Max Hastings

Profile: Full name: Sir Max Hastings, FRSL Area of interest: Politics, Military history Journals/Organisation: Daily Mail | Financial Times | The Guardian Email: http://www.maxhastings.com/contact Personal website: http://www.maxhastings.com Website: Blog: Representation: http://www.gordonpoole.com/after-dinner-speaker/sir-max-hastings.aspx Networks:

Biography: About: http://www.maxhastings.com/about Education: Charterhouse School and University College, Oxford Career: reporter and foreign correspondent for the BBC and the London Evening Standard; editor/editor-in-chief at the Daily Telegraph 1986-1996; editor, Evening Standard until 2001 (ret) Current position/role: columnist, former editor of the Daily Telegraph and the London Evening Standard also writes/has written for: Contributing Editor of the Financial Times; occasional contributor to The New York Review of Books Other roles/Main role: historian Other activities: President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England 2002-2007 Disclosures: Viewpoints/Insight: Broadcast media: Video: see: IMDb Controversy/Criticism: The oldest hatred revisited - Melanie Phillips Diary, 11th March 2004 Awards/Honours: Knighted, 2002 numerous British Press Awards, including: What the Papers Say Reporter of the Year 1982; Journalist of the Year, 1982; Editor of the Year, 1988 Twice winner of Yorkshire Post Book of the Year Somerset Maugham Award winner in 1980 Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature Scoops: When Hastings was with the 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment as part of the British press corps reporting the Falklands War, the troops were ordered to stop but Hastings received no order and walked on, becoming the first man with the Falklands Task Force to arrive in the capital, Port Stanley. He then arranged an interview with the commanding officer of the Argentine forces who had occupied the islands Other: Son of Macdonald Hastings and Anne Scott-James; Grandson of Basil McDonald Hastings, journalist and playwright

Books & Debate: Selected bibliography: Finest Years: Churchill as Warlord 1940-45 OCLC430839024, 2009. Review here by Piers Brendon in The Sunday Times The evolution of strategic studies OCLC213446256, 2008 Nemesis: the battle for Japan, 1944-45 OCLC14829737, 2007 (re-titled Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45 for US release) Country fair: tales of the countryside, shooting and fishing OCLC61302090, 2005 Warriors: exceptional tales from the battlefield OCLC59876964, 2005 Armageddon: the battle for Germany, 1944-45 OCLC56650467, 2004 Editor: an inside story of newspapers OCLC50401755, 2002 Going to the wars OCLC43032430, 2000 Scattered shots OCLC44905200, 1999 On the offensive OCLC36720354, 1995 Outside days OCLC20565603, 1989 The Korean War OCLC16130754, 1987 Victory in Europe: D-Day to V-E Day OCLC12097933, 1985 The battle for the Falklands OCLC9197447, with Simon Jenkins, 1983 Bomber command OCLC5170758, 1979 Montrose: the kings' champion OCLC5170477, 1977 Ulster 1969: the fight for civil rights in Northern Ireland OCLC105151, 1970 America 1968: the fire this time OCLC39832, 1969 Latest work: Did you really shoot the television?: a family memoir OCLC310154411, March 2010. Review here by Dominic Sandbrook in The Sunday Times Speaking/Appearances: Debate:

The Guardian: Column name: Remit/Info: (usually) international relations Section: Comment & debate Role: Commentator Pen-name: Email: comment@guardian.co.uk Website: Guardian.co / Max Hastings Commissioning editor: Day published: Monday Regularity: fortnightly Column format: Average length:

Articles: Falklands bravado won’t ensure Britain’s security - We configure our forces by arbitrary judgments about what the Treasury will pay - 7th April 2012 The paradox of Israel's pursuit of might - Forty years ago, I was enraptured by Israel's courageous sense of mission. For me today, as for many, that idealism has palled - 9th May 2009 Brown and Obama may fail in Afghanistan, but they cannot give up - Western involvement in the region is hugely problematic, but the rise of al-Qaida in Pakistan has made it worth the risk - 30th March 2009 Winning the next election should be the least of Cameron's worries - The Tories face the vastly more difficult task of producing a new model of capitalism to satisfy an embittered electorate - 16th March 2009 Forget financial advisers: I wish I'd stuffed my cash into the mattress - The wreckage of my investments makes me feel rage towards those who have grown rich at my expense - 2nd March 2009 This will be painful: we're not the generous society we thought we were - The picketing of the oil refineries marks just the first frightening stirrings of a recession-era anger that is bound to grow - 2nd February 2009 If defence is to be strategic rather than politically expedient, dump Trident - Party leaders see no votes in debating the nuclear issue, but these weapons look ever more costly and irrelevant as a deterrent - 19th January 2009 With all these trillions, how can we keep hold of the meaning of money? - We lack the slightest idea of the significance of the vast sums being pledged, lent, spent or squandered in our name - 5th January 2009 Under US orders - British troops are stuck in Afghanistan until Barack Obama recognises the war is unwinnable - 22nd December 2008 Being good won't do. Cameron must become a great prime minister - The Tories are likely to win the next election, but the challenges will be even greater than those Thatcher faced in 1979 - 8th December 2008 At times like this, we should welcome leaders who enjoy managing a crisis - History shows that it is far better to be led by a man who relishes a challenge than by one who slumps into despondency - 24th November 2008 Give us inquiries into the banking crisis and Iraq, not Bloody Sunday - There is little new to be learned from Derry, 1972. But it is vital that we fully investigate the current decade's major failures - 10th November 2008 Afghanistan's best hope is for controlled warlordism- The Taliban are losing the battles but winning the war. The prognosis is wretched, yet we must sustain military aid - 13th October 2008 Bedtime reading of Pepys's diary provides a wonderful corrective - If we measure today's woes with those of former eras, we can muster a little courage to endure the credit crunch - 29th September 2008 Many of these bankers are horrible people, but we will still need them - For years money moguls were allowed too much power. Now the excesses must be curbed, but without stifling growth - 15th September 2008 The Ghaffur case exposes just how weak attempts at fairness can be - All hirings and firings are arbitrary, but until more minorities are in senior jobs, the perception of discrimination will linger - 1st September 2008 The Russians yearn for respect in the same way as a street kid with a knife - Rubbing Moscow's nose in its historical failures cannot bring peace. The west must revive the art of traditional diplomacy - 18th August 2008 Negotiating with Iran is maddening, but bombing would be a catastrophe - US military posturing towards Tehran lacks credibility and, in any case, such action would fail in all its purposes - 4th August 2008 Hopes of close cooperation between Russia and the west are now dead - As BP is discovering, the change of leadership at the Kremlin will not end its autocratic and nationalistic policies - 21st July 2008 It may seem ineffective, but we need G8 in order to face the daunting future - Common action against shared perils like poverty and climate change may not be forthcoming. Still, it is our best hope - 7th July 2008 If we endorse yob behaviour in role models, we'll become a yob nation - Every time TV chef Gordon Ramsay screams obscenities on screen, he kicks civilised values between the legs - 23rd June 2008 archive

Financial Times: Column name: Remit/Info: Section: Role: Pen-name: Email: Website: http://www.ft.com/comment/opinion Commissioning editor: Day published: varies Regularity: varies Column format: Average length:

Articles: 2011 Cameron is too casual for his own good - Being merely adequate does not serve in these extraordinary times - 12th March No humble pie for opposing the Libyan war - Max Hastings remains cynical enough to recoil from committing western forces for the reasons given for the intervention in Libya - 21st December ‘Keep calm and carry on’ is not enough - Leaders are unsure what tone to adopt in a real economic crisis - 12th November There’s no romance left in espionage - Britain’s real edge is not in ‘humint’ – spies – but ‘sigint’ - 17th September Planning fiasco adds insult to injury to the Tory faithful - Developers occupy a place in the demonology of middle England more prominent than bankers - 10th September The west’s crisis of honest leaders - Their fundamental task is to reconcile electorates to accepting less of everything than they have had in the past - 16th August Murdochs and the madness of moguls - Britain is fixated on phone hacking and police corruption - 23rd July British generals must stop their moaning - The question remains: is Nato bringing freedom to an oppressed people or backing the weaker side in a civil war? - 24th June Society will not suffer huge pay-offs for ever - British ministers are baffled about how to address bosses’ greed - 11th June Toast our Afghan victories but it’s the jaw-jaw that counts - Now US must promote a regional settlement - 28th May Questions but no answers for Nato in Libya - The honour and credibility of the west are now engaged here - 16th May West must set limits on Libya engagement - Insisting on Gaddafi’s removal apparently rules out a negotiated settlement, or de facto partition - 21st April Silly lectures are no way to change social mobility - Max Hastings looks at Nick Clegg’s speech on social mobility - 9th April Why the military is right to fret over Libya - Media doomsayers should beware of willing the messy and unmanageable outcome - 25th March US and its allies are too late to help Libya - Americans have no appetite for a Libyan adventure - 19th March Wanted: lion tamer to reset media relations - why governments should be wary of courting journalists - 24th January A useful defeat in Cameron’s long campaign - The prime minister got the result he needed - 14th January Cameron’s silent prayer for Clegg - Why the Tory leader is hoping for Lib Dem victory in Oldham next week - 8th January

Articles: 2010 Britain’s old ruling class is on a high, but can it last? - The ruling class is cockahoop but will this mood continue - 13th November British military thinking must get cleverer - The only good news is that Cameron’s intervention delayed some big decisions - 25th October Politicians beware, the squeezed middle is here to stay - The rich have always been with us, but for decades society saw its circumstances improve in step. This is no longer so - 16th October Trident skewers Britain’s post-imperial refit - Hard to believe Britain should deploy a deterrent against Russia or China - 23rd September Cameron is a leader to the manner born - In this, his honeymoon phase, we still know little about his real vision - 2nd August Stop salami-slicing defence and cut the behemoths - We should cut big budget items in defence and focus on cyber-warfare - 24th July The war on greed begins at the dinner table - I feel a social duty to wince when I am seated next to a banker - 14th July Cameron’s coup could be Clegg’s undoing - The Lib Dem leader is likely to face rising dissent in his party - 15th May My 96-year-old mother wanted to end her life. But I still believe assisted suicide is a path to barbarity - 8th February Safety comes first for the Conservatives - A precipitate commitment to curb spending might even save Brown - 6th February Lessons from Chilcot on the Atlantic alliance - Tony Blair’s appearance on Friday before the Chilcot inquiry on the Iraq war conformed to expectations. It was an exercise in self-justification, indeed self-righteousness, at one with everything the former UK prime minister has said since 2003 - 1st February (Iraq war inquiry) Don't expect contrition from the man whose deceit cost so many lives and crippled our standing in the world for a generation - 29th January Harmanism: It's not the middle classes but social engineering zealots like Ms Harman who are to blame for Britain's inequality gap - 29th January Why this picture of neighbours pulling together in the big freeze fills me with hope - 13th January How idiots in London let the cod fishers make fools of us - 8th January A bright new dawn: At the start of the new decade, Britain's mood may be bleak. But there are reasons for optimism - 2nd January

Articles: 2009 The end of Britain’s long weekend - Historians are likely to look back on 2009 as the year in which the UK was confronted by truths of lasting significance. The national mood approaching Christmas 2010 and 2011 is likely to be much bleaker than today’s - 21st December Obama’s damaging silence on Israel - Many Muslims fear Israeli encroachment into the West Bank and especially in Jerusalem is no longer reversible, short of war - 26th November Europe is still a looming crisis for Cameron - It is unlikely Britain will leave the EU, but highly plausible that Mr Cameron will feel obliged to force a crisis on sovereignty and jurisdiction, of which the outcome is anybody’s guess - 17th November The west’s strategic options in Afghanistan - Choices are limited - 29th October New Nato troops will not make up for Karzai II - Combat operations conducted in a political vacuum are worthless. Tactical successes mean nothing unless the Afghan government is sustainable, which is very doubtful - 16th October Obama has few Afghan options - The dispatch of more troops is futile without a coherent political strategy, such as only Barack Obama can articulate - 23rd September Soldiers of fortune cannot remain outside the law - Private military contractors are necessary in the world’s trouble-spots but their home governments must accept that they have a responsibility to regulate them - 14th August Unreliable friends weigh on the west in Afghanistan - So much attention focuses on what our troops are or are not achieving. Yet the greatest problem facing the allies in Afghanistan is not military but civil: the absence of Afghan administrators to exploit tactical successes by bringing visible benefits to local communities - 31st July The genie of violence needs strong leaders to combat it - not bitter and blood-stained old men like Gerry Adams - To describe a double murder as 'wrong and counterproductive' seems starkly inadequate. Yet those were the words Gerry Adams used yesterday on the BBC's Today programme - 10th March How Jobzilla ate your future! Public sector pay and perks - paid for by YOU - will cripple this country for years to come - During a week of collapsing markets and soaring job losses, for one privileged section of society it's business as usual - 5th March Let's hope these two know what they're doing - but I fear they're as clueless as the rest of us - As Gordon Brown meets Barack Obama in Washington today, the world confronts its gravest crisis since 1945 - 5th March Torture is wrong but why, in the name of sanity, should we allow those who hate us to live here? - It is a wicked thing, if Binyam Mohamed has been tortured during his seven years' confinement, latterly at America's Guantanamo Bay, and equally wicked if Britain has been complicit in that torture. But most people in this country, I suspect, felt a stab of justified anger and frustration on Monday as he descended at Northolt from a plane chartered by the Government to bring him 'home' - 25th February Hanging bankers from lamp posts would do no one any good - but this bonus gravy train is just an insult to us all - If the banking moguls assembling in Davos this week continue to pay themselves millions, they should not be surprised to see threatening faces peering at them, and hands fingering ropes - 27th January Obama's moment of truth - The responsibilities are awesome, the expectations so high no mere mortal can ever fill them. But we need to believe in Obama - because if he fails, we will ALL be losers - 16th January No one admires high-achievers more than me - but you'll never get social mobility by passing laws against middle classes - The last refuge of a Labour government free-falling without a parachute - Tony Blair took that - is to restart the class war - 13th January

Daily Mail: Column name: Remit/Info: Section: Role: Pen-name: Email: Website: MailOnline / Max Hastings Commissioning editor: Day published: Regularity: Column format: Average length:

Articles: 2008 I'm not proud of it but human nature DOES sometimes make us all racist - 2nd September Superpower rivalry is once more a fact of life - and death - 16th August Why I'll always be a happy camper (as long as there's a good hotel nearby!) - 5th August archive

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Links: Wikipedia bio New Statesman: profile - Once Fleet Street's most feared editor, he now speaks for the countryside. But can he ever learn to be a gentleman? Max Hastings profiled - Sholto Byrnes, August 2002