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Web Of Deceit: Britain’s Real Foreign Policy by Mark Curtis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The definition of diplomacy has been described as the ability to tell a person to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip. When you think of a titled British ambassador, you have the image of a soft talking Sir Humphrey as a gentle ambassador for British interests abroad. Curtis has spent hours pouring over formerly secret government files released under the Thirty year rule; turns out the reality is very different from the image that they have cultivated…
From the evidence the he has amassed Curtis argues that the UK is an ‘outlaw state’, an ally of many repressive regimes and a frequent a violator of international law. He catalogues the shocking human rights abuses carried out by foreign countries with tacit approval of the UK government. The unpalatable details of historical events in Indonesia in 1965; Diego Garcia; Iran and British Guiana, Kenya, Malaya and Oman are covered in detail. The Uk has also supported repressive governments in, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel. This policy of having a political elite in charge of a country to control the population purely so British business and economic interests can take precedence over that particular countries wishes is abhorrent.
It makes for quite depressing reading and is a slamming indictment of the UK government and Foreign Office. Whilst this was primarily aimed at the New Labour government; who thought that inserting ethical before foreign policy would make it so. It doesn’t, if you have not changed the fundamental principles of the policy. Sadly, I cannot imagine that it is any better under the present encumbrances… It is a bit dated (I have had it sitting on my shelf for years!), but still an eye opening read.
Hidden Histories: A Spotter’s Guide to the British Landscape by Mary-Ann Ochota
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The British landscape as we see it today smothers a whole load of history. But if you look very carefully at the scene in front of you, you can start to see hints of the features that lie just beneath. But what are they? This is where Hidden Histories can help. Ochota has compiled a guide to discovering what the lumps and bumps that dot our countryside really are, so you can tell your cursus from your barrow, standing stones from a rubbing stone and your stretchers from your English bond. For each of the sections, you are provided with lots of details on what to look for, how to make an assessment of just what it is you are looking at and how to determine just how ancient it really is.
The book is packed full of excellent photos as well as artworks, maps and detailed drawings of all sorts of places, buildings, landscapes and features. I particularly liked the way that he has chosen her top five of a specific feature, so you can go and have a look yourself. It is a very good guide for getting you out into the landscape to look at it with a different set of eyes and to discover the history that you probably haven’t noticed before. 3.5 stars
All the winners announced for the travel writing awards yesterday
http://www.stanfords.co.uk/edward-stanford-travel-writing-awards
My thoughts on the Stanford Dolman Travel list, winner announced tonight:
http://nudge-book.com/blog/2017/02/reviewed-the-stanford-dolman-travel-book-of-the-year-shortlist/
Looking forward to hearing who has won
Just got these from Nudge / nb magazine
A New Year always offers new possibilities with regards to books, and this year was no exception with the release of the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year shortlist. They have expanded the scope of the whole awards and the Stanford Dolman is the premier prize with six other shortlists highlighting different aspects of travel writing.
Specsavers Fiction (with a sense of place)
Wanderlust Adventure Travel Book of the Year
National Book Tokens Children’s Travel Book of the Year
Food and Travel magazine Food and Travel Book of the Year
Destinations Show Illustrated Travel Book of the Year
London Book Fair Innovation in Travel Publishing
Having promised to read them for Nudge I found that there were six books on there that I hadn’t read (!) and a couple I hadn’t heard of either. I had read some from the Wanderlust prize though so started with the ones on there. The ten books I ended up reading were all good, but there were some outstanding ones too; in particular Deep South for the Dolman and my money is on that one to win. The Wanderlust prizes is a little harder to pick. I really liked Climbing Days by Dan Richards and was fortunate to meet him last October. Bravest, or most foolhardy prize, should go to Mike Martin and his battle to drive a Landrover across the Congo. but I think that Sarah Outen may just pip them all with her account of circumnavigating the world by bike, kayak and rowing boat.
Faber were kind enough to send me a review copy of The Disappearance of Emile Zola. It is a fascinating story of his flight from Paris after writing a letter criticising the Government and the military after the Dreyfus affair. It was a fascinating story of Emile Zola and his enforced stay in London, Weybridge and Addlestone. Strangely enough, I walked past a hotel where he stayed a day or so before I started the book. Nicholas Brealey kindly sent me the Evolutionary Ride by Lois Pryce of her motorcycle trip around Iran. An excellent travel book, and a bold trip around a country that has strict Muslim ideology and a liberal sector of the population. Great stuff.
No real duffers this month, but was not overly enamoured with the Sparrow; shame really, as the first book was excellent. Managed to finish 18 books, so overall a good month of reading.
Received eight books last week and a few in the first couple of weeks of January. As I was finishing the shortlists for the deadline I am so behind with my review copies!! My TBR in February has scared me a little.
Interstate: Hitchhiking Through the State of a Nation by Julian Sayarer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Julian Sarayer arrives in New York with the opportunity to make a documentary, and maybe, just maybe hit the big time. At the first meeting they find out that it has been cancelled. He has nothing to do and nowhere to go. Lodging temporarily with a friend, Natalie, he slowly conceives a plan to hitchhike from New York to San Francisco. Sarayer is a seasoned traveller; he set the world record for cycling round the world in 169 days in 2009, a story written about in his book, Life Cycles, so begins his Kerouac inspired trip across the North American continent
Travelling in a variety of vehicles, trucks, cars, pickups, Greyhound buses, the odd police car and even hobo style on a train, Sarayer finds a nation that seems to be a little bit lost. He meets the homeless who have dropped out of society after financial problems, anarchists who have made the decision to have very little interaction with normal society and the honest working, blue collar Americans whose struggle is relentless against the system. There are those are ignore him, leaving him walking along the side of the road and others who show the true generosity of spirit and do all in their power to help him.
The book starts with an emotive dedication at the start of the book: ‘To the immigrant’, a people in America who are both despised and relied on in equal measure. He tells a story that is despondent at times, when you read about the stark differences in society, thankfully there are people who are prepared to pick him up and take him to the next town along the road. What also comes across from the book is just how immense this country is, he spends days with an truck driver from India as they travel back and forth with deliveries; when they part for the next stage of his journey, it is as friends. The last time he crossed America, it was on a bike doing 110 miles a day under his own steam, this time he could get to know the people and the places and it is a much better book because of it.
The Hills of Wales by Jim Perrin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Hills of Wales is a collection of Jim Perrin’s writings and essays taken from a number of years. They have been grouped together under the various geographical regions that he has walked around and written about. Even though the Welsh hills and mountains do not have the height of their Scottish or European compatriots, they still have a certain majesty to them, but these are still places that need to be treated with respect. Perrin has been walking these hills all his life, even living on them as a shepherd for a time, so knows them intimately. Walking and just being in these hills for him is akin to a spiritual experience for him.
It took me a short while to get into, but once I got the hang of his writing style, I found a man who is deeply besotted with the hills and valleys of his country. He is equally fascinated by the wildlife that populate these hills too, noting when he sees magnificent Red Kites, the smallest wrens, finding the pellets that the owls leave of the small mammals they’ve consumed. He weaves in quotes and poetry from Welsh and other authors throughout the book, chosen perfectly to reflect the mood and the landscape. His passion for the landscape, his landscape, means that when he sees it ruined by workmen, he rightly becomes quite cantankerous, blowing off steam in his prose and taking action by writing to the offending companies. Perrin is a fine author indeed and now I want to read the companion volume. Snowdon: the Story of a Welsh Mountain.
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