Military
Laureate of the Trenches
David Jones’s service at the front inspired an epic poem about World War I, “In Parenthesis”. Long neglected, it is ripe for rediscovery
Neoconservatism: A Good Idea That Won’t Go Away
Critics like to think that neoconservative ideas lie buried in the sands of Iraq. But neocons are still in the mainstream of US politics
Boffins and other Backroom Boys
Highlighting the importance of scientists and engineers in defeating Germany is the noble aim of Paul Kennedy’s new book, but ultimately he goes too far
Master and Commander
Churchill and Sea Power by Christopher M Bell exonerates the wartime Prime Minister of his alleged military mistakes
The Artistic Legacy of the Great War
The global impact of World War I changed the arts forever. Its effects are still felt a century later
Underestimating Jong Un
‘Western optimists like to assume North Korea is on the verge of implosion. But the hermit kingdom is not going to collapse any time soon’
Blind Ambition
In the wake of the Paralympics, a new biography celebrates the life of our greatest disabled serviceman: Horatio Nelson
Scotland’s Bravest and Britain’s Best
Two books, by Sarah Fraser and Victoria Schofield, provide an invaluable and accessible insight into Scottish military history
Melancholy Monuments of Chivalry
From Cyprus and Anatolia to Rhodes, the Levant’s castles bear witness to the struggle for supremacy between East and West
The Surge is Working — So Far
Official voices are unwilling to claim victory, but Nato forces in southern Afghanistan are defeating the Taliban
Why Remoaners should back Boris
“Boris, ironically, now offers Remoaners the best chance of a soft Brexit, or at least a sensible one. And to those who want a second referendum—’the people’s vote’—there may even be a chance of that too.”
On the road
“In the summer of 1980, in the grip of some Kerouac-ish fantasy, I opted to hitch-hike from Laredo to New York”
Discovering the Great War of China
A third of a million Chinese labourers helped the Allies defeat the Kaiser, but their huge unsung contribution ended in betrayal