Author Archives: bernardporter2013

2023 has been a dreadful year: for the millions caught up in wars, obviously; but also in a far less catastrophic way for those of us in safer situations who are interested in politics, but without far-Right proclivities. The political … Continue reading →

Back in Sweden now, and appreciating the far superior health care here; at least for citizens with non-life-threatening ailments. I’m on three or four separate waiting lists in Hull, all of them several months long already, and with no indication … Continue reading →

The dire condition into which my country has fallen – what or whomever you wish to blame for it: Covid, Russia, Brexit, the Conservative government, earlier Labour governments, the decline of capitalism, the loss of the Empire, the Public schools, … Continue reading →

Well, OK; and of course it’s flattering for a professional historian like me to think so. At the very least it should boost the sales of our books, and our sense of superior wisdom. History isn’t only fun, but is … Continue reading →

As an imperial historian, I think I know what ‘colonialism’ looks like. In my review of a book about the Mau Mau emergency of the 1950s, an early draft of which appeared here (https://bernardjporter.com/2023/11/09/kenya-book-review/), I hinted – very marginally – … Continue reading →

If Suella Braveman is thinking of using today’s sacking to release her inner fascist, she would be in strong historical company. Fascism (or quasi-fascism, or extreme nationalism, or whatever else you want to call it) is usually thought of as … Continue reading →

I’ve been busy over the last week reading this book for review. (I really do read, thoroughly, the books I’m sent!) Here’s the latest draft. – Now, hopefully, to get back to proper blogging, in between hospital appointments. Nicholas Rankin, … Continue reading →

In 1957 Ian Fleming’s brother, Peter, published a novel called The Sixth Column, which I read in the ’seventies because I was researching the field of espionage history at the time. It turned out to be very disappointing (by comparison … Continue reading →

I’m no expert on present-day Israel/Palestine, although as a British imperial historian I do know something about the origins of the current crisis there. That expertise has persuaded me that some of the charges levelled against the current Israeli state … Continue reading →

It pains me to say it, but on the ‘failure of multiculturalism’ in Britain Suella Braverman is essentially right. The upper classes never have integrated into the various cultures of the rest of Britain, or even tried to; by contrast … Continue reading →