Chatham House is the Royal Institute ofInternational Affairs. It is based in St. James’ Square, Mayfair, London, a short walk from Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square. I have been a member of Chatham House for several months but with me being based
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Review: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich – by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Under the premiership of Nikita Khrushchev there was a post-Stalin easing of oppression emerging from the Kremlin and a Cold War ‘Victorian’ Ice Age thaw for writers allowed this remarkable, unique, little tale to unbelievably evade the censor and make
Continue readingReview: War and Peace – by Leo Tolstoy
‘War and Peace’ needs no introduction. It holds its place in the minds of contemporary society as a literary classic. One cannot pick up a newspaper article on great books without a passing mention of Leo Tolstoy’s masterpiece. Like other
Continue readingReview: The Dragons and the Snakes – How The Rest Learned to Fight The West – by David Kilcullen
This is one of the very best books I have ever read. It is up to date material and full of cutting edge military theory and ideas and I believe is critical essential reading for any politician or military personnel,
Continue readingReview: Red Notice – How I Became Putin’s No.1 Enemy – by Bill Browder
There is irony in this tale as Bill Browder was following in his grandfather’s footsteps in some ways but was also radically poles apart. Browder’s grandfather had stood for Presidential election in the USA on a Communist ticket. Bill Browder
Continue readingReview: The Great Game – On Secret Service in High Asia – by Peter Hopkirk
The Great Game, as immortalised by Rudyard Kipling in ‘Kim’ was the nineteenth century adventures in espionage between Russia and the U.K. across Central Asia. Both sides were on the verge of a full on military confrontation and sought advantage.
Continue readingReview: Russians Among Us – Sleeper Cells & The Hunt for Putin’s Agents – by Gordon Correra
I’ve read Gordon Correra’s previous work in espionage literature and for this reason I was drawn to seek out this new offering. In the current climate of the Russian invasion of Ukraine under ex KGB spy, Vladimir Putin, I felt
Continue readingReview: Fragile Empire – How Russia Fell In and Out of Love with Vladimir Putin – by Ben Judah
This is a very well researched study of Russia under Vladimir Putin. Always concerned with the political angle of this modern day Tsar, Judah studies the rise of Putin from a relatively unflattering career in the FSB through to him
Continue readingReview: Fragile Empire – How Russia Fell In and Out of Love with Vladimir Putin – by Ben Judah
This is a very well researched study of Russia under Vladimir Putin. Always concerned with the political angle of this modern day Tsar, Judah studies the rise of Putin from a relatively unflattering career in the FSB through to him
Continue readingReview: We – by Yevgeny Zamyatin
This science-fiction classic was written in 1920s Russia and was cited by George Orwell as a key inspiration for his seminal 1984. We are in the 26th century and following victory in a 200 year war, society has reached its
Continue readingReview: For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway My rating: 4 of 5 stars Farewell to Arms is said to be Hemingway’s best book. Set in the Spanish Civil War, Robert Jordan is an American fighting in the International Brigades
Continue readingReview: The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939
The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 by Antony Beevor My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a definitive history of the Spanish Civil War. The book has been regarded by the Spanish themselves as one of
Continue readingReview: Free Fall: A Sniper’s Story from Chechnya. Nicolai Lilin
Free Fall: A Sniper’s Story from Chechnya. Nicolai Lilin by Nicolai Lilin My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really enjoyed Nicolai Lilin’s first book and was keen to get stuck into this follow-up. It is really quite a different
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