Category: History

Churchill was better at strategy than politics

On By Marc NadeauIn Battle of Alamein, Bernard Montgomery, Erwin Rommel, History, Leadership, Military, Simon Ball, The Folio Society, Ukraine, Winston Churchill, World War IILeave a comment
Professor Simon J. Ball (University of Leeds)

I recently reviewed Professor Simon J. Ball’s revealing book about the battle of Alamein (The Folio Society). He generously accepted to answer few questions for this blog, and I take immense pleasure in sharing the content of our exchange with you today. I trust you will enjoy reading it.

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Professor Ball, I might be wrong, but I have a feeling that the Mediterranean theater during World War II has been overlooked. Why is it important to pay more attention to it? How crucial was it in the big picture of the conflict? 

SJB: The war in the Mediterranean was of central importance. It blew apart the idea of the Mediterranean as a unified zone, although all the major powers tried to engineer integration at some points. Oddly the idea of the Mediterranean as an integrated politico-economic-cultural area, “breathing with the same rhythms”, was popularized by Fernand Braudel in the late 1940s.

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Joe Biden: Leader of the Free World

On By Marc NadeauIn Chris Whipple, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Freedom, Harry S. Truman, History, Joe Biden, Leadership, Lyndon B. Johnson, Ronald Reagan, Russia, Scribner, Simon & Schuster Canada, Tyranny, Ukraine, US Politics, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, Winston ChurchillLeave a comment

“To every man there comes in his lifetime that special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered a chance to do a very special thing, unique to him and fitted to his talents,” declared Winston Churchill. For many, that hour comes early. For some, like the heroic British Prime Minister, it comes later. For others, like US President Joe Biden, it comes even later in life.

As we commemorate today the tragic first anniversary of the murderous onslaught launched by Vladimir Putin against Ukraine, it seems fitting to write about one of the best political biographies I have read in a long time. The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House (Scribner) is required reading for anyone seeking to understand the character of the 46th President of the United States.

In the summer of 2017, the events surrounding the extreme-right manifestations in the streets of Charlottesville convinced former Vice President Biden that Donald Trump “was giving evil a safe harbour”, thus contributing to the Democratic politician’s decision to run. The combat for 2020 was between good and evil. And no one was better equipped than Joe Biden to lead it.

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The distorted memory of Alamein

On By Marc NadeauIn Alamein, Bernard Montgomery, Erwin Rommel, History, North Africa, Simon Ball, Stalingrad, The Folio Society, World War II1 Comment
British soldiers during the second battle of Alamein (The Times of Israel)

“History will be kind to me for I intend to write it”, declared Winston Churchill. That quote might reveal why the second battle of Alamein seems only to reach a limited audience of military history specialists and enthusiasts. In terms of visibility and shelf space, Alamein doesn’t rank with D-Day, Stalingrad, or Bastogne.

Knowing that the battle stopped Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s advance on Egypt during the turning point year of 1942, one can reasonably wonder why that is so. In a nutshell, “the absence of the victors left plenty of room for the ‘losers’ to have their say. […] the British state’s insistence on not telling a national narrative over-represented the voices of its enemies”, explains historian Simon Ball in The Folio Society edition of his insightful history of the battle fought in the sands of North Africa in October and November 1942.

Material rather than manpower would have been the drivers of the Allied victory. In sum, “the Axis had lost the battle for four reasons: enemy air superiority; the poor performance of the Italian troops; the Eighth Army’s superiority in modern weapons; and their own lack of fuel.” Rommel became an icon – a phenomenon I observed on numerous occasions while visiting military museums in the United Kingdom – and his opponent, Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery drew flak from “old régime” figures who could not stomach the methods of this iconoclast figure who privileged meritocracy. The tenants of that school preferred to give way to Rommel rather than applaud the success and qualities of Montgomery. That phenomenon is regrettably still observable to this day.

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The Indomitable Prisoners of Colditz

On By Marc NadeauIn Airey Neave, Ben Macintyre, Birendranath Mazumdar, Colditz, History, Julius Green, Penguin Random House Canada, Prisoners of the Castle, Richard Attenborough, Stalag Luft III, Steve McQueen, The Great Escape, World War II, Čeněk ChaloupkaLeave a comment

Since I was a kid, The Great Escape featuring Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson, and Richard Attenborough (in the role of the legendary Roger Bartlett – the legendary Roger Bushell in real life) has been one of my favorite movies. In 2015, when I lived in Poland, I visited the Stalag Luft III Prisoner Camp Museum in Zagan – 5 hours west of Warsaw. That memorable visit was a real pilgrimage in the footsteps of those gallant men who refused to remain behind German barbed wired.

I was therefore overjoyed to read bestselling author Ben Macintyre’s book Prisoners of the Castle: An Epic Story of Survival and Escape from Colditz, the Nazis’ Fortress Prison (Signal).

I often say that Ben Macintyre would find a way of making the history of the can of Coke enthralling. His book Rogue Heroes features among my very favorites. I, therefore, did not doubt that I was in for quite a treat when I opened Prisoners of the Castle. Even those high expectations were surpassed because the author brings the reader to a new understanding of the war experience.

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The Harry and Meghan episode is worse than the abdication crisis

On By Marc NadeauIn Abdication, Andrew Lownie, Edward VIII, History, King Charles III, Meghan Markle, Monarchy, Pegasus Books, Prince Andrew, Prince Harry, Prince of Wales, Princess Beatrice, Princesse Eugenie, Wallis Simpson, Winston Churchill, World War II1 Comment
There are lots of parallels between Wallis Simpson and former King Edward VIII (left) and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (right) (Insider)

Few weeks ago, I reviewed Andrew Lownie’s enthralling and fascinating book Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke & Duchess of Windsor. The author – a disillusioned monarchist who believes in institution but feels let down by some members of it – generously accepted to answer a few questions for this blog. Below is the content of our discussion.

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Mr. Lownie, while researching Traitor King, did you make any findings that surprised you?

Lots not least the extent of the Windsors’ dealings with the Nazis which can be found in documents, the knowledge that the Royal Family and Government had of their activities and the rather bizarre relationship the couple had and their bisexuality. Also, the degree of the attempted British cover up of his treachery.

Understandably, Winston Churchill is a frequent guest in the book. I might be wrong, but I didn’t get the sense that he became a tooth-and-nail opponent of the Duke of Windsor during the war. How would you describe the evolution of the relationship between the two men?

Churchill had been one of the Duke’s strongest supporters during the Abdication, mainly because of his romantic notion of the monarchy, but the scales fell when he saw the Duke’s duplicity over the financial settlement in 1937 and the disloyalty shown during the war when Churchill had to threaten him with court martial. The relationship then became more pragmatic with Churchill trying to find him a job after the war and suppressing the embarrassing captured German documents, but he refused to join a cruise when he learnt the Windsors would be present.

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Boris Yeltsin and “The Crown”

On By Marc NadeauIn Boris Yeltsin, History, Mikhail Gorbachev, Monarchy, Nicholas II, Queen Elizabeth II, Russia, Sir Rodric Braithwaite, The CrownLeave a comment
Queen Elizabeth II and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (The Telegraph)

I’m watching every episode of The Crown, not only because of my love and appreciation of the monarchy in all its complexity but mainly for its entertainment value. For obvious reasons, I never take the content of the series at face value since there are many aspects which differ from reality.

Nevertheless, episode 6 of The Crown’s Season 5, titled “Ipatiev House”, brought many questions to my mind. For one, Russian President Boris Yeltsin never went to Buckingham Palace to meet Queen Elizabeth II, which makes the whole diatribe in which he insulted the Queen in Russian fictitious and potentially misleading for anyone believing that the series is an accurate portrayal of reality.

I therefore decided to ask Sir Rodric Braithwaite, Her Majesty’s Ambassador in Moscow between 1988 and 1992 and the author of an excellent recent book about the history of Russia, to shed some light on the relationship between the Crown and the two-headed eagle.

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Donald Trump was an unprincipled commander in chief

On By Marc NadeauIn Barack Obama, China, Donald Trump, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, HarperCollins, History, Leadership, Mark T. Esper, Military, United States, William MorrowLeave a comment

At the crest of the wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, I devoured retired Admiral William McRaven’s book Sea Stories, relishing its numerous anecdotes. One of them concerned Abu Ghadiya, a terrorist mastermind responsible for the highest number of American and Iraqi deaths, notably at the hands of suicide bombers. At a crucial moment, the US Army received intelligence on his whereabouts in Syria, giving them the possibility of neutralizing him. President George W. Bush’s approval was necessary to conduct the operation.

To make a fascinating story short, Admiral McRaven was tasked with briefing President George W. Bush about the sensitive mission. During the briefing, the commander-in-chief, who didn’t have a strong reputation as an intellectual or a man of detail, asked a very pointed question about the ordnance proposed to conduct the mission. “He was so well versed on the missions and the nomenclature of the specific ordnance that he understood that using a precision-guided five-hundred-pound GBU-31 was in fact the right munition for the job. I was momentarily taken aback by the question.”

In Countdown bin Laden, Chris Wallace says much the same about President Barack Obama during the quest to neutralize Osama bin Laden. “He was a president who carefully analyzed everything before making a decision”, observed the veteran journalist.

Unsurprisingly, things took a turn for the worst when Donald Trump arrived in the Oval Office. In a very insightful – yet scary memoir – former Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper paints the portrait of “[…] an idiosyncratic, unpredictable, and unprincipled commander in chief” and a man as despicable as one can be.

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The Source of JFK’s Greatness

On By Marc NadeauIn Cold war, Dutton, History, John F. Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., Leadership, Lyndon B. Johnson, Mark K. Updegrove, Nikita Khrushchev, Penguin Random House Canada, US Politics, US Presidency, World War IILeave a comment

For as long as I can remember, November 22 has always been a sobering date on my calendar. My late father, like many of his generation, revered John F. Kennedy. He owned several pieces of memorabilia. He also vividly remembered where he was and what he was doing on that fateful day when his favorite statesman tragically fell under the bullets. Before the Roosevelts, Truman, LBJ, Reagan and both Presidents Bush – commanders in chief for whom I have tons of admiration – JFK was the first one who piqued my intellectual curiosity.

I cannot proclaim that I have read every book regarding the main figure of contemporary Camelot, but I always make a point of skimming the pages of as many as I can. Mark K. Updegrove is a presidential historian whose work I have always been interested in. I was, therefore, impatient to grab a copy of his recent book Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency. I was expecting a good read because the author has an enthralling writing style. But I got much more than that.

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“Putin’s war has forged Ukraine’s sense of nationhood on the battlefield”

On By Marc NadeauIn Catherine the Great, History, Leadership, Mikhail Gorbachev, Russia, Sir Rodric Braithwaite, Ukraine, USSR, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, WarLeave a comment
Ukrainian soldiers (McGill University)

Two of the greatest pleasures I have as a blogger is reading the best books and being in touch with their authors. Few things make me happier than when they accept to answer a few questions for an interview.

I have always been a huge fan of Sir Rodric Braithwaite, and I was extremely happy to read and review his recent and captivating book about the history of Russia at a time when this country is at crossroads.

As a former British Ambassador to Moscow between 1988 and 1992 and a former foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister John Major, he combines the experience of a man who was on the ground when the URSS was on the cusp of exploding and the talent of an inspired historian.

I, therefore, felt extremely privileged when Sir Rodric generously agreed to answer my questions. I trust you will find his answers of tremendous interest.

___________

Sir Rodric, I’m of the school according to which great leaders make history. In that regard, I would be curious to know which Tsar or leader impresses you the most in the history of Russia and why?

The question of whether history is made by great leaders or impersonal forces will never be settled. It is the intellectual underpinning for Tolstoy’s War and Peace. In my view, you need both. Even the greatest leader cannot buck reality: Bismarck is eloquent on that.

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The King who jeopardized the Monarchy

On By Marc NadeauIn Abdication, Andrew Lownie, Antisemitism, Charles III, Edward VIII, Elizabeth II, George V, George VI, History, Monarchy, Nazis, Pegasus Books, Prince Harry, Wallis Simpson, World War IILeave a comment

The cover of Prince Harry’s memoir was released last week, in mounting anticipation of the day it hits the shelves next January. Since their wedding in May 2018, Harry and Meghan have proven to be distracting – to say the least – for the Royal Family. Their staunch desire to center everything around their desires, feelings and intentions goes against the grain of an institution based on selflessness and duty.

Even though the revelations contained in his book will probably rock and ruffle Buckingham Palace, Prince Harry’s fifth position in the line of succession to the throne render his tribulations much less catastrophic than those posed by his late grandmother’s uncle, King Edward VIII. On December 10, 1936, this Monarch deposed the scepter and the orb for the sake of marrying the Queen of his heart, the American-born divorcee Wallis Simpson.

His brother, George VI, was left to pick up the pieces. He was neither supposed nor prepared to accede the throne. The reputation of the institution was severely tarnished, but the history of the world can be grateful that George Windsor was tasked with this mission because his brother David (Edward VIII)’s presence on the throne would have proved catastrophic in the period leading to and during World War II.

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