Category: Hachette Book Group Canada

The Crown as a Geopolitical Player

On By Marc NadeauIn Charles III, China, Commonwealth, Gabon, Geopolitics, Hachette Book Group Canada, Katie Nicholl, Monarchy, Prince of Wales, Prince William, Queen Elizabeth II, Russia, Scotland, Togo, Xi JinpingLeave a comment

“The worst thing for a monarchy is not hostility, but indifference”, writes Katie Nicholl in her book The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown (Hachette Books). I was reminded of that crucial notion when I took note of a recent poll conducted in Canada, according to which “[…] only 19 percent of Canadians would prefer that the country remain a monarchy, down 12 points since a similar poll conducted in September 2022.”

The Crown has visibly not lost its appeal in the UK, but the warning signs in places like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand – just to name these – would be ignored at great peril.

The author, one of the keenest observers of the Crown and a gifted writer who has acquired first-hand knowledge of her subject, exposes the challenges facing the successors of Queen Elizabeth II while brushing the personal traits of the actors who are and will be called upon to meet them.

King Charles III was the longest-serving Prince of Wales, a title created in 1301 after “[…] King Edwards I conquered Wales and gave the title to his son”. With the help of genetics and a life of privilege, his reign might span a few decades, but most consider it transitional.

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The Hero Code: “Find what you’re good at and give it to others”

On By Marc NadeauIn Abbottabad raid, Admiral William McRaven, Giving, Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Book Group Canada, Journal of Strategic Studies, Military, Osama bin Laden, SEALs, Special Forces, Taylor & Francis, The Hero Code, US NavyLeave a comment

Ever since I watched his famous speech “Make Your Bed”, I have been captivated by the career and thought of retired Admiral William H. McRaven, the former commander of the Navy SEALs. I was therefore excited to receive a copy of his most recent book The Hero Code: Lessons Learned from Lives Well Lived (Grand Central Publishing).

While I was reading it, an article from the Journal of Strategic Studies caught my attention. Written by National Security Affairs Professor James J. Wirtz, “The Abbottabad raid [during which Osama bin Laden was permanently neutralized by Navy SEALs] and the theory of special operations” elaborates about the theory of special operations, whose father was none other than Admiral McRaven. He theorized it in his master’s degree thesis in a period when, in the immediate aftermath of the Cold War, we lived in a “[…] new, unipolar world, [where] U.S. special forces would be relegated to tertiary missions within a Cold-War force structure that appeared bloated, obsolete and ripe for significant reductions.”

McRaven’s work sought “[…] to demonstrate that a tactic and unit deemed largely irrelevant by conventionally-minded officers and civilian strategists could actually achieve strategically and politically important effects, but only if planned and executed by special operators themselves against significant targets in proper ways.” And you can figure that the devil was – and still is – in the details.

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Don’t be afraid of the mud

On By Marc NadeauIn Admiral William McRaven, Captain Sir Tom Moore, Covid-19, Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Book Group Canada, Make Your Bed, Military, Sea Stories, SEALsLeave a comment

11 months ago, right into the first wave of the pandemic, I reviewed Admiral (ret.) William H. McRaven’s excellent book, Sea Stories. Devouring this book was one of the most uplifting moments of this somber period. Not only because I’m a big fan of the author, but also because it is extremely well-written, and the content touched a chord.

That was before I put my hands on Make Your Bed, his shorter previous book which is the companion to the famous commencement speech he gave at the University of Texas in May 2014. While Sea Stories inspired me “from the outside”, Make Your Bed is not in the same category. The 10 life lessons it contains make you dive right into your own life and path. And that’s not always easy.

During his training to become a Navy SEAL, Admiral McRaven was told by one of his instructors: “[…] life isn’t fair and the sooner you learn that the better off you will be.” The purpose of this review is not meant to be autobiographical, but I have no choice but to share a bit of my own story to make you understand why this book has had such a powerful impact on me.

As a young adult, I witnessed my parents’ divorce and suffered greatly from it. In a nutshell, everything kept spiraling from bad to worse, with no end in sight. The temptation to “ring the bell” (a Navy SEAL wanting to quit only needs to ring three times the bell that’s located on the courtyard of the SEALs training camp in Coronado, California) was extremely strong. A few months before the family house was sold, I made a crucial decision. In hindsight, that was the best one I could take. I was moving to the University’s student’s residence. I wanted to be close to my classes, to the library where I spent lots of time and to live with other people my age. It was a huge gamble. After I paid the rent for the first month, I found myself with only 50$ in my pockets.

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