Geoffrey Wheatcroft

Profile: Full name: Geoffrey Wheatcroft Area of interest: Politics, Society, Culture, Current affairs, Sport Journals/Organisation: The Guardian | Financial Times | The Independent | Daily Mail Email: wheaty@compuserve.com Personal website: Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/geoffreywheatcroft Blog: Representation: Networks:

Biography: About: Education: New College Oxford: History Career: The Spectator: columnist, literary editor; Evening Standard: (first) editor of the "Londoner's Diary", opera critic; Daily Express: columnist; has most recently contributing columns to the Daily Mail, The Guardian - Comment is free, The Independent Current position/role: Journalist also writes/has written for: The Independent, Financial Times, The Sunday Telegraph, The Spectator, The Times Literary Supplement, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic monthly Other roles/Main role: Author, historian Other activities: Disclosures: Viewpoints/Insight: Broadcast media: Video: Controversy/Criticism: Awards/Honours: Scoops: Other:

Books & Debate: The Randlords (1985) OCLC 12420083 Absent Friends (1989) OCLC 20565905 The Controversy of Zion: Jewish nationalism, the Jewish state, and the unresolved Jewish dilemma (1996) OCLC 34705118 - won an American National Jewish Book Award, 1996) The strange death of Tory England (2005) OCLC 59208118 - shortlisted for the Channel 4 Political Book of the Year Award Le Tour: a history of the Tour de France (2007) OCLC 52285655 Latest work: Yo, Blair! (2007) OCLC 77541167 Speaking/Appearances: Previous debate: Geoffrey Wheatcroft vs. Carol Gould: Was Israel Born of Terrorism? George Mason University's History News Network, posted 29th September, 2006 Debate:

Journals: Column name: Remit/Info: Politics, Society, Culture, Current affairs, Sport Section: Comment Role: Columnist Pen-name: Email: wheaty@compuserve.com Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/geoffreywheatcroft Commissioning editor: Day published: varies Regularity: irregular Column format: Average length:

Articles: 2012 All journals The Cruddas affair is nothing new - Politics has always been awash with money, and about property and the interests of trade - 27th March

Articles: 2011 A World in Denial of What It Knows - Could there be a single phrase that explains the woes of our time, this dismal age of political miscalculations and deceptions, of reckless and disastrous wars, of financial boom and bust and downright criminality? - The New york times - 31st December NATO's Mission Creep - The New York Times - 15th November Rethinking That ‘Special Relationship’ Between the U.S. and Britain - Every four years, as the American people embark on the task of electing a president, Europeans are reminded that they simply don’t understand America. At least I don’t, and I like to think that I know the United States better than many Englishmen - The New York Times - 28th October Democracy and Its Discontents - Ninety years ago, Sir Eyre Crowe was permanent under-secretary of the British Foreign Office. That’s to say he was an unelected official who answered to a political head, in his case the foreign secretary - The New York Times - 3rd October Who Needs NATO? - No European should be surprised at the resentful words spoken in Brussels last week by Robert Gates, the departing U.S. defense secretary. Americans have been grumbling about the failure of the European partners in NATO to pull their weight almost since the organization was founded in 1949 - The New York Times - 15th June Just a Jolly Good Show? - The New York Times - “No one knows how to do pomp and circumstance like the Brits do.” An American woman was speaking, among the throng of more than a million in London on Friday morning, and it’s hard to argue with her - 1st May America's Unraveling Power - We don't know what will happen. After the high drama of Tahrir Square and Hosni Mubarak's imminent departure we don't know what will come next - The New York Times - 11th February American Radical: The Life and Times of IF Stone by DD Guttenplan – review - IF Stone's contrarian instincts landed him in trouble, but made him a giant of American journalism - The Guardian - 12th June 2011 A revolutionary republic embraces the royals - Americans are not only conscious that Kate Middleton is a commoner, but like her the more for it - Financial Times - 27th April Domesday Book is a poor Tory template for AV - One of the redeeming qualities of conservatives ought to be a reverence for the past, based on some knowledge of it, but we seem to have acquired a right wing that doesn’t know any history - Financial Times - 7th April 2011

Articles: 2010 My generation squandered our golden opportunity - Those of us who grew up in the 60s had the world at our feet but, despite the 'victory of the west', we've achieved nothing - The Guardian - 28th December 2010 Tony Blair was both cause and effect of the depoliticisation of Britain - One thing he can’t be blamed for is the eclipse of two-party politics, which has been a long-term change and a startling one - The Independent - 9th October David Lloyd George: The Great Outsider by Roy Hattersley - A new biography reveals some startling parallels with Tony Blair - The Guardian - 19th September 2010 Blair was not the great election winner - Blair took the politics out of politics; he won his election victories, such as they were, by voiding political life of its content - The Independent - 4th September Tony Judt obituary - Outstanding historian of the modern world with a trenchantly clear-sighted take on international politics - The Guardian - 8th August 2010 Flattery and false steps as Cameron looks east - Geoffrey Wheatcroft wonders whether the UK government has a considered foreign policy at all - Financial Times - 30th July What Bradley Wiggins could have taught Raoul Moat - Throughout history, people have been afflicted by the self-pity that breeds violence. But there is another way - The Guardian - 19th July 2010 Edward Heath: The Authorised Biography by Philip Ziegler - The biggest puzzle about Ted Heath is how such an unattractive man ever became prime minister - The Guardian - 4th July 2010 Clegg will pray Disraeli was wrong about loving coalitions - The omens are unhappy for the Lib Dem leader. But blends in British politics are less novel than some imagine - The Guardian - 28th June 2010 The hypocrisy of America's outrage - Anyone can understand the anger sweeping America as the original explosion was followed by BP’s seeming helplessness. But are the Americans really the ones to cast the first stones? - The Independent - 19th June Whatever happened to the new politics? - Behind the coalition - The Independent - 22nd May The strange rebirth of Tory England - Is it too much to say that Mr Cameron blew it? - Financial Times - 13th May A shiny new face, but yet to win over either his party or the nation - On the whole the British are suspicious of "charismatic" politicians, and it's unusual for someone to explode on to the scene with one brilliant rhetorical performance in the way Barack Obama did when his electrifying speech at the 2004 Democratic convention led to the White House - The Independent - 12th May Domesday Book is a poor Tory template for AV - Opponents of electoral reform think that all change is bad - Financial Times - 8th April I'm glad to miss this orgy of electoral dishonesty - For the first time I feel barely a flicker of election fever. Unlike the clashes of old, Cameron v Brown inspires only revulsion - The Guardian - 6th April Politicians can't complain about privacy - They are mistaken in thinking that we want to be taken into their domestic lives - The Independent - 13th March History shows that David Cameron can still win - The hung parliament obsession is not shared by the bookmakers - Financial Times - 1st March Our differing approaches to terror - The word ‘racist’ is overused, but when dealing with terrorists it is all too accurate - The Independent - 20th February After 1929 a generation leapt leftward. Not today. Socialism has been buried - Europe has witnessed a tectonic shift to the right since the war. No wonder the Tories might feel short of breathing space - The Guardian - 9th February Ducking, diving and denying the truth - Those who trusted Blair have been left with their arses hanging out of the window - The Independent - 23rd January Off The Boil, in with Belly - The dismal efforts of the England cricket team are typical. We just don't do decent nicknames now - The Guardian - 18th January The price of a kingmaker - Clegg protests too much. Like all third parties, the Lib Dems would be up for sale if power was on offer - The Guardian - 6th January

Articles: 2009 Gladstone was a political giant compared to our puny, modern MPs - Born 200 years ago today, Gladstone's vast intellect and personal dynamism inspired awed admiration from political friend and foe alike - The Guardian - 29th December Plank by plank, Blair's case collapses - The most devastating evidence describes Blair’s sheer servility towards Bush - The Independent - 12th December Nostalgists for the noose are an insult to Ludovic Kennedy - This great advocate for justice would be disgusted by a new breed of reactionaries calling to restore the death penalty - The Guardian - 30th November Gordon Brown's very public decline - Why the belief that this PM would be more inspiring than the discredited Blair? - The Independent - 14th November The Tories' foreign foibles go far beyond just Europe - Cameron's volte-face on Lisbon is just the latest example of clumsiness beyond Britain's borders. There is, however, one ray of hope - The Guardian - 6th November Now more than ever, Britain needs the last Chartist reform - The expenses scandal has prompted a panoply of ideas to fix politics. But the strongest of all is missing: annual elections - The Guardian - 20th October Hateful views we should not suppress - Plenty of people will be repelled by the thought of Griffin on TV, or Wilders in the UK - The Independent - 17th October When the bite is worse than the bark - Let's not rush to shove a microchip into every dog in the country - The Independent - 29th September A debt to the persecuted - From the BBC to science and publishing, refugees from Nazi Germany have enriched our cultural life - The Guardian - 7th September A man of war who was an even greater man of peace - Winston Churchill is continually quoted and misquoted, used and abused - The Independent - 3rd September I'll say it again. Cameron has to jettison the Blairite ultras - The Tory leader must get a grip on a small but dangerous infestation that is keeping alive the neoconservative dream - The Guardian - 25th August To understand genius, forget the purple knickers - With Muriel Spark or Wagner, what counts are uncommon gifts. Misery memoirs are the place for common frailty, not literary biography - The Guardian - 19th August The BBC wants public funds to fritter on free-market pay - A sharp culture shock is needed. Like our greedy bankers or light-fingered MPs, the top corporation executives have it coming - The Guardian - 5th August They'll win. Yet something is wrong with these Tories - Labour is in free fall, but Cameron's Conservatives fail to soar. Could it be a sense of smug cynicism, of calculation over honour? - The Guardian - 28th July The quality of sacrifice - Tributes to soldiers killed in action only underline that the victims of today's wars are mainly civilians - The Guardian - 8th July God, how dark it is here - A wearying phenomenon called Regieoper makes opera directors superior to Mozart. Where next? - The Guardian - 2nd July England might yet review the state of the Union - Devolution is unjust - Financial Times - 23rd April Our rulers have fallen into disrepute, and they can only blame themselves - Politicians have finally grasped the full extent of this public contempt - The Independent - 18th April America sunk these pirates, but the Age of Might is over - The adventure on the high seas is a blast from the past. The US empire now faces the impotence of conventional force - The Guardian - 14th April Our knack for dire romcom - Britain is now the home of odiously self-regarding comedy. Richard Curtis should be put in the dock - The Guardian - 6th April Iraqis know the real cost of Jacqui Smith's second home - To understand why MPs can vote for a war they don't believe in, go back to 1911 and see how cash corroded the Commons - The Guardian - 25th February Money and good judgement don’t mix - From Allen Stanford to Jacqui Smith, the mighty are losing touch with reality - The Independent - 21st February The Tories must look to Hume, Smith and Burke - The real prize may go to the British political party that can remind us that self-interest can always be enlightened - Financial Times - 6th February Citizenship in action - Swiss firefighters are a living rebuke to right and left: society does exist, but is best left alone - The Guardian - 22nd January

Articles: 2008 For a PR man, Cameron's blunders are catastrophic - The Tories should be charging ahead. But they keep on getting knocked back by a great force: their leader's lack of judgment - The Guardian, 24th December 2008 Spheres of influence are a fact of life - Nato expansion was a classic example of an answer without a question - The Independent, 1st December 2008 Wanted: an opposition - If they are to be elected, Cameron's cohorts must ditch the silly Bullingdon showboating and foolery - The Guardian, 25th November 2008 Putting one's sock in it - If Charles is ever to be king, he must learn from his mother that restraint, not opinion, is required - The Guardian, 14th November 2008 As the US right disintegrates, only one result seems possible - Obama has simply waited for his opponent to self-destruct - The Independent, 30th October 2008 God bother in Wasilla - The resurgence of religion now marks the widest divide between US and European politics - The Guardian, 21st October 2008 Cameron has much to learn on the road to Downing Street - When David Cameron addresses the UK Conservative party conference on Wednesday, he will stand in triumph, near the brink of a great victory - Financial Times, 27th September 2008 The Peking games - Cities and even countries sometimes change their names. That's fine, but why should we follow? - The Guardian, 27th August 2008 Europeans bet big on Obama - Financial Times, 26th August 2008 Why are we pretending we would fight for Georgia? - Messrs Miliband and Cameron want Georgia to join Nato. Such thinking is muddled, dangerous and defies the lessons of history - The Independent, 17th August 2008 Yes, I'll be cheering our athletes. But the truth is my heart's no longer in the Olympics - Daily Mail, 6th August 2008 West Side hyperbole - It seemed exhilarating 50 years ago, but Bernstein's classic musical is far from the best of its generation - Comment is free, The Guardian, 5th August 2008 Electoral reform may make sense - But contrary to David Clark's argument, it is less urgent than reducing the number of non-English MPs at Westminster - Comment is free, The Guardian, 1st August 2008 Labour's Scotland problems will soon become English - The party's embrace of devolution was cynically motivated. It has backfired horribly. But can Cameron capitalise? - The Guardian, 30th July 2008; response to this article by David Clark, Comment is free - 31st July 2008 Hypocrisy, booze and the British: oblivion at 80p a shot - Nations cultivate images of themselves that they successfully foist on others but that are sometimes the exact opposite of the case - Financial Times, 30th July 2008 This by-election is a regular fixture: Catholics vs Protestants - Whether or not the Government holds Glasgow East on Thursday, this by-election helps explain why Labour retains a bedrock of support in Scotland - The Independent, 20th July 2008 The depth of Labour's crisis is easily explained: this dead cat has bounced - The spike in support that greeted Brown's arrival was really relief at Blair's departure. The malaise set in long, long ago - The Guardian, 10th July 2008 Labour's own history shows toffs can champion the poor - The party's sham class war is displacement activity for a movement that has lost its popular roots and its radical faith - The Guardian, 27th May 2008 The poetic justice of Brown’s fate - When sorrows come, they come not single spies, But in battalions - Financial Times, 20th May 2008 It was fun, but 1968 left us sybaritic, self-absorbed and ruled by the right - The Paris riots 40 years ago prompt nostalgia on the left, but even the alleged cultural victories had unintended effects - The Guardian, 1st May 2008 Three terms is quite enough. Democracy demands change - The row over Labour's leader rests on the false assumption that another win would be good for the country and the party - The Guardian, 15th April 2008 After this shaming farce, we should put out the Olympic flame for good - Daily Mail, 8th April 2008 Washingtone's good Doctor - To write off Ron Paul as a loopy reactionary ignores his courageous stand on Iraq and Israel - The Guardian, 27th March 2008 The Clinton bubble has burst, and not before time - The Independent on Sunday, 2nd March 2008 The worst case scenario - British libel law means our press is vulnerable and the wealthy are shielded from criticism - The Guardian, 28th February 2008 Lament for the disarmer - We may have been naive, but I don't regret my CND days. Fifty years on, where are our heirs? - The Guardian, 6th February 2008 The day decency died in our 'beautiful game' - Daily Mail, 6th February 2008 Gorged on our cash, MPs have lost touch - Daily Mail, 29th January 2008 Unreliable opinions - Voters who lead pollsters astray are shying away from examining the true content of their hearts - The Guardian, 23rd January 2008 Not such a little earner - Tony Blair's new role as a JP Morgan adviser is just the latest evidence of his brazen avarice - The Guardian, 11th January 2008

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Links: Prospect magazine articles (archive) New Statesman reviews http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Wheatcroft