The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
Berlin emerged after the end of World War II as a geographically and politically ideal base of operations for secret service activities. As the point of intersection between East and West, Berlin exerted an almost magical attraction on intelligence agencies. The city...
The Roman army waged war in the most brutal of fashions. Its aim was the total subjugation of its enemies. Well, so far, so obvious. What is perhaps less understood is the way it valued fear itself as a weapon. Ably illustrated by the tactical use of projectile...
In The Baroness: Unmasking Himmler’s Most Secret Agent, John Lucas employs his investigative journalist’s intuition and delivers an intriguing espionage story. Yet, as he reminds the reader several times, the story of Baroness Anja Bergroth Manfredi de Blasiis is not...
In Bader’s Big Wing Controversy, prolific aviation combat history writer Dilip Sarker MBE FRHists offers a fresh look at a well-worn subject. Any readers who thought they might have absorbed everything it was possible to know about the fabled ‘Duxford Wing’ and its...
The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry was commissioned in May 1794 at the Bear Inn, Devizes, a town that still remains the regiment’s spiritual home. These county soldiers fought with distinction in South Africa and the Great War and at 3 o’clock on the 2nd September 1939, the...
Mining for History Part One History tells us that the Romans left Britain in 410AD but, as the historian Michael Wood put it: “The Romans did not simply abandon Britain and sail back to Italy.” So, what did happen? This was certainly not a sudden blunt trauma injury...
Black Market in Paris Many of us grew up with the image of Private Walker in Dad’s Army. The spiv, a lovable comedy character selling stockings and chocolates illegally, getting into scrapes with authority and helping others while helping himself. He was the black...
John Lucas, your latest book is your first venture into the Second World War, having previously written about true crime, why is that? I've always been just as interested in espionage and spies as I am crime and criminals, because they both exist on the same sort of...
Penelope Corfield clearly has a knowledge of - and love for - her subject. The Georgians: The Deeds and Misdeeds of 18th Century Britain provides a comprehensive overview of the period, whilst garnishing the account with plenty of insight and detail. What is...
In the Cold War’s 44-year history (accepting the general view that it started in 1947 and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet empire in 1991), certain years have acquired special resonance, appearing to shape the uneasy East/West conflict more distinctly than the...
