Colin's Updates

Colin is on page 67 of 350 of The Road To 1945

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 07:36:04 -0700

Colin is on page 67 of 350 of The Road To 1945.

Colin is on page 30 of 350 of The Road To 1945

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 10:17:28 -0700

Colin is on page 30 of 350 of The Road To 1945.

Colin started reading 'The Road To 1945: British Politics and the Second World War'

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 10:17:15 -0700

Colin started reading The Road To 1945: British Politics and the Second World War by Paul Addison

Colin added 'The Forgotten Prime Minister: The 14th Earl of Derby, Volume II: Achievement: 1851-1869'

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 02:01:39 -0700

Colin gave 4 stars to The Forgotten Prime Minister: The 14th Earl of Derby, Volume II: Achievement: 1851-1869 (Hardcover) by Angus Hawkins
The second volume of this comprehensive, scholarly biography of Lord Derby covers the height of his political career, including the three relatively short periods in which he was prime minister in the 1850s and 1860s. It is generally positive about Derby and shows how he commanded the Conservative Party during that period, in spite of the attention being focused on the more high-profile operators such as Palmerston, Gladstone and Disraeli. From this book, the reader gets the impression that Derby had more affinity with his principal political opponent (Palmerston) than his colleague (Disraeli). Nevertheless, in spite of frequent bouts of ill health, Derby emerges from this account as a man of stature and achievement.

The book is well written and structured, using apt quotations from Derby's Homer translations to sub-divide the text, and makes a good case for Derby to be a substantial politician and leading figure in British political life.

Colin started reading 'The Forgotten Prime Minister: The 14th Earl of Derby, Volume II: Achievement: 1851-1869'

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 02:10:43 -0700

Colin started reading The Forgotten Prime Minister: The 14th Earl of Derby, Volume II: Achievement: 1851-1869 by Angus Hawkins

Colin added 'Churchill's Citadel: Chartwell and the Gatherings Before the Storm'

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 04:01:13 -0700

Colin gave 4 stars to Churchill's Citadel: Chartwell and the Gatherings Before the Storm (Hardcover) by Katherine Carter
There are tons and tons of English language books about Winston Churchill. This is one of the more unusual in that it considers an important period in Churchill's life - the so-called Wilderness Years from 1929 to 1939 when he was out of power - and examines how he used his Kent country home of Chartwell to gather first-hand information about conditions on mainland Europe and the growing threat from the Nazis and, to a lesser extent, Italians and Japanese. A mix of politicians, journalists and other people of knowledge and influence were invited to spend time at Chartwell and thereby to keep Churchill abreast of international developments. The chapters are chronological but focus on one specific guest invitation and from that, discuss the issues of particular concern.

I think that the reader unfamiliar with the outline of Churchill's story may not fully appreciate the narrative. But that is easily fixed with the plethora of short, entry-level books that are available. For now, as a picture of life at Chartwell, and how an almost rival operation to Government was conducted, this book by the curator of the house is excellent. Also, one can only admire the devotion and hard work of the secretaries and domestic staff that underpinned the Citadel.

Colin added 'Truss at 10: How Not to Be Prime Minister'

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 02:10:51 -0700

Colin gave 3 stars to Truss at 10: How Not to Be Prime Minister (Kindle Edition) by Anthony Seldon
This is an enjoyable and accessible account of Liz Truss's short tenure as UK Prime Minister. Sir Anthony Seldon is a shrewd and knowledgeable writer about modern British politics and the constitution. He brings this experience to bear as he recounts the disastrous period of the Truss government in 2022. The book is largely a narrative and is gossipy in tone; not surprising as it is based on personal recollections.

There is a much more substantial assessment to be done of this period, especially of the rationale behind the "mini-budget". This probably needs access to all the relevant official papers. I suspect that it is a more complicated picture than is displayed here. At this stage in the historical process, one is left with the impression of a politician who had little to none of the skills needed to lead a government and party. The wonder is that Truss's colleagues allowed this situation to arise.

As an interim view of Liz Truss as PM, this is a decent account but I do not think it is near the full story.

Colin started reading 'Churchill's Citadel: Chartwell and the Gatherings Before the Storm'

Tue, 08 Apr 2025 13:53:17 -0700

Colin started reading Churchill's Citadel: Chartwell and the Gatherings Before the Storm by Katherine Carter

Colin added 'The Masters'

Tue, 08 Apr 2025 02:23:55 -0700

Colin gave 2 stars to The Masters (Strangers and Brothers #5) by C.P. Snow
This is a curious novel. It is about the plotting and scheming in a Cambridge college amongst the Fellows to elect a new Master. Part of the Lewis Eliot sequence of novels, that character is the narrator and a player in the proceedings. But Eliot is not the prime mover and we see how power shifts from one side to the other in a two horse race. The point of the novel is how people shift position and allegiances. It is not really about Cambridge academic politics. There is little indication of where the two candidates stand on their vision for their college and because Eliot sees only one side, we don't know much about the candidate from the other side. It is worth reading to see what happens and there is a nice half-twist at the end.

Colin wants to read 'The Wars of German Unification'

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 01:52:30 -0700

Colin wants to read The Wars of German Unification by Dennis E. Showalter