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1 month ago | 
newstatesman.com | David Reynolds
It began as a percentage disagreement about European defence spending. “I think Nato should have 5 per cent,” Donald Trump declared on 7 January. “They can all afford it, but they should be at 5 per cent not 2 per cent.” But once Trump took office on 20 January, percentages became peripheral. From the outset, the new US president shifted away from Nato’s unequivocal support for Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine in their three-year struggle against Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
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1 month ago | 
ukandeu.ac.uk | Nicola Marchant |David Reynolds
David Reynolds examines summits throughout history and the recent meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump. The term “summit” was coined by Winston Churchill in 1950, during the dark days of the Cold War. He declared that it was “not easy to see how matters could be worsened by a parley at the summit.” One wonders how he would have rated Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s encounter with Donald Trump last Friday in the White House.
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Nov 20, 2024 | 
newstatesman.com | David Reynolds
The approaching 150th anniversary of Winston Churchill’s birth on 30 November has prompted a surge of comment, both positive and negative, about his life. But across that spectrum one detects a shared assumption about how to characterise Churchill, especially during his “finest hour” as Britain’s wartime prime minister in 1940-45. Adjectives such as “defiant” or “resolute” recur; he’s often described as a “diehard” or a “bulldog”.
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Jun 22, 2024 | 
dailymail.co.uk | David Reynolds
Military chiefs are planning the biggest mass mobilisation exercise of Britain's Army reserve in 20 years in a move to evaluate the 'deployment readiness' of more than 10,000 'weekend warriors'. The move to prepare the UK's reserve comes as the head of the British Army General Sir Patrick Sanders says the UK should take steps to place society on a war footing in the wake of Russian aggression in eastern Europe.
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Mar 12, 2024 | 
buxtonfestival.co.uk | Gerry Northam |Sarah Ward |David Reynolds |Julian Glover
Ruskin Park: Sylvia, Me and the BBCFormer BBC correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones knew he was the child of a brief love affair between two unmarried BBC employees. But until his mother died and he found a previously unknown file labelled ‘For Rory’ he had no idea of their beginnings or ending. This is a compelling account of a relationship between two colleagues (two romantics) and the restrictive forces of post-war respectability and prejudice that ended it.
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Jan 26, 2024 | 
time.com | David Reynolds
IdeasJanuary 26, 2024 7:00 AM ESTIn 2024 Winston Churchill is 150 years young. A product of Victorian Britain, born in 1874, he has proved a hardy perennial—lauded by many for his defiance of Nazism, castigated by others for his colonial worldview. Churchill was sure that men made history. (And, yes, he meant men—not women.) Relishing the cut and thrust of international politics, he loved to measure himself against other world leaders—foes as well as friends.
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Jan 24, 2024 | 
newstatesman.com | David Reynolds
“Oh s**t, we’ve got no plan. We haven’t thought about it. I didn’t think it would happen. Holy crap, what will we do?” According to Whitehall chroniclers Anthony Seldon and Raymond Newell, that was how an “ashen-faced” Boris Johnson, attired in a “Brazilian football shirt and bottom-hugging shorts”, hailed the brave new world early on 24 June 2016 after the result of the Brexit referendum had been declared.
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Nov 11, 2023 | 
kirkusreviews.com | David Reynolds |Stephanie Johnson |Brandon Stanton |
By looking at those who influenced Churchill, Reynolds sheds some light on his achievements and failures. A new biography of Winston Churchill, who may have had the stuff of greatness but also had major flaws. Even from a distance of over 70 years, Churchill remains a fascinating, compelling, and polarizing figure. So much has been written about him that it’s difficult to imagine there’s anything else to learn.
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Sep 6, 2023 | 
newstatesman.com | David Reynolds
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em.” Thus Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. And there are others who try to grab the accolade of greatness for themselves and their country, to leave their mark on history. In our own time we’ve had Donald Trump’s mantra “Make America Great Again”, Boris Johnson’s Brexit burlesques and Vladimir Putin’s brutal campaign to rebuild Russia’s empire, likening himself to Peter the Great.
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Sep 6, 2023 | 
thisweekthosebooks.substack.com | David Reynolds |H Wells |Rashmee Roshan Lall
Welcome to This Week, Those Books, your rundown on books new and old that resonate with the week’s big news story. The few minutes it takes to read this newsletter will make you smarter, faster…guaranteed. If you’d rather listen, click on the audio button above. The suggestions – complete with book summary (but no spoilers), quotes and a visceral response rating – could point you to your next read or sort out watercooler convo and supper small talk. Good to know stuff.
