Category Archives: Politics

Gore Vidal from the archive – Palimpsest

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Johnny Mindlin

After half a century as a great novelist and America’s finest essayist, in 1995 Gore Vidal got round to writing… well, not an autobiography, but at any rate a memoir. Why a memoir? Gore told Tim that by the age … Continue reading →

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Alwyn W Turner – Things Can Only Get Bitter

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Johnny Mindlin

The writer Alwyn Turner has spotted a fascinating statistical anomaly and it is this: the generation to which he belongs has produced significantly fewer front rank politicians than those either side of it. Or indeed any generation within living memory. … Continue reading →

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Nicholas Wapshott – Keynes Hayek – The Clash That Defined Modern Economics

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Johnny Mindlin

Can government action fix a broken economy? Eighty years ago John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich Hayek arrived at diametrically opposed conclusions. Far from being a dry and technical academic argument, it was then and is now the central division within … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Cultural History, Economics, History, Politics | Tagged Economics | Leave a comment

Chris Mullin – A Walk-On Part: Diaries 1994-1999

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Johnny Mindlin

Political diaries can be turgid and self-serving or they can be witty and revealing. Chris Mullins diaries are firmly in the second category. The final volume, A Walk-On Part, is brilliantly insightful, satisfyingly indiscreet, tender and tough, and marvellously resonant … Continue reading →

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Steve Richards – Whatever It Takes

Posted on February 13, 2011 by Johnny Mindlin

When the dust settles we will observe that more books have been written about New Labour than about any other British administration, yes, including Mrs Thatcher’s febrile season in the sun. But let the Peter Mandelsons and the Alistair Campbells … Continue reading →

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Alwyn Turner – Crisis, What Crisis – Britain in the 1970s

Posted on August 29, 2008 by Johnny Mindlin

Britain in the 1970’s is revisited in vivid technicolour by Alwyn Turner in his new book, “Crisis, What Crisis?”. Tim Haigh visited Alwyn at home to discuss the politics, the cultural upheavals, the t.v and the pop music of the … Continue reading →

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Lord David Owen – In Sickness And In Power – illness in heads of government during the last 100 years

Posted on August 15, 2008 by Johnny Mindlin

Tim Haigh visited Lord David Owen, sometimes known as Doctor Death in a previous life, to discuss his new book, “In Sickness And In Power- illness in heads of government during the last 100 years”. While Dr Owen has a … Continue reading →