When is a country born? For the biographer of a mere mortal, a date of birth is a simple matter of fact, or, at worst, an extrapolation. But when the biographer’s subject is an entire land, it is a trickier matter. The origins of some countries are lost in the mists of time. For others, […]
Who is the most popular politician in the world? Probably the foul-mouthed, gun-toting septuagenarian president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte. His most recent approval rating was 88 per cent, rising to 91 per cent among the poorest Filipinos. How does he do it? By indiscriminately rubbing out supposed bad guys – and if some of them do actually turn out to be criminals, so much the better. Insulting all and sundry
In a footnote on page 361 of this ambitious work, Ian Kershaw confesses that he ‘entirely missed the world-historical events’ of 9 November 1989, though he was living in West Berlin at the time. A dedicated professor, he spent that evening in a pub with an American PhD student, discussing his thesis, ‘oblivious to what […]
The 17th-century Leveller leader John Lilburne has been lauded as a historical hero by political figures as diverse as the former UKIP MP Douglas Carswell and the current Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Lilburne now vies with the Digger Gerrard Winstanley for the title of most celebrated Civil War radical: ‘Free-born John’ has been depicted on […]
The Templars were the principal crusading order of the Middle Ages. They were the chief pillar of the crusading kingdom of Jerusalem before its final collapse in 1291. They played a heroic role in the defence of its last redoubt, at Acre. Their courage was legendary. Their casualties were high, even by the standards of Middle Eastern warfare: six of the twenty-three grand masters
When the Scottish comedian Billy Connolly appeared on the television programme Who Do You Think You Are? he discovered to his amazement that there was an Indian in his family tree. His great-great-grandfather was an Irish labourer who enlisted in the British Army in 1856 and was sent to India, making him one of thousands […]
Reading this magisterial new biography of Mohandas K Gandhi, one could almost imagine that the British Empire might have been saved had the imperial government, not to mention the Indians, listened to him more. As is pretty well known, he didn’t turn against the empire until well into his career, long convinced – beyond reason, perhaps – that the nation of John Stuart Mill and of the numerous liberal friends he had made while studying law in London would eventually show what he took to be its ‘best side’ and grant self-government to India, on the same basis as Canada and Australia, under the aegis of its beloved king-emperor. It was for this reason that he actually aided the British side
What happened to Britain on 24 June 2016 is routinely portrayed as the voice of the people making itself heard like a thunderclap. ‘Brexit’. It’s a word that has not previously existed in the political lexicon. Brexit is an idea without political apparatus, without a long history, without field-tested theory, without obvious creative writers to […]
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It wasn’t until 1825 that Pepys’s diary became available for the first time. How it was eventually decrypted and published is a story of subterfuge and duplicity.
Kate Loveman tells the tale.
Kate Loveman - Publishing Pepys
Kate Loveman: Publishing Pepys
literaryreview.co.uk
Arthur Christopher Benson was a pillar of the Edwardian establishment. He was supremely well connected. As his newly published diaries reveal, he was also riotously indiscreet.
Piers Brendon compares Benson’s journals to others from the 20th century.
Piers Brendon - Land of Dopes & Tories
Piers Brendon: Land of Dopes & Tories - The Benson Diaries: Selections from the Diary of Arthur Christopher Benson by Eamon Duffy & Ronald Hyam (edd)
literaryreview.co.uk
Of the siblings Gwen and Augustus John, it is Augustus who has commanded most attention from collectors and connoisseurs.
Was he really the finer artist, asks Tanya Harrod, or is it time Gwen emerged from her brother’s shadow?
Tanya Harrod - Cut from the Same Canvas
Tanya Harrod: Cut from the Same Canvas - Artists, Siblings, Visionaries: The Lives and Loves of Gwen and Augustus John by Judith Mackrell
literaryreview.co.uk