Mao: The Unknown Story (book review)

Jung Chang and Jon Halliday 814 pages, Vintage Books (2006) This book is an epic biography of Mao Tse-tung, a man who rose from obscurity to become the dictator of China for almost three decades. If you were asked – ‘Who was the greatest mass murderer of the 20th century?’ – what would be your […]

Winston Churchill reconsidered

If there’s one man who’s remembered as a Western hero par-excellence, surely it’s Winston Churchill. He has been promoted not only in Britain but also throughout much of the world as the symbol of resistance against the most hideous war criminals in history, the Nazis. This reputation may be deserved. However there was another side […]