Just Finished Reading: Prisoners of Geography – Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics by Tim Marshall (FP: 2015/2019) [300pp] 

I’m sure that I’m not alone in wondering what exactly is going on with the world right now. It seems, at least if you watch the news or spend any time on-line (and especially if you spend any time swimming in the increasingly toxic depths of ‘Social Media’) that things are definitely ‘off’ to say the least. I’d even go so far as to say that it seems, on a good day, that a significant percentage of the humans on this planet have gone (or maybe just have gone public about being) crazy. So, what’s up? I thought reading up on Geopolitics might help – and it did! 

Personally, I’m one of ‘those people’ who just enjoy looking at maps, hunting out strange place names, and wondering what a place is actually like. Studying Geography at school (MANY years ago) I was completely intrigued by the idea that you could understand much about a place by looking at things like navigable rivers (or otherwise), locations and heights of mountains, placement of natural resources, the type of border (natural of the ominous straight-line) and so on. Looking closely the location of major cities, battles, migration paths, agricultural land and much more become ‘obvious’ once you take the physical geography into account. Things like cities are not scattered randomly on a landscape. They exist where they do for practical reasons. So, you can tell, almost at a glance, why some countries are prosperous and others poor. You can see why some countries are often invaded by their neighbours and others seems ‘designed’ for defence. 

Looking across the world, from Russia to the Artic, the author takes 10 locations and shows how their geography shaped their individual histories and how their geography shapes both their present and their futures. But as biology is not destiny neither is geography. A mountain range or a river will often constrain options for any country, but we are rather inventive beings who can literally move mountains, or at least blast holes through them. We can also redirect rivers, build bridges over them, or dam them – sometimes annoying or frightening the governments of countries downstream which could, under the wrong circumstances lead to conflict. 

I did think throughout this very interesting book that there was more than a slight hint of Jared Diamond (not that such is a bad thing), with nods to the direction of river flow and, more importantly, their navigability which gave Europe a head start in development (along with abundant natural resources in the shape of coal. Other zones, notably South America and Africa struggled in this regard coupled with the problems of transporting anything long distances through inhospitable regions (deserts, mountains, jungles etc). The chapter on India/Pakistan was most illuminating especially how India broke apart after the British left and how different ethnic groups ended up where they did – complete (of course) with much suffering and death in the process. I think the chapter I learned most from was that on the Middle East. Despite remembering watching many of the conflicts in that region as well as reading an excellent book on Palestine just recently, I did enjoy discovering much of the background to the wars, displacements and massacres over the decades – caused, in no small part, by the fact that the countries boundaries and indeed the countries themselves are the highly artificial constructs of European Powers after WW1 (I’m looking at YOU Britain and France). We REALLY screwed that region LONG before the present messes play out on our TVs and phones. It’s pretty much a given that wherever you see a straight line on a map you KNOW there’s trouble there!  

As my first dip into Geopolitics for a while I was both impressed and educated by this understandably bestselling book. If, like me, you wonder why conflicts start and persist over time, often in the same place's generation after generation, or have wondered why some countries are rich why others remain poor (often despite being resource rich) this is definitely a source for some answers. Definitely recommended and more to come both on the subject and from the author.  

Just Finished Reading: The Pandemic Century – A History of Global Contagion from the Spanish Flu to Covid-19 by Mark Honigsbaum (FP: 2019/2020) [293pp] 

Bad as it was, the recent Covid-19 pandemic wasn’t our first rodeo, not by a long way. Indeed Covid-19 arrived almost on time to recreate the (almost forgotten at the time) 1918 Spanish Flu which, depending on which guesstimate you go with was responsible for more deaths than the World War it followed, more than WW2 or even (at the top of the estimates) more than both combined – making it the deadliest disease outbreak in human history. With that as a basis this fascinating work moves onto the Los Angeles plague (yup, THE plague) in the 1920’s, Parrot fever in the 1930’s, Legionnaires Disease in the 1970’s, HIV/AIDS in the 1980’s, SARS in the 1990’s, Ebola in the 2010’s as well as Zika in that same decade. Only the final chapter, briefly, looks at Covid-19 as no doubt the hardback was published just as the pandemic hit and the paperback version (which I read) had to be updated with the latest information to play catch-up. 

One of the things I found most interesting, apart from putting Covid in historical context, was to see from 1918 to the present, many of the social and political effects and attitudes repeat themselves including misinformation, disinformation, ignorance, resistance, quackery, exploitation, political point scoring, as well as governments and the medical establishment struggling to keep up with events and, all too often, fighting amongst themselves whilst in the spotlight (and being widely reported in the press for doing so). Nothing, it seems, is new under the sun. 

The Spanish Flu (so-called because Spain didn’t have newspaper censorship at the time unlike the rest of the West including the US so as not to give information to the Central Powers that they could use against them) was particularly interesting, especially because they had NO idea what they were fighting. The very existence of viruses was only confirmed only a decade or more later so medical experts argued over even the reality of the disease itself. The different responses to the disease, indeed ALL of the pandemics discussed here, was very instructive. Some countries did little or nothing to stop the spread – in some cases simply because they COULD do nothing. Other countries responded with draconian measures – often misplaced or directed at despised minorities – with limited effect. Some places, very few it turned out, missed the pandemic completely by a strict policy of isolation/quarantine. 

Overall, this was an interesting and informative read. While mostly looking at things from a heavily American perspective it did manage to delve into African, South American and Chinese experiences too. The historical lens was, I thought, its most useful aspect though I did appreciate the details especially surrounding the initial reported Legionnaires Disease outbreak and the epidemiological detective work that took place searching for its origin. Definitely recommended to anyone interested in global health issues or those who want to put Covid-19 into context. More Pandemics to come – and books about them as well...    

Just Finished Reading: Colonial America – A Very Short Introduction by Alan Taylor (FP: 2013) [123pp] 

Countries, it seems, are born in much the same way as most things – during a time of prolonged suffering, pain and a fair amount of blood. America is no exception to this rule. Far from being an empty and virgin land when Columbus ‘discovered’ the West Indies, the Americas – both North and South – had long been populated by diverse cultures who had crossed the Bering Straits land bridge during the last Ice Age and have been estimated to be in the multiple millions when the Spanish arrived. With talk of ‘golden cities’ to the south other Spaniards soon followed looking to make their fortunes and, with the aid of primitive firearms as well as the far more devastating diseases especially smallpox, spread death and destruction wherever they went. Not to outdone – at least not for long – other European nations, notably the French, British and Dutch set about developing colonies and trading posts further north trading in furs and other easily transportable goods. Here, as in the south, disease and conflict eased the path to European domination. Eventually, after many decades, two nations were left standing – Spain in the South and Britain in the North. 

Colonisation of the ‘New World’ was far from easy and far from a done thing. Early settlements failed for numerous reasons. Empires fought each other on American soil – all sides using the local populations as auxiliaries and mercenaries in their wars - for eventual domination and the right to exploit the rich resources found there. Predictably, the natives did not fare well not matter whose side they chose in the conflicts. When they were necessary, they were used. When they were no longer required, they were either abandoned, ‘relocated’ or eliminated in a number of ways. The natives, as they found to their cost, were simply ‘in the way’ of the ever-Westward expansion. Apart from the exploitation and expulsion of native peoples the other foundation of both South and North America from the very earliest days was slavery. Columbus himself arranged for the enslavement if the island natives in the West Indies whose eventual demise led to the importation of African slaves to fill the shortfall in natural replacement. Some of the Northern territories depended on their very existence on the slave economy to produce the valuable cash crops, such as tobacco and rice (required to feed slaves in the West Indies). Overall, except for a very few, the birth pains of both America’s were neither short nor mild. 

This filled in quite a few gaps in my knowledge of early American history. I knew something of the early colonial efforts in the North as well as the Spanish depredations in the South but it was interesting to see how early trading with Native Americans led, eventually, to war between Britain and France and how this conflict shaped the futures of both what became the United States and Canada. Likewise, it was interesting to see the gradual moves of the original British colonies towards independence (more of which later). It was also interesting to get some general context for some of my family history. I was surprised when I started digging into my families past that I had a number of ancestors who had migrated to America in previous centuries. One relative died in Richmond, Georgia in 1784, while another died in Isle of Wight County, Virginia in 1720. Even further back my ancestors were dying in Charles City, Virginia in 1653 and Boston in 1652 presumably as refugees from the English Civil Wars. An interesting and informative read on many levels. Recommended and, as always, more to come. 

Just Finished Reading: Wars of National Liberation by Daniel Moran (FP: 2001) [237pp]

The First World War started it, or at least the END of the War started it – that and President Wilson’s 14 Points and the universal political acid of ‘Self-Determination’. When the major European empires fell (or at the very least shuddered) the colonised around the world looked forward with hope to their independence. For many only disappointment lay ahead as the colonies of the vanquished were, by and large, handed over to the victors to run – most with the fiction of ‘Mandate’ status and the ‘eventual’ move to independence when they had achieved the requisite level of ‘maturity’ – judged by the Empire running things naturally. But what the First World War started the Second finished – by 1945 the Age of Empires was, effectively, over. Unfortunately that realisation wasn’t shared by everyone.

Exhausted by a second global conflict in 30 years the British finally agreed to, slowly, let go of Empire. In a few places it needed a nudge or two but eventually they did get out of the Imperial business. France took a while longer to realise that the jig was definitely up and fought nasty conflicts in North Africa and South East Asia (leaving the Americans to messily finish things off in the 1970’s). Covering many of these conflicts – most of which we are all too familiar with – this surprisingly good if short book looks at wars across the world as local forces fought off their colonial masters and others to achieve the long hoped for state of independence. Naturally things were not often straight forward and the ultimate objectives both messy and bloody. The post-war world after 1945 was the world of superpowers in proxy conflicts and both sides used the wars of national liberation to kick the other side whenever possible or politically acceptable.

The list of wars is a fairly extensive one despite the 237 page size restraints. From the Chinese war against the Japanese occupation and the subsequent Civil War, to the Korean War, to the French in Indo-China, to the French (again) in Algeria, to several European powers in Africa, to Cuba and conflicts throughout South America, to Israeli independence in the war of 1948 and finally the debacle that was Vietnam. A lot of ground is covered quickly but both the text and the many photographs and maps are detailed enough to make sense of what was going on. Obviously this slim volume will not make you an expert on this most important of themes in the post-1945 age but it will give you an enhanced appreciation of what was going on in so many places across the globe and what many of them had in common. Recommended.    

Just Finished Reading: Virus X – Understanding the Real Threat of the New Pandemic Plagues by Frank Ryan (FP: 1996)

For a book that had been sitting, unread, for years I couldn’t help thinking that this time, of all times, was the best time to pick it up and actually read it. Living through an actual Pandemic that is affecting everything and everyone around us makes me want to understand more about what’s going on right now. Knowledge, no matter how disturbing, about a disturbing time can only I believe, calm fears and enable you to look at the present reality in the face without undue panic. In that sense knowledge is most assuredly power.

As the author rightly points out, Pandemics are a fact of human history going back to Ancient Times and beyond – from Measles, Smallpox, Plague and, more recently the 1918 flu Pandemic we all know as the ‘Spanish Flu’. Such things are neither unknown nor particularly rare – in fact they have through the millennia shaped human history itself. What is new today – or at least at the time of writing over 20 years ago – is both the frequency and the lethality of emerging diseases. The reasons for this are deceptively simple – we humans are, in our ongoing quest for more farmable land or more accessible resources, bumping up against environments were these diseases are present (often working in symbiotic equilibrium with their hosts) and are encountering them often for the first time. Without any inbuilt or developed immunity these diseases are often incredibly lethal sometimes with death rates approaching 100%. Fortunately for such lethal viruses this more often than not results in the virus quickly running out of hosts before widespread transmission can be achieved. Recent outbreaks of Ebola or other haemorrhagic fevers in Africa or South America fall like a thunderbolt on small communities working close to the rain forests and then, in a matter of weeks or months burn themselves out only to break out elsewhere. AIDS/HIV is something quite different. Although comparatively difficult to catch and, once outside the body incredibly fragile, it’s long incubation period and method of attack means that an inexorable slow spread across the world went almost unnoticed until the 1980’s long after it first appeared in Africa. Highly mutagenic and (at the time of writing) untreatable it was almost always a death sentence. It is hardly surprising that the world in general and the medical profession in particular reacted with shock and panic once the facts were known. Since that time a great deal of effort – unfortunately sometimes taking focus away from other emerging viruses – and a vast amount of money has been spent on addressing HIV/AIDS and much progress has indeed been made. But, naturally, that is not the end of things as today’s headlines testify.

It was obvious from the very start that this book is very out of date. Much has happening across the viral landscape since 1996. The focus of the book was largely on things like Ebola, AIDS, Marburg and other terrifying diseases. Interestingly the 1918 flu Pandemic only came in for a cursory mention – interesting though it was – and talk of general flu itself relegated to sprinkled facts throughout the book. In the final pages looking ahead the author mentioned coronavirus, China, and wildfowl as the next BIG thing. How right he was! He also lamented the lack of global preparedness despite everything we had experienced to that date (he would have been more shocked if he’d know about the SARS and MERS epidemics) and the defunding of labs across the world and the forward observation posts that could alert the world to problems long before they become disasters. Hopefully with Covid-19 we’ll finally learn the lesson that if you don’t prepare and aren’t willing to spend millions in prevention then you’ll need to spend trillions in catching up. An interesting (if sometimes truly frightening) read but useful only for an historical background really.     

Just Finished Reading: Darwin’s Armada – Four Voyages to the Southern Oceans and Their Battle for the Theory of Evolution by Iain McCalman (FP: 2009)

It was not an idea that struck him out of the blue out of a clear sky. On the contrary it was a long, long time coming. When the young Charles Darwin managed to get himself assigned to the HMS Beagle and its mission to map the Sothern Ocean the prevailing thought was that each species on earth was a special creation of God and though some local adaptation was possible the transmutation of species was not. Each species had been created in its place and time as part of a divine plan. So it was a shame that anomalies and unanswerable questions had steadily been accumulating. One thing was almost universally accepted now – that the Earth was more likely to be millions of years old that the previously accepted six thousand. There was enough time for oceans to fall and mountains to rise and for the land itself to be transformed. Darwin brought back (or often sent back) copious notes, observations and specimens from across the globe to investigate further on his return to England. But he was not the last to do so. Other intrepid explorers of the world – geological, geographical and natural – followed in his footsteps, added pieces to the jigsaw puzzle of life, sent specimens home (including to Darwin himself) and thought about what they had seen with their own eyes. Often they were the first European to have set foot on an island or to have observed the rituals of primitive peoples. Alfred Wallace in particular spent 8 long years in South-East Asia and in the Amazon basin cataloguing, observing and living in close contact with the natives of those far off lands. In the early 1850’s he wrote to Darwin expressing the ideas so close to his own that Darwin thought that his years of vacillation on the topic had undone him and that he could not, in all conscience, claim a prime place in the Evolutionary debate. His friends Thomas Huxley and Joseph Hooker (all three pallbearers at Darwin’s funeral) persuaded him otherwise and encouraged him to publish Origin of Species giving due credit to the work of Wallace. All four of the voyagers, each in their own way, contributed to getting Natural Selection accepted in the Victorian scientific establishment somewhat quicker than Darwin had anticipated. A revolution in human thought had taken place.

This was generally an excellent book focusing on the foundational voyages of Darwin, Hooker, Huxley and Wallace as each encountered, assimilated and speculated on what each had experienced away from the confines of Europe and how those encounters had convinced each of them that Evolution by Natural Selection was a scientific fact. The only wobble (for me) was the section on Huxley’s voyage to Australia which seemed concentrate on his love life and depressive tendencies rather than any scientific discoveries. Apart from Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle my favourite passages concerned the adventures of Alfred Wallace in South-East Asia and the Amazon. I have added his published book on the subject to my Wish List. It sounds amazing. If you’ve ever wondered where the ideas put forward in Origin of Species came from this entertaining work of popular science will answer many of your questions. Recommended. 

Just Finished Reading: The New Silk Roads – The Present and Future of the World by Peter Frankopan (FP: 2018)

China is not a rising power. No, China has risen. That is the overall conclusion of this fascinating study of China’s global reach and China’s future power in the world. How are we responding in the West? - with division, in-fighting, denial and a delusional sense of self-importance. The West has been dominant across the globe for centuries so it’s understandable that we have come to accept this reality as somehow permanent. However, in the recent decades the centre of power in the world – political, financial and, growing in leaps and bounds, military is shifting to the East. The threat (if it’s characterised that way) is real. But the West seems to be incapable of challenging this truly seismic global shift. Even our response is too little, too late, misses the point entirely or simply does not exist. China in particular (along with the other BRIC countries Brazil, Russia and India) in spending billions of dollars across the world on the new Silk Roads which throughout history have wrapped the world in a web of trade in exotic spices, silk and ideas – plus a few nasty diseases. The new roads consist of port installations, actual roads, power stations, dams, oil refineries and much else besides. As it expands China acquires the vast natural resources it needs to grow at (until recently) a truly astonishing rate – lifting a billion people out of poverty – and acquiring the rights to future resources from Africa, Central Asia and South America. The Chinese are either buying or building port facilities in Europe, Malaysia and even the US. Being unburdened by the need to appeal to an electorate the Chinese can plan 10, 20, 50 or 100 years ahead and actually be able to stick to the plan through thick and thin. No democratic country could hope to do that tied as they are to the election cycle and the demands of big business with shareholders to please and short term profits to provide.

The question that all of this raises is how do we in the West respond? As our relative power with China and the other BRICs decline how do we cope in a multi-polar world were we no longer command the wind (or much else for that matter). If we can no longer throw our weight around with impunity how do we respond to Chinese moves in the Pacific or Indian probes on the Moon or Russian troops in Crimea. What do we do when the first man (or woman) on Mars is from Beijing and not Boston? What do we do when most of the world looks to developments in New Delhi rather than New York? What do we do when the most common second language ceases to be English and becomes Mandarin instead? How do we adapt to this new reality.

The most important thing is, naturally, to recognise that this is happening and to stop seeing ourselves as the natural masters of the universe and the inheritors of all we survey. The West, it seems, has had its time in the sun and now the sun sets and rises in the East. We should see it for what it is, accept it and then do our best to be part of the new narrative rather than a historical side note. This book is not a cry in the wilderness and is most certainly not a cry for help of any kind. It is, above all else, a wake-up call showing us what we have by and large ignored. We may, on many scales, still be a force to be reckoned with, we may still indeed be Number One but not for much longer. How we respond to our new place in the world will determine how happy or how miserable future generations of Westerners will be. Some think that war is inevitable – Thucydides Trap – between the rising power of China and the falling power of the US. I don’t believe this. I have never been a great believer in fate or destiny and I’m not going to start now. Working with the multi-polar nature of the future rather than against it would be in everyone’s interests and could usher in a new global age of prosperity. Or we could fight, waste our dwindling resources and, ultimately, lose and beggar our grandchildren who will curse our names. We need to recognise that the future is probably going to be bright. It’s just won’t be our future. This book will help you see that. Highly recommended for anyone interested in how the future is likely to pan out and who want to know what the BRICs are up to across the globe right now. (R)         

Just Finished Reading: Chasing Che – A Motorcycle Journey in Search of the Guevara Legend by Patrick Symes (FP: 2000)

It probably seemed like a good idea at the time. In fact it was a good idea at the time but, only days into the long journey he was already beginning to regret it. Despite speaking flawless Spanish and knowing the South American continent fairly well things had already started to go wrong. He had expected his BMW motorbike to have arrived a few days after he did – by ship rather than plane – but the port had lost it if it had even arrived yet. Day after day he asked for his bike only to be told that they still couldn’t find it. Not exactly auspicious. But finally there is was and the journey could begin.

Of course much had changed in 40 years so a simple recreation of Ernesto Guevara’s famous trip – brought to the public’s knowledge by the publication of a pair of books and the subsequent Spanish language Oscar winning movie in 2004. For one thing many of the dirt roads Guevara and best friend Alberto Granado travelled on had been upgraded to more modern standards. Likewise the authors more modern BMW machine was far superior to the previous travellers 1940’s Norton. But the author tried his best and only deviated from the original route when he had compelling reasons to do so. Along the way he met people who said they knew Che before he was Che and others who had actually known him as the young idealistic doctor and before he became the political icon that launched a thousand T-shirts and a million dorm room posters. What was more surprising was the number of people the author met who had never heard of Che and had no idea why an American journalist would want to follow in his tyre tracks so much later. Of much more interest was just how FAST the BMW could go. Somewhat more understandable were the number of people who vilified the historic Che for his revolutionary endeavours and his legacy that had resulted in violent revolutionary movements across the region and the subsequent brutal repression by the authorities from Argentina to Brazil and beyond. One encounter in particular which stuck with me was when the author visited a prison containing captured ‘Shining Path’ guerrillas who ran political education classes in their cell blocks with almost complete impunity. Violent revolution in all its many guises is far from dead in that continent. In an almost mirror image I was also struck by the brutality measured out by the authorities who spent a great deal of time crushing any revolt with overwhelming force and brutality – all without generating the long hoped for political awakening of the masses that would usher in a new world order that many are still waiting for.

Despite being fascinated by the ‘real’ Che Guevara the author was not afraid to ask some serious questions regarding the man, the myth and the legacy such an iconic figure. Nor is he afraid of pointing fingers at the Left and Right for using Che to gain their own ends as well as those who sell Che to the masses in a capitalist friendly faux revolutionary way [full disclosure: I own a Che T-shirt. It’s red of course]. What made the book so readable – indeed often a delight to read – was the way the author wove his journey, Guevara’s journey and the history of that turbulent land into a single page turning narrative. I certainly know a lot more about South America than I did prior to reading this and am interested in knowing a lot more. Recommended – especially for independent travellers and motorbike enthusiasts. 

Just Finished Reading: The Empire of Necessity – The Untold History of a Slave Rebellion in the Age of Liberty by Greg Grandin (FP: 2014)

With the world still staggering from the American and French revolutions and the Haiti slave uprising the Spanish slave ship Tryal is spotted by an American sealer obviously in distress. Offing any assistance he can Captain Amasa Delano of the Perseverance becomes increasingly annoyed at his Spanish counterparts standoffish nature and is glad to leave the ship hours later and return to his own. Strange as the experience has proven so far Captain Deano is completely unprepared when the Spanish captain jumps into his boat and demands his help. For the past weeks the remnants of the Spanish crew have lived under the threat of death. The slaves on board had revolted and had managed to kill most of the crew and passengers only leaving enough men alive to sail them back to Africa. Hoping to be approached by a friendly ship Captain Benito Cerreno had only pretended to sail back across the Atlantic until finally, at the end of his tether, rescue arrives in the guise of an American ship down on its luck and approaching mutiny itself. Giving chase in the expectation of prize money the badly damaged slaver is quickly captured and the slaves aboard either killed or recaptured. Their long trial and even longer journey away from their homeland has only just begun as they find themselves back in captivity and fought over in the courts of South America.

This was, to be honest, a complete impulse buy. I think the thing that really ticked a few boxes for me was the word ‘rebellion’ in the title and it being (yet again) a tale based at least in some part at sea. What I didn’t really expect was just how completely gripping the story was. The backbone of the tale was the rebellion aboard and recapture of the Tryal. But it was much, much more than that. Not only did the author discuss in some detail the biographies of the two captains (originating from very different cultures – imperialist Spain and newly confident revolutionary America) and well as the background to the despicable trade in human life and human misery of which I was reasonably familiar (or at least I thought I was) but the author also delved into the revolutionary changes occurring at this time across South America as the countries we are familiar with today fought for their independence against Spain and Portugal.

Several thing surprised me during this riveting narrative. One was the number of Muslim slaves taken from Africa and deposited (at this time) mostly in South America to work in mines and in the sugar cane fields. Indeed followers of Islam amongst the slave population was so common, and growing through importation and dissemination of the faith amongst existing non-Muslim slaves, that slave runners were advised not to take captives from certain areas because they were known to be educated, speak multiple languages, be resilient and resistance to forces and to be capable to organising sophisticated rebellions. The other thing that really struck me was the hypocrisy of both the French and American traders who regularly espoused on the virtues of Liberty and Fraternity but still traded in human life – even when they had black members amongst their own crews. The cognitive dissonance must have been so thick you could’ve cut it with a cutlass. There is far, far too much in this 270+ page book to even gloss over in passing. The narrative throughout is strong, directed and endlessly fascinating. Covering most of South America, the Caribbean, Africa and the American East coast this is a richly detailed look at an age at once familiar and yet very strange indeed. Highly recommended and, although it’s too early to tell, definitely one of the highlights of the year. 

Just Finished Reading: The Battle of the River Plate by Dudley Pope (FP: 1956)

With their experience of WW1 and their knowledge of Britain’s great vulnerability the German’s had a plan. In the last weeks of peace they would station a mixture of armed merchantmen and heavy warships across the globe to attack and disrupt Britain’s trade routes and, essentially, starve her out of the war. It was a good plan and the Royal Navy knew that with the world’s oceans to protect with far too few ships they would most certainly have a hard task countering it. What the Navy didn’t know was just how lucky they were. Ships take time to build even in a warlike economy. So when Hitler brought forward the start of WW2 the German Navy, planning for a war in the early to mid-1940’s wasn’t ready to enact their plan quite as anticipated. Their major units were still being completed so, they had to go with what they had. Britain meanwhile knew of the risks to her merchant marine and had planned accordingly. Even bore war had been declared the Navy was on patrol in the North Sea to shadow or, if required, prevent any German warships breaking out into the Atlantic. It was a difficult job – both diplomatically before any conflict had broken out and logistically with ships only now returning from the far flung Empire back into home waters. Just like their soon to be enemy they went with what they had. But, in this case, the Germans had beaten them to the punch and the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, one of the most modern fighting vessels in the world, had already escaped and was heading deep into Atlantic waters.

The Graf Spee’s orders were clear. Until hostilities had been declared she would stay away from the trade routes and disappear into the vastness of the oceans before being activated on her main mission – the destruction of all British and Allied shipping and the avoidance (as much as possible) of Allied combat vessels. With a range that included the Atlantic, Indian and possibly the Pacific oceans such avoidance wouldn’t present much of a problem. Even if a merchantman’s distress call was picked up and transmitted to the nearest combat unit it could still take days to reach the area where the transport was lost. It would be like looking for a glass needle in a haystack the size of Mt Everest. But the British Navy had to do something. So she set up a number of battle groups scattered across the world more in the hope than the expectation that one of them might be in the right place at the right time to destroy or at least fix the enemy in place long enough for other units to arrive. It was a long shot but it was the only one they had. Then war was declared and the attacks began. Over the next few months the Atlantic and Indian oceans resounded to the often unheard distress signals of ships under fire from an enemy warship. The British Admiralty back in London was frantic and could only watch as ships were reported missing or radio calls were relayed hours and sometimes days after the event leaving them none the wiser of where the enemy was or might strike next.

As the months passed and the first Christmas of the war approached the luck of the British changed for the better. Commodore Henry Harwood RN with his force of cruisers – HMS Exeter (Heavy) and HMS Ajax and Achilles (both Light) – had been trying to get into the head of his adversary and anticipate where he might strike next. Posting his force near the confluence of several vital trade routes in the South Atlantic he patiently waited for dawn on what was expected to be yet another uneventful day. As the sun came up and the sky turned a blazing blue one of the lookouts shouted that he could see smoke. Presumed to be a merchant ship one of the British warships was sent to investigate. Seconds later the truth was known just as the first 11 inch shells arrived ahead of the battleship they had been hunting. Seriously outgunned Commodore Harwood did what any self-respecting naval officer would have done in the same circumstances – he ordered the attack. Splitting into two forces – Exeter on one side and Ajax and Achilles on the other – in order to divide the enemy’s fire the three British ships closed to firing range. With much bigger guns the Graf Spee opened fire long before the 8 and 6 inch gunned cruisers could respond. Initially dividing her fire as the British had hoped the battleship the Graf Spee turned her guns on the greater threat – Exeter – and scored repeated hits on her quickly knocking out several of her turrets. Still firing but making smoke the crew of HMS Exeter watched as the light cruisers launched their attack from close range scoring a number of hits on the battleship. With all three ships now achieving hits – though with little apparent effect – Exeter was hit again and again until, with the final gun out of action she had to withdraw leaving the engagement to the two smaller ships. Then to everyone’s amazement the enemy battleship began making smoke and began heading away from the battleground. Following at a discreet distance Ajax and Achilles pondered their next move. Without the Exeter, now limping to the nearest British base on the Falkland Islands over a thousand miles away, they were completely outgunned even if they were in perfect condition which they were far from. The only option is to continue shadowing and call for help from any nearby British or French units in the vicinity. Unknown to the British units the German battleship, which had been hit a significant number of times by 8 and 6 inch shells, was more damaged than they realised. The captain was also under strict orders that the ships destruction or capture was absolutely forbidden. Unaware of the fact that the cruisers were alone and were not part of a much larger force near-by he felt that discretion was definitely the preferred option. But with urgent repairs needed and no German facilities in range he had little option but to enter the neutral port of Montevideo. It was here that the brilliant British plan came to fruition. 
  
The British really needed to prevent the Graf Spee from leaving Montevideo for at least a week to allow heavy units to arrive in the area to destroy her. But the rules of war only allowed belligerent vessels to stay a maximum of 72 hours for vital repairs. So the British played a double game – by demanding that the German ship leave no later than the legal limit whilst at the same time preventing just that. In a final twist of the knife a rumour was circulated that heavy British warships would be arriving imminently. What had actually arrived, as frantic repairs took place on the German ship, was the heavy cruiser HMS Cumberland. Still several days away, coming at their top speeds, was a battleship and aircraft carrier with their screening destroyers. If any action was to take place as the legal limit lapsed it would be between the battleship and the three cruisers – two of which were undergoing equally frantic repairs without the benefits of docking facilities. The captain of the Graf Spee was left with three alternatives – none of them good. He could try to sail to the more friendly Argentine port of Buenos Aires across the Plate estuary but with the risk of running aground in the mudflats, he could fight his way out of the estuary against an unknown and apparently growing force or he could scuttle the ship in international waters. After much deliberation with diplomats and his seniors in Germany this is exactly what he decided to do. Sailing with a skeleton crew he blew up his ship almost within sight of the British guns he could so easily have swept aside.

Just as Hitler had seen this was a huge propaganda victory for the British just months after the start of WW2 brought on by courage, luck and not a small amount of subterfuge. Immortalised in the 1956 movie ‘Battle of the River Plate’ starring John Gregson, Anthony Quayle and Peter Finch this has long been an iconic moment in British military history. It was also one of the first wargame battle I ‘fought’ on a table top in after school activities. With four of us playing (one per ship) it was a great exercise in co-operation and problem solving which probably got me into gaming in the first place. Although just a tad jingoistic at times – understandably from its publication date – this was a detailed, absorbing and at times fantastically exciting story of one of the most famous Royal navy battles of WW2. Two more to come… 

Just Finished Reading: Travelling with Che Guevara – The Making of a Revolutionary by Alberto Granado (FP: 1978)

29th December 1951. After much dreaming and even much planning qualified Doctor Alberto Granado and his best friend Ernesto Guevara who was soon to take his final medical exams start the journey of a lifetime. They fully expect it to be a journey spoken about in the years and decades to come as a watershed in their lives, as something which helped to define them both as men and as Latin Americans. They were not to be disappointed. Travelling at least part way on Alberto’s 1949 Norton 500cc motorbike they left their native Argentina to begin circumnavigating the Southern continent. Along the way they would meet with adversity, they would have accidents, run out of money, get in trouble with the authorities, get lost (many times) and need to throw themselves on the mercy of strangers. Luckily for the two young friends they had the luck, the charm and the reputation as doctors to assist them on their way. But throughout their months long odyssey one theme emerged time and time again: the most generous people they met where also the most poor and the most oppressed. Those with little or nothing shared everything they had. Those with the most either begrudged anything they gave or simply gave nothing. Everywhere they went, throughout the whole continent they saw deprivation, oppression, enforced servitude, unnecessary poverty and exploitation both by Latin American against Latin American and, more seriously, of Yankee against indigenous populations. The land they travelled through was often rich but the people working the land and digging in the mines were invariably poor. Time and again they were met with the reality of things and, day after day, they resolved that something must be done to alleviate the plight of the poor. Only one route presented itself to Ernesto – later known throughout the world as ‘Che’ – violent armed revolution.

I’ve known something about and been interested in Che Guevara since at least the 1980’s and maybe as far back as the 1970’s. Who with leftwards learnings wouldn’t have been? But until comparatively recently I knew little about the man himself. So when the 2004 movie ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’ came along (based on the book of the same name by Che and this by his best friend) I had to see it. None of my friends were interested so I went to see it myself and sat in the theatre with 4-5 other people on Saturday afternoon entranced by the journey, at turns dramatic, funny and dangerously naïve, undertaken so long ago faithfully recreated with the aid of the author who advised the director Walter Salles during the filming. You could really see an already disaffected and politically knowledgeable young would-be Doctor come to the conclusion that his originally chosen career just wouldn’t be enough and wouldn’t help enough people to make a difference. So he chose the revolutionary path, a journey that brought him to world prominence and, probably, an eternal place in the left-wing Pantheon. Both the film and the book (indeed both books) are well worth delving into and they (all three) give some insight into what made Ernesto into the legendary Che Guevara. Much more Che to come.      

Translated from the Spanish by Lucia Alverez de Toledo

Just Finished Reading: The Conquistadors – A Very Short Introduction by Matthew Restall and Flipe Fernandez-Armesto (FP: 2012)

From the late 15th century and for over a hundred years afterwards a group of largely Spanish adventurers invaded, mapped and removed untold wealth from Central South America. These where the fabled Conquistadors spoken of in admiring terms at the time and with either pride or horrified disgust ever since. The myths surrounding them, and many myths there are, where largely created by the men themselves, not only in an attempt at self-aggrandisement (though there was certainly enough of that to go around) but in an attempt to impress their royal sponsors back home who had it within their power to grant titles, land grants and payment for services rendered. Big stories and dramatic adventures sold books, made reputations and by extension made people rich and powerful.

The reality was of course somewhat more grubby and down to earth. Most of the Conquistadors where uneducated, unsophisticated and uninterested in anything as prosaic as glory. They wanted, more than anything else, to amass a suitably large fortune and then retire to a farm back in Europe. Few managed this and most died on the voyage out, due to disease on arrival or in the constant warfare they engaged in in South America against local tribes and each other. A few, a very few, achieved fame and a smaller number achieved both fame and fortune but these where very much the exception – so much so that the generally known individuals could probably be counted on the fingers of one hand. Amongst the lessor known, rather surprisingly, where a few Conquistadora’s – female Conquistadors who managed to hide their gender (not easy in that environment I should think) until uncovered and sent back to Spain as almost other-worldly celebrities. The very existence of such creatures surprised me a great deal. I wonder how many other women throughout history had done this sort of thing. How many women fought in early wars or explored the furthest reaches of the world disguised as men? I’m sure that there’s a PhD or at least a book buried somewhere in that question.    

The authors certainly weave a good tale as they unravel the truth hidden in the myths and self-publication of the age of conquest. The tale they put forward is frankly fascinating and it’s no surprise that this event or series of events continues to attract the imagination of authors and film makers and continues to hold the interest of the reading and watching public. Definitely recommended.

Just Finished Reading: The Aztecs – A Very Short Introduction by David Carrasco (FP: 2012)

The Aztec civilisation has become, since its discovery and destruction over the late 15th and 16th centuries, larger than life, a sort of a myth within a myth. It is seen as a society drenched in the blood of its enemies brought down like a house of cards by a handful of European invaders. Of course as with all myths, especially about such momentous events, things are never anywhere near as simple as first presented. Here, in this interesting short booklet (120 pages) the author tries to set at least some of the record straight without falling into the trap of being completely revisionist. He accepts that human sacrifice was an important and integral part of Aztec culture (although some historians have actually denied this) but that it did not play such a large part that the streets ran with blood as some of the original commentators contended. By and large, although different in many ways, the Aztec civilisation stunned the first Europeans with its scale and grandeur the likes of which few of the explorers had even seen before. Continuing archaeological discoveries underline the point that in many ways Aztec civilisation was very advanced indeed.

Such advancement did not, however, prevent the collapse of the Aztec way of life within a few generations of first contact with Europeans – mostly but not exclusively – from Spain. Again the military prowess of the European men at arms has been exaggerated with good effect. The majority of those engaged in the decades of military campaigning in that region where native armies allied to the Spanish and fighting, in effect, their own people for their own reasons. Without this assistance the European expansion into the continent would have been slow and patchy if it had succeeded at all. Likewise the diseases that the Europeans brought with them have had an exaggerated impact on the collapse of the Aztec world. Europeans had no defence against the many tropical diseases they met for the first time and died in droves just like their American counterparts. But things are covered in a great deal more detail in an upcoming VSI review so I’ll stop here.

This volume is dedicated to discussing the Aztecs from their own point of view and not that of the European invader – no matter how successful. The Aztecs certainly saw themselves as a high civilisation with a superior culture and a right to rule over their vast empire. In the context of Mesoamerican history they were very successful indeed and no doubt would have continued to flourish, expand and change had not they been contacted at the time and in the way they were. What might have happened if Columbus had failed in his mission and never returned from America is an interesting question. Might the Aztecs be a global super-power or would European archaeologies be digging through the remnants of a failed empire lost before it was even discovered? You also can’t but wonder what might happen if we humans are contacted at some point by a ‘European equivalent’ alien civilisation. Would we cope and adapt or collapse into a historical heap of rubble argued over in the halls of alien academia?

Just Finished Reading: The Motorcycle Diaries – Notes on a Latin American Journey by Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara

This has been in my pile-of-books since I saw the movie of the same name (although I understand that the movie concentrated on the diaries of Che’s friend and companion Alberto Granado). Taken as a straight travelogue this is interesting enough. Two young men in their 20’s set out on a journey across South America with far too little planning and far too high expectations of ultimate success. Both of them write diaries of their adventures which are eventually published. The defining thing about both books – though I have yet to read the Granado account – is that one of the young men later becomes a defining icon of the 1960’s. For one of the adventurous young men is the 23 year old Ernest Guevara – later known throughout the world simply as ‘Che’ (which is apparently the widely used slang name in Latin America for anyone from Argentina).

Whilst very readable and often funny I did find this slim volume a little disappointing. The film certainly made great play of the events during the epic journey that shaped Che’s later revolutionary radicalism. There were several instances mentioned in this book where the treatment both of the poor and the native population caused Che to examine closely some of the oppressive regimes they motored through but there was nothing like the flash of realisation I was expecting. This is not the story of how Ernesto became Che but the story of how two friends managed to stop from killing themselves on a badly thought out and poorly planed adventure. Despite the fact that this book will not really help you understand how a young doctor to be became a revolutionary, this is still an interesting read. It represents a snap-shot of South American life in 1952 and can stand on that alone. It also puts some context into the pre-Che personality of a future revolutionary which, again, is interesting in itself. Just don’t, as I did, expect it to tell you much about why he was so central to the Cuban revolution and why he died in Bolivia fighting for what he believed in.