Category: Books
-
The DCIs: Britain’s intelligence chiefs in the Northern Ireland Troubles (Working Draft)
The new year is a good time to think about the best way of using my Patreon. While some of the posts there give a good flavour of my research, I’ve been thinking for some time about following the example of writers like Kevin Carson, who post the full working draft of their books online.Over…
-
Spicer threatens to sue Craig Murray
It’s about time that I broke radio silence on here, and this certainly merits it. Former diplomat Craig Murray is having another run-in with Schillings, the lawyers who briefly managed to get his website taken down on behalf of Uzbek oligarch Alisher Usmanov. Now they are attempting to block the publication of my new book…
-
Great Hatred, Little Room by Jonathan Powell
My review of Jonathan Powell’s account of the peace process, Great Hatred, Little Room, is now online over at OurKingdom. Update 11 April: David Frum points us to a review by Dean Godson in the Spectator. Godson’s more critical view is in line with the terms of the debate described in my OK piece.
-
Irish events in London: Ruan O’Donnell on the Border campaign
A couple of events in London next week worth noting. Firstly, The Connolly Association brings us details of a talk by historian Ruan O’Donnell at Hammersmith Irish Centre on Wednesday: Date: 14 November (Wednesday) Time: 7pm, Irish Centre, Hammersmith, London Speaker: Ruan O’Donnell; chair: Peter Berresford Ellis. Further details tel. 0044 (0)207 8333022 A LEADING…
-
More than meets the eye?
The latest issue of Private Eye features two very interesting stories that, in subtly, contrasting ways, raise the issue of covert political manipulation by intelligence agencies. On page 6, the HP sauce column tells us that Gordon Brown is currently reading Who Paid the Piper? by Frances Stonor Saunders, a study of ‘CIA secret funding…
-
Licensed to Kill: Robert Young Pelton on the Aegis contract
I’ve just got hold of a copy of Robert Young Pelton’s Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror. Although, I have yet to read the whole thing, I can say there is some excellent journalism in this book, including the best account yet of how Aegis Defence Services got the largest security…
-
Book Review: The Wonga Coup, by Adam Roberts
In March 2004, Zimbabwean police impounded a jet carrying 64 mercenaries, led by former SAS officer Simon Mann. The event marked the unravelling of an extraordinary plot, backed by wealthy investors, to overthrow the Government of Equatorial Guinea, a tiny oil-rich nation in West Africa. The Wonga Coup, by Adam Roberts is the first book…
-
The IRB and English republicanism
I took the opportunity while in Ireland last week to visit the excellent An Cafe Liteartha in Dingle and pick up a copy of the new book on The IRB by Owen McGee. From what I’ve read so far, the book certainly lives up to its very positive reviews. There is one passage in particular…
-
Hobson choice
I have been looking for a decent tagline for the Green Ribbon for some time now, and I’m still not sure I’ve found one. Until I can come up with something that expresses the same idea a bit more snappily, I’ve decided to use the above quote from John A Hobson, an English liberal thinker…
-
2005: Blogged has arrived
I have just received my copy of 2005: Blogged, Tim Worstall’s anthology of the best of the year’s British and Irish blogging. The Green Ribbon has sneaked in on page 93 thanks to this post which was originally nominated for the BritBlog Roundup back in March by Gareth from the CEP.