CHF 2025: Day 3
FROM UTMOST EAST TO UTMOST WEST: CONQUEST OF THE BLUE NILE, John Blashford-Snell
JBS, as he is known, is up there with Rannulph Fiennes as a proper adventurer. King Charles is a fan and encouraged him to set up Operation Raleigh, a charity sending young people on expeditions. His memoirs detail a life of adventuring along the Blue Nile, crossing Panama’s Darien Gap, and meeting Haile Seilasse. Many of those getting books signed were grandparents wishing to instil the JBS spirit in the next generation.
THE HOUSE OF WAR: THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN CHRISTENDOM AND THE CALIPHATE, Simon Mayall
“Get a bigger map” is General Sir Simon Mayall’s advice to anybody trying to wrap their heads around the Middle East history and politics. General Simon is a Balliol man who studied under Maurice Keen, and whose enthusiasm and empathy for the Middle East saw him promoted by David Cameron as our top military diplomatic there. He takes the friction between the ‘organising principles’ of Christendom and the Caliphate as his lens to explore a thousand years of Middle East History.
House of War is an excellent study of a clash of civilisations, and is full of detail about battles, war leaders, and the agendas driving each side. At the heart of General Simon’s approach is a deep understanding of and empathy for the people and culture of the Middle East. When William Hague suggested his job was to go and lecture Gulf Arabs on our British values and way of life, he suggested Hague may want to visit Nottingham city centre on a Saturday night.
A SHORT HISTORY OF BRITISH ARCHITECTURE: FROM STONEHENGE TO THE SHARD, Simon Jenkins
Simon Jenkins was editor of the Times and the London Evening Standard and now writes prolifically about architecture and history. He loves the gothic style and convinced a packed Guildhall tent that King’s College Chapel London is the world’s greatest building with its towering and delicate perpendicular grandeur.
Jenkins cannot stand the modernists and blames Corbusier and trendy architects for encouraging ‘disgraceful things in the name of modern architecture.’ He gave the example of Hulme in Manchester, a modern jungle with tower blocks and no streets, which was declared uninhabitable for children within two years of completion.
HITLER’S PEOPLE: FACES OF THE THIRD REICH, Richard Evans w. Peter Caddick-Adams
There were no proper biographies of Nazis until the 1990s according to Richard Evans, who wrote the definitive study of the regime having acted as expert witness in the David Irving Holocaust denial trial. Social sciences were considered the proper field of study to examine the Nazis. The common factor, he said, was the ‘dramatic decline in the social standing and personal fortunes’ of the participants, and the Reich was not something predetermined by for example Prussian militarism.
ISRAEL THE DAY AFTER: WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE AND HOW DO WE GET THERE, Ehud Barak w. Greg Mills
It was a tremendous result to get former Israel PM (1999-2001) Ehud Barak to Chalke. He was asked on stage about what happens next in the region although most of the hour was spent discussing the threats to Israel. He portrayed Netanyahu’s current approach to that of a fighting animal, more concerned with his own political survival than anything else, and with many of his advisers on the Qatari payroll. I asked him what Israel looks like in a generation and he described an exemplary society which is democratic, liberal, Jewish and scientific.
SOVIET AND NAZI DEFECTORS: COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE IN WORLD WAR II AND THE COLD WAR, Paul Beaver and Nigel West
I sadly missed the defectors talk but have it on good authority West and Beaver brought the house down with some fascinating stories and good banter, including taking the mick out of Cambridge people for being spies.
THE AGE OF DISHONOUR: THE CHANGING VALUES OF THE PRESIDENT FROM FDR TO TRUMP, Anthony Scaramucci w. James Holland
Scaramucci aka ‘The Mooch’ was Trump’s communications chief for a few days, before being fired. He doesn’t like Trump one little bit (“he’s not a good guy’) which will endear him to his boss Gary Lineker who produces his Rest Is American Politics podcast. He gave a searingly cynical description of how Washington DC works – ‘it’s not a swamp it’s a gold plated bath tub.’
PERFORMANCE: HENRY V On Cue Theatre Company
Was quite possibly the best production of Henry V I have seen, up there with Branagh, Lester, Sheen, and Hiddleston. Playing it for laughs, the casting was superb, and Henry’s love scene with Katherine was a masterclass in Shakespearean humour.
I am pleased to report that the WIFI and 4G is better than ever, and the beer fresher than ever. Some minor grumblings that the signs for ‘Loos’ have been rebranded this year as ‘Toilets’ which is probably to help our French cousins. Light rain forecast for today, which is not likely to dampen proceedings.
Justin Doherty is Editor at Large at Aspects of History. Head to the CHF site here where tickets are available.
