Third Man

Apparently President Bushs favourite subject is British history, well that's news to me in fact I'm absolutely thrown by that snippet from The Times today but after my bewilderment had dissipatated and my head had stopped spinning from this black and white newsflash - I read on.

Brown had arranged for a group of guest authors, who are experts in military history and the rise and fall of the Empire in on the party as well, including one who had labelled Bush "a absolute f***ing catastrophe” - someones got a sense of humour

President Bush and Gordon Brown have both been reading a selection of work by every historian who attended the dinner.

Anyway it sounded quite a good party, here's the list of authors with the books they wrote, has anyone read any of these - any recomendations?



Simon Schama A History of Britain
Alistair Horne A Savage War of Peace (given to Mr Bush by Henry Kissinger)
Valmai Holt Major & Mrs Holt’s Battlefield Guide
Max Arthur Forgotten Voices series
Piers Brendan The Decline and Fall of the British Empire
Linda Colley Britons: Forging the Nation, 1707–1837
David Cannadine The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy
Martin Gilbert Official biographer of Sir Winston Churchill
Andrew Roberts A History of the English Speaking Peoples

Simon

narabdela

He can read!

batman

I have read the Simon Schama book and found it really interesting. I started the Gilbert 'Churchill' biography but have to confess I didn't finish it, not through any fault of the book, but because I couldn't devote enough time to read it properly. It should be read in long sessions an not just dipped into.

Don't miss out on a chance to win a rare film in Bat-Quiz 13 closing date - 31/8/8.

Third Man

Ahh! that's the one that called him "a absolute f***ing catastrophe” interesting.

Simon

billy bentley

How do we know Bush actually reads the books ? He might have someone read them for him, just like he has someone run his Presidency. It is even said of JFK that he just read the reviews of books and not the actual books.

funlover

No....actually he just looks at the pictures..................upside down

Third Man

Well good point I had actually thought about this and the more I did came round to thinking well America is a empire why woudn't he want to read about the last English speaking empire and learn from it. Apparently in the article ( i've linked it below) he was taken around and introduced to each guest. It's more than likely if he hadn't of read the books he would of been found out - Yeah?

When strolling into history, it may help to have dinner with those who will write it - Times Online

Simon

billy bentley

I've never got the impression that Bush would want to read about anything. Don't get me wrong I don't think he's dumb, I think he's more drug dealer smart - instinctual and amusing. Wouldn't some well prepared crib notes see him through what is essentially a meet and greet ? These authors aren't going to actually grill him are they ?

TimR

David Cannadine's book is excellent. All of his books are excellent, in my humble opinion. The overall themes are clear, bu there is plenty of carefully researched detail - very nice and instructive for a non-Brit.

Of course, much of it might be very familiar to others here. When I found one of his books, I didn't stop until I had read them all.

Shama's book is a well-structured overview but lacks depth; I think it is most effective as a sort of companion to the television series. On its own, it doesn't quite hold up. Also, the parts having to do with the 19th and 20th centuries are too politicized - and so they are somewhat boring.

Gilbert's biography is clear and objective - sympathetic but not infatuated.

Hereafter, in a better world than this,
I shall desire more love and knowledge of you

davidb

i read simon schamas book ,very good it was too .got his whole tv series on dvd as well ,might start watching them again .

homeguard

And I thought I was the only one who thought this. If you ever meet him, and he deigns to acknowledge your presence, you may get a shock. I think egoistical, self-publicist just about sums it up. And the fact that his father would never take his coat off in case someone stole it!, tells how much the family thought about having to flee Germany in the 1930s - they never quite forgave us for being their only option. Can't stand the man.
On the book front, if you are interested in our military history, (yawn - I know), in my opinion two books stand out.
The first is The Great War by John Terraine: ISBN 1 85326 674 4. A small paperback that is fantastic. We give this as a present to competition winners in our museum. You can get it from the Imperial War Museum.
The other is Field-Marshall Sir William Slim's book about the war against the Japanese in Burma, Defeat into Victory published by Cassell and Company. A warts and all history by the very modest and accomplished man that the Indian sub-continent owes so much to. Difficult to find though. Like most of our military history, it's soon forgotten.
Just a footnote about Bush. Calling the French "cheese eating surrender monkeys" paid scant regard to the fact that it was the French under Count Rochambeau, supported by the French fleet under Admiral DeGrasse, and funded by the French Government, that won the Yanks their independence!
My enemies enemy is my friend. (old American saying).
Regards,
HG

TimR

Yes, I thought the first episodes of the television series were well done, but his books were very disappointing. He is highly ambivalent about Britain and rather insulting. Your comments are interesting.

It's not "yawn" for me. My idea of an ideal vacation would be several days visiting the Imperial War Museum.

I read everything I can find on the Great War. Thanks for the suggestion.


I have found many books through our inter-library loan system here. It's quite good. I will look that up.



I know. We have offended many friends in recent years with gratuitous and crude insults.

I am a traditionalist in many ways and a conservative in the very old sense - Churchill and Eisenhower's blend of pragmatism and principle. The new brand of neoconservative thinking has nothing in common with anything I recognize. I can hope that reason and courtesy and sanity will return. I don't know, but I am slightly more hopeful than I have been in a few years.

Hereafter, in a better world than this,
I shall desire more love and knowledge of you

penfold

Allow me to recommend this book, Amazon.co.uk: Tommy: The British Soldier on the Western Front: Richard Holmes: Books if you're interested in WWI - written from the soldiers' perspective, and using surviving diaries and letters home as source materials. Not a quick read at 664 pages, but a very educational one, and very well written.

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

dpgmel

Piers Brendan's Decline and Fall of the British Empire is very good. Easy to read and with plenty of amusing anecdotes.

Windthrop

It would be amusing if the did try to grill him. I suspect if they did his aides would have him away in a nanosecond and the spin-machine would be in overdrive circulating stories about a case of mild tummy trouble

That's the joke that killed the Music Hall