‘Don’t Let’s Be Beastly to the Germans’ by Daniel Cowling review
In Don’t Let’s Be Beastly to the Germans: The British Occupation of Germany, 1945-49, Daniel Cowling brings lost stories to light – some of them, at least.
Cold War
The Publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four
On 8 June 1949, George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four was published. His final novel, its themes had been present throughout his literary career.
Ronald Reagan’s European Tour
A tour of Europe cemented Ronald Reagan’s reputation as an international statesman and helped secure his re-election.
How the CCP is Closing China
Forty years of opening and reform persuaded a lot of people that the Chinese are not really communists. But modern China was modelled on the USSR, and its leaders want to revert to their Leninist roots.
Was Portugal’s Carnation Revolution Inevitable?
So called because it passed without a shot being fired, the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974 brought Portugal’s authoritarian Estado Novo to an end. Could the state have survived?
‘How Finland Survived Stalin’ by Kimmo Rentola review
How Finland Survived Stalin: From Winter War to Cold War by Kimmo Rentola argues that political guile as much as military might stopped the Soviets in their tracks.
‘Deterring Armageddon’ by Peter Apps and ‘NATO’ by Sten Rynning review
As Deterring Armageddon: A Biography of NATO and NATO: From Cold War to Ukraine, a History of the World’s Most Powerful Alliance make clear, at almost every point in the last 75 years the alliance's future has looked uncertain.
‘Revolusi’ by David Van Reybrouck review
Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World by David Van Reybrouck brings Southeast Asia’s ‘invisible revolution’ into the light.
How ASEAN Lost its Way
ASEAN was founded to promote peace between the nations of Southeast Asia. Incapable of moving with the times, what is the point of it?
Sand War: The Cold War in North Africa
In 1963 a border dispute between Morocco and Algeria escalated into the Sand War. What began as an ideological difference between two newly independent nations soon became personal.