The Longest Afternoon, by historian Brendan Simms, provides depth, nuance and new insight
Although I considered myself reasonably well informed about the June 1815 Battle of Waterloo, the critical role of the King’s German Legion (KGL) and La Haye Sainte slipped below my radar. That’s been rectified by The Longest Afternoon, a slim volume from historian Brendan Simms. Simms, born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College, is…
From the failed Franco-British Union during the Second World War to Brexit, some things are just meant to fail
In these contentious Brexit days in the United Kingdom, it’s strange to remember that there was once a plan for a Franco-British Union. No, I’m not making that up. However short-lived, the plan was real. On June 16, 1940, the British cabinet approved a “declaration of indissoluble union” to this effect: “France and Great Britain…
Examples can be found around the world – including in Canada – and the scenario is being played out again in the U.K.
Running for the United Kingdom Conservative leadership, Boris Johnson claims that his party faces “extinction” if it fails to deliver Brexit. Political rhetoric being what it is, this could be dismissed as self-interested hyperbole. But while Johnson may exaggerate, the threat he envisages isn’t conjured out of thin air. There’s ample evidence that many habitual…
Gerda Munsinger, allegedly a low-level Soviet spy, was sexually involved with at least one, and possibly two, cabinet ministers
I’d been in Canada for just a few months when the Munsinger affair broke. In March 1966, John Diefenbaker – the former Progressive Conservative prime minister – was berating Liberal cabinet minister Lucien Cardin in the House of Commons on the subject of government laxity regarding security. Exasperated, Cardin struck back by raising the Munsinger…
Into the U.K.’s Winter of Discontent came a woman of sharp edges and a clear mind about how change would be managed
On May 3, 1979, United Kingdom voters trooped to the polls and produced a result that nobody would have countenanced a mere five years earlier. Defeating the sitting Labour government, Margaret Thatcher led the Conservatives into a lengthy sojourn in office. The novelty derived from the U.K. never having had a female prime minister, let…
From Congo Bill to Zorro, they were fertile ground for a youngster's imagination as we waited for next week's derring-do
Because my lifelong affair with the movies began at the tail end of the film serial era, I missed most of what’s been described as the genre’s golden age. But I did experience the thrill of watching a story evolve week to week. It was great stuff, or at least that’s how it appeared at…
The process should help uncover the blemishes in a candidate – providing the other choices shine through
Jeb Bush recently suggested that someone ought to run against U.S. President Donald Trump in next year’s presidential primaries. It would, in Bush’s estimation, be good for the Republican Party. The underlying logic is simple. Rather than being a real Republican, Trump is an interloper who executed the political equivalent of a hostile business takeover.…
Force-feeding economic modernization is a tricky business, even for a Father of Confederation
After leading the 1940s movement to bring Newfoundland into Confederation, Joey Smallwood went on to win six consecutive elections and served as the province’s premier for just shy of 23 years. It’s not the longest run for a provincial premier – Nova Scotia’s George Murray, Alberta’s Ernest Manning and Ontario’s Oliver Mowat edge Smallwood on…
At the heart of the decision to join Confederation was Joey Smallwood’s use of sectarian politics
March 31 marks the 70th anniversary of Newfoundland joining Canada, a significant historical milestone in and of itself. It also facilitated the ascendancy of one of the 20th century’s most colourful Canadian politicians – Joey Smallwood. Newfoundland took a pass on the original 1867 Confederation, opting to remain with the arrangement that had been in…
The debate is perhaps just a reflection of our modern obsessions and fails to put events in their proper historic perspective
England’s most famous medieval monarch, Richard the Lionheart, died 820 years ago this April. Wounded while besieging a castle in western France, he succumbed to gangrene. Strangely, though, despite his being the most famous European warrior of his time, one of the major modern talking points about him pertains to his sexuality. Specifically, was he…