuthen. Heard of it? Maybe you have.. If you have attended a Military Staff College, the chances are you will have heard of it, as it is a tactically very significant battle, but you probably don’t know where it is. Allow me to elaborate… The Battle of […]
Butcher, a former Telegraph journalist turned historian/travelogger, is an absolute natural in front of an audience. Speaking without notes, he was utterly coherent and convincing, funny, moving – and with his mane of blond hair – not unlike a lion, prowling the stage. Naturally enough, I bought a copy of his book – as did […]
This week, in a meeting with young historians in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rather startling statement. In a discussion of ‘falsifications of history’ (an old Soviet favourite) and national bias, he stated not only that the Nazi-Soviet Pact had been in line with the then current “methods of foreign policy”, but moreover […]