‘Churchill’s American Network’ and ‘Mirrors of Greatness’ review
Cita Stelzer’s Churchill’s American Network and David Reynolds’ Mirrors of Greatness seek to bring Churchill’s contemporaries and adversaries out of his shadow.
Second World War
Kapo Trials: How Israel Judged the Jewish Collaborators
The kapo trials of the early 1960s confronted a difficult question: how should Israel judge Jews accused of complicity in the Holocaust?
‘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.
‘The World at War’ and the Holocaust at 50
‘Genocide’, the Holocaust episode of The World at War, was pioneering when it first aired. Does it stand the test of time?
‘Judgement at Tokyo’ by Gary J. Bass review
Pacy and even-handed, Judgement at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia by Gary J. Bass is unlikely to be bettered as a portrait of the Tokyo trials.
An Uyghur Chieftain in China’s Civil War
How did Uyghur chieftain Yolbars Khan come to be buried in a Chinese Nationalist grave in Taipei? The answer reveals much about China’s violent relationship with its most western province.
‘One Fine Day’ and ‘Imperial Island’ review
One Fine Day: Britain’s Empire on the Brink by Matthew Parker and Imperial Island: A History of Empire in Modern Britain by Charlotte Lydia Riley are filled with ambition.
Sokol: An Exercise in Czech Nation-Building
In the late 19th century a new trend captured the Czech people –gymnastics. But sokol was more than just exercise: a healthy body was a healthy nation and the Czechs wanted independence.
The Rise and Fall of Mein Kampf
Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf was an unexpected bestseller, whose success rose and fell with its author.
Will Putin Get His ‘Nuremberg Moment’?
As new crimes are committed, new laws must be written to punish them. When it comes to crimes committed by states like Putin’s Russia, who decides?