Archive for May, 2016
A review of a new book on the Kurds and Kurdistan
May 31st, 2016 by Roger Darlington
The Middle East is perhaps the most turbulent and complicated region in the world in terms of the conflicts and parties involved. A recently-published book, entitled “The Kurdish Spring: A New Map Of The Middle East”, looks at events since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, examining the history of Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran from […]
Posted in History, World current affairs | Comments (0)
Two birthdays in the family today
May 30th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Two members of our family have birthdays today: Lucas is 8 and Peter is 78 – which has a certain symmetry. Now, I’m guessing, dear reader, that you’re aged somewhere between 8 and 78, so I have two questions for you: do you remember what it was like to be 8 and can you imagine […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (5)
Why a visit to Hiroshima is more complicated than you might think
May 28th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
This week, Barack Obama became the first serving American President to visit Hiroshima, the site of the first atomic bomb to be dropped on a city on 6 August 1945 – a weapon used, of course, by the Americans. A lot of the media coverage mentioned that Obama did not apologise for the bombing, but […]
Posted in History | Comments (1)
A review of the movie “X-Men: Apocalypse”
May 26th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
I’m a sucker for superhero movies and this is the third such blockbuster this year. You can read my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A review of the film “Our Kind Of Traitor”
May 26th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
This is not the best film adaptation of a novel by John le Carre – that could be “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” [my review here] – but the new film “Our Kind Of Traitor” is entertaining enough and I’ve reviewed it here.
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U.S. presidential election (27): could Trump really become President?
May 25th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Can Donald Trump really win the White House? All the serious pundits who look at the data, say that he can’t and several come to the same prediction for the Electoral College vote. In this piece for the “Huffington Post”, Richard North Patterson points out: “A look at the electoral college map pretty much tells us […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (2)
Visit to Sark (5): the speech by Eric Lee
May 25th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Regular readers of NightHawk will know that I spent last weekend on the Channel Island of Sark in order to attend the launch of a book by my good friend Eric Lee. The work is called “Operation Basalt: The British Raid On Sark And Hitler’s Commando Order” and I’ve reviewed it here. As I reported in […]
Posted in History | Comments (0)
What is Kurdistan and who are the Kurds?
May 24th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
I’m reading a fascinating book called “The Kurdish Spring: A New Map Of The Middle East” by the American author David L Phillips. He explains just how differentiated are the Kurds – “the largest stateless people in the world” – geographically, linguistically and religiously. The total area of Kurdistan is about 600,000 square kilometres, roughly […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Visit to Sark (4): Little Sark and sunshine (at last)
May 22nd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
There’s not much that is smaller than Sark – but there is Little Sark. Actually Little Sark is not an island in its own right but an extension of the main island connected by a narrow causeway called La Coupee with some breathtaking views. Our walk out to Little Sark started in even more rain. […]
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Visit to Sark (3): the launch of “Operation Basalt”
May 21st, 2016 by Roger Darlington
It rained literally ALL day for the official launch here on the island of Sark of Eric Lee’s new book on the 1942 commando raid on the island. It kind of added to the atmosphere, since one could not help thinking, if trudging along narrow paths and through heavy gorse in wet and slippery conditions […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (1)