The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
Was the Partition of Ireland the ‘logic of the Irish situation’, or the failure of British statesmanship – or, as Irish nationalists have always believed, by Britain’s desire to hold on to part of Ireland? Was partition a necessary expedient or a deliberate strategy?...
‘The average young man of today aged something under thirty, whether he be a social butterfly or a junior clerk, is a stupid, conceited creature,’ thundered the Daily Mirror in its editorial. ‘Few men are much good until they are thirty.’ Guidance from the Greatest...
In the early evening of 4 July 1928, a fabulously wealthy businessman named Alfred Loewenstein boarded his private plane at Croydon Airport. It was a routine flight that would take him across the English and French coastlines before landing at Brussels, where...
The term “Entente Cordiale” is often used – loosely but accurately – to define the friendship that saw Britain and France stand side-by-side in two world wars. However, in my view, its precise value is both over-estimated and under-estimated. Accusations of...
Intelligent, accessible, and entertaining – William Boyd’s Trio was always going to be one of the novels of the year. Boyd is often rightly lauded for his craftsmanship, in relation to the structure and style of his works, but not enough credit is given to him for his...
The two heavily armed carriages rattled slowly into the central square of Tiflis (now known as Tbilisi), the state capital of Georgia. Seated resplendent in one of the carriages was the State Bank’s cashier. The other carriage was packed with police and soldiers....
The Desert and the Sown: Travels in Palestine and Syria by Gertrude Bell
Death of an Airman by C. St John Sprigg
The Great Pacific War: A Historic Prophecy Now Fulfilled by Hecor Bywater
Commando: Boer War Journal by Deneys Reitz
