Patrick Bishop
The First City To Be Coventried
The Coventry raid has stuck in the collective memory for a variety of reasons
A Putrid Pact between Devils
An excellent book on the deal between Hitler and Stalin that shocked the world 75 years ago
Hard Lessons of Afghan History
Two new histories of separate conflicts in Afghanistan show that both the Victorians and a young Churchill struggled at the North-Western Frontier
Boffins and other Backroom Boys
Highlighting the importance of scientists and engineers in defeating Germany is the noble aim of Paul Kennedy’s new book, but ultimately he goes too far
No Life Was Untouched
Christy Campbell’s focused, meticulous account of the V-weapon campaign of 1944 provides a neat counterpoint to the magisterial grand narrative of Antony Beevor’s The Second World War
Remembered Ernestly
Book review of The Letters of Ernest Hemingway Volume 1, 1907-1922, edited by Sandra Spanier and Robert W. Trogdon
The Greatest and Most Terrible
Book review of All Hell Let Loose: The World at War, 1939-1945 by Max Hastings
Why Remoaners should back Boris
“Boris, ironically, now offers Remoaners the best chance of a soft Brexit, or at least a sensible one. And to those who want a second referendum—’the people’s vote’—there may even be a chance of that too.”
On the road
“In the summer of 1980, in the grip of some Kerouac-ish fantasy, I opted to hitch-hike from Laredo to New York”
Discovering the Great War of China
A third of a million Chinese labourers helped the Allies defeat the Kaiser, but their huge unsung contribution ended in betrayal