Clive Foss

Plato's American Republic: John Humphrey Noyes and the Perfectionist movement

‘Complex marriage’, ‘male continence’ and the selection of the perfect partner were all themes propounded by a 19th-century cult in New York State. Clive Foss explores the influence of Plato’s Republic on John Humphrey Noyes and his Perfectionist movement.

Published November 16 2010

Cuba's African Adventure

In 1959 Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba after a masterly campaign of guerrilla warfare. Drawing on this success, Castro and his followers, including Che Guevara, sought to spread their revolution, as Clive Foss explains.

Published June 10 2010

Havana

Clive Foss enjoys the architecture of Cuba’s capital, with varied elements from every era of its past making an exotic mix.

Published June 13 2008

Islam’s First Terrorists

Clive Foss introduces the Kharijites, a radical sect from the first century of Islam based in southern Iraq and Iran, who adopted an extreme interpretation of the Koran, ruthless tactics and opposed hereditary political leadership. After causing centuries of problems to the caliphate, they survive in a quietist form in East Africa and Oman.

Published November 13 2007

Byzantium

Published October 12 2007

Mao: The Unknown Story

Clive Foss examines two works on China - the personalities and policies.

Published November 16 2005

Tyrants on Trial

As preparations are made for Saddam Hussein’s trial in Iraq, Clive Foss examines the precedents for bringing tyrants to justice and finds the process fraught with political complexity.

Published October 14 2005

When Turks Civilized the World

Clive Foss looks at the way in which Kemal Atatürk rewrote history as part of his radical modernization of the Turkish nation.

Published July 20 2005

Stalin's Topsy-Turvy Work Week

Clive Foss investigates how Stalin changed the calendar to keep the Soviet people continually at work.

Published August 18 2004

Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar

Published January 20 2004

Selling a Dictatorship: Propaganda and The Peróns

Clive Foss describes the propaganda effort that the Argentinian dictators made to win the gratitude and affection of the entire population

Published March 1 2000

Mao Zedong

Delia DavinMaoShaun Breslin

Published January 1 2000

Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and where it comes from

Daniel Pipes

Published July 31 1998

Russia's Romance with the Airship

Clive Foss tells how the airship phenomenon caught the imagination of the Soviet Union – becoming a key propaganda tool to Stalin, both at home and abroad.

Published December 1 1997