The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
When asked by a young Reginald Bosanquet from ITN what he feared most, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan famously replied, ‘Events dear boy, events.’ We have all become aware in the last 18 months of the broad range of events which can cause political crises, as a...
One cannot but marvel at Adolf Hitler’s quite remarkable audacity when he launched four major operations in the winter of 1944. This was at a time when the Allies were relentlessly advancing on all fronts and his exhausted armies were in a complete state of disarray...
Glimpses of Britain in the summer '62. The actor Kenneth Williams “disgusted” in Hyde Park by the sight of men receiving “kissings & caressings” from their female companions; a sharp polio outbreak in Dundee; health minister Enoch Powell wanting hospitals to allow...
Beef and dairy products from the Netherlands, surplus to domestic requirements, had been sold to both Germany and Britain since the beginning of the war in 1914. But two years later, three issues made ensuring the smooth continuation of the Anglo-Dutch trade one of...
From the historian’s perspective, the Second World War, in the words of Al Murray, “is a bottomless pit.” With such a vast array of topics, how do you even attempt to bring this together in one festival? Well, the answer is that you don’t: you simply gather the best...
Hitler's Greatest Mistake In early 1941, the U.S. Congress debated the passage of a landmark bill, one that would enable Britain to purchase £3 billion worth of arms from America. At the time, Britain was confronted with a financial and military crisis, encapsulated...
Elizabeth I's Final Years outlines the interwoven relationships and rivalries between politicians and courtiers surrounding England’s omnipotent queen in the years following the death in 1588 of the Earl of Leicester, whose life has been explored in Elizabeth I’s...
I write crime thrillers set in World War Two London. My hero is Frank Merlin, a tough and rugged police detective heading a Scotland Yard serious crimes unit. There are now five books so far in the series. It is my plan to follow Merlin’s adventures from beginning to...
Does Historical Fiction Ruin Our Historical Understanding? The Guardian newspaper used to have a column called Reel History in which the writer and historian, Alex von Tunzelmann, reviewed films in the context of historical accuracy. In her articles a host of minor or...
My first novel, The Partisan, is a story of love and revenge set in 1961, at the height of the Cold War, with long flashbacks to the Eastern Front at the end of World War Two. The history of Lithuania features heavily. This is largely due to chance: I happened to...
