[PDF file]: The Assault on Truth: Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and the Emergence of a New Moral Barbarism Peter Oborne London: Simon and Schuster, 2021, £12.99, p/b John Newsinger When I read Peter Oborne’s The Rise of Political Lying more than fifteen years ago, I was full of admiration for its exposure of New Labour’s dishonesty. […]
[PDF file]: ‘To Stand against Israel is to Stand against God’: Zionism, Trump and the US Christian Right John Newsinger On 14 May 2018, the US Embassy in Israel was formally moved to Jerusalem. This had first been called for by Congress in 1995, but with the proviso that the President could issue a waiver every […]
[PDF file]: Armed and Dangerous: The US Far Right in the Trump era John Newsinger In the aftermath of the 6 January 2021 capitol insurrection in Washington DC, a large number of books have been published examining the background to the event and warning of the dangers that still lie ahead. This review looks at only […]
[PDF file]: Operation Mindfuck QAnon and the cult of Donald Trump Robert Guffey London and New York: OR books, 2022, £15 (p/b) £8 (ebook) Robin Ramsay The author’s name may ring a bell.1 He has been researching the wonderful world of American conspiracy theories for about 25 years and in this book he takes on the […]
[PDF file]: ‘Crazytown’ John Newsinger Fear: Trump in the White House Bob Woodward New York: Simon and Schuster, 2018 Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House Omarosa Manigault Newman New York: Simon and Schuster, 2018 The Shadow President: The Truth about Mike Pence Michael D’Antonio and Peter Eisner New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2018 […]
The incompetence which has been the hallmark of the world’s ‘most powerful man’ has left the world with a legacy we can only begin to rub our eyes at: George W. Bush’s successful derailing of concerted action on climate change; an energy crisis; a $3 trillion war (that’s just the cost to the Americans of … Read more
Before he went on the run, in the wake of Ernie Elliot’s murder in 1972, former British soldier and UDA member David Fogel gave an interview to the London Times.(1) In it he denounced sectarianism and said that he hoped that one day ‘the Official IRA and the UDA would work together, because both organisations … Read more
De Courcy, Pilcher and Hess Recently released material in the Public Record Office throws more light on the career of Kenneth de Courcy, and perhaps indirectly, on the Hess affair. The file in question, an MI5 document, PROKV4/58, shows that de Courcy first came to the attention of the Security Service in 1934 (without explaining … Read more
I have been scrutinising in some detail the Curry Report, The Security Service: its problems and organisational adjustments 1908-1945 –– the in-house history of MI5 which was written by John Court (‘Jack’) Curry (1887-?), a senior MI5 officer, during 1944-6. In so doing I have solved one of the great mysteries about Maxwell Knight. Anthony … Read more
[PDF file]: The Never Trumpers Never Trump: The Revolt of the Conservative Elites Robert P Saldin and Steven M Teles Oxford University Press, 2020, £21.99 (h/b) Trumpocalypse: Restoring American Democracy David Frum New York: Harper, 2020, $28.99 (h/b) Gaslighting America: Why We Love It When Trump Lies to Us Amanda Carpenter New York: HarperCollins (Broadside Books), […]
