New and noteworthy

Contemporary Review, June, 2003

One of the more interesting aspects of modem English life is the degree to which history remains a favourite topic for television whether in series presented by tele-dons (as mentioned above) or in dramatisation, as in Stephen Poliakoff's The Lost Prince. This two-part BBC drama, broadcast last January and later to be released as a cinema film, told the story of George V's youngest son, Prince John, who suffered from epilepsy and who was kept out of the public eye. The film's writer, Stephen Poliakoff, was anxious to fend off criticisms of historical inaccuracy and wrote a long introduction to the published script, The Lost Prince (Methuen, [pounds sterling]9.99 p.b.).

On Channel Four last January we also had Niall Ferguson's Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World which was accompanied by a book with the same title, published by Allen Lane at [pounds sterling]25.00. The presenter, who now teaches in New York University, set out to answer two questions: how did the United Kingdom come to possess the world's biggest empire ever and, secondly, was the Empire 'a good or bad thing'. The answer to the first question follows traditional interpretations. With regard to the second question, the very fact that Prof. Ferguson asks it shows that he does not follow the anti-Empire views that have dominated Britain's intelligentsia since Suez if not since the 1930s. Because Prof. Ferguson is an economic historian he pointedly reminds readers that 'no organisation in history has done more to promote the free movement of goods, capital and labour than the British Empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries'. The Empire also brought impartial justice and ordered government to places which had neither. In the wake of the Iraq war the book's assertion that it is the U.S. which is the centre of a new Anglo-Saxon empire takes on an added dimension.

Yet another series, this time one broadcast on BBC Two, is Andrew Roberts' Hitler and Churchill: Secrets of Leadership (Weidenfeld & Nicolson. [pounds sterling]18.99). Dual biographies are one of the latest historical fashions and Mr Roberts has already done one on Wellington and Napoleon. Here and on television he argued that behind both men lay a large amount of luck: neither created events as much as their reputations have implied. Each performed numerous 'confidence tricks' and inspired their peoples with hopes dressed up as assertions. Without Churchill there would have been no allied victory in 1945 and without that victory the future of Britnin, of Europe and of the world would have been very bleak indeed. As a study of leadership, of good and evil, this is a fascinating book that is as timely as ever.

A final new history title is a new edition of an old standby, The Longman Handbook of Modem British History 1714-2001 by Chris Cook and John Stevenson ([pounds sterling]16.99). This, the fourth edition, replaces that of 1996 and brings the unique collection of facts contained in it up to the general election of 2001 and the second victory of 'New Labour'. As before, the text is divided into seven areas: political history, social and religious history, economic history, foreign affairs and defence, biographies, a glossary of terms; and, finally, a 'topic bibliography'. At 506 pages this new edition is larger than ever and, as with the first edition of 1983, it remains an indispensable source in any library.

Among new releases on World War Two we begin with two from ROUTLEDGE. The first is Roderick Stackelberg and Sally A. Winkle's The Nazi Germany Sourcebook: An Anthology of Texts ([pounds sterling]55.00 and [pounds sterling]17.99 p.b.), a massive collection of 148 original documents in English translation which will prove invaluable to students of twentieth-century Europe. The editors have wisely chosen to begin their selections with the nineteenth century background because, they argue, the origins of Nazism lie in 'the increasingly desperate rearguard campaign against the modemising trends of the nineteenth century'. The seven chapters look at the German Empire and the First World War, the Weimar Republic, the first two years of the Third Reich, the build-up to war (1936-39), the war years, the Holocaust and, finally, 'the aftermath of Nazism and the Historians' Debate'. This least section is extremely valuable for the help it will give a new generation in understanding the nature of the historical debate sur rounding the Nazi era. The selection is wide and catholic. In addition to the obvious, public policy documents, there are letters and articles that both formed public thought and reflected it. Next we have a second edition of David Welch's The Third Reich: Politics and Propaganda ([pounds sterling]55.00 and [pounds sterling]15.99 p.b.). This examination of one of the most important aspects of Hitler's regime was first published in 1993. The author's aim is to 'explain the popular base of National Socialism and its ability to sustain a consensus (of sorts) over a twelve-year period'. How the Nazi movement went about its work, the role of Hitler and Goebbels, the role of the media, the effects of the war are all discussed. Because this book makes such a valuable contribution to our understanding of this complex issue it is good to have it in print once again. Our final new title relating to the war comes from ROBSON BOOKS: Peter Haining's The Flying Bomb War: Contemporary Eyewitness Accounts of the German V-1 a nd V-2 Raids on Britain ([pounds]16.95). Between June 1944 and March 1945 England saw a new weapon which brought devastation, the V-is and later, V-2s. Of the 10,492 V-is launched, some 6,500 reached English soil. German scientists had won the race to begin the space age. This book gives us the history of these deadly weapons as seen by the German military who created them and the English civilians who suffered from them. It is also a tribute to the 20,000 slave labourers who died or were murdered to create Hitler's wonder weapons.