Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
It’s a very sad story. It’s more despair than anger, and most despair at Winston Churchill. It’s a bleak portrait of the prime minister. His obstinacy with regards to India, his belief that purely through his charisma he could keep Britain as a world player alongside the Soviet Union and America.
Your next book takes a number empire builders like to pluck out of the air to indicate splendid longevity, and turns it on its head…
The Last Thousand Days of the British Empire by Peter Clarke. Yes. A very explicit title. It begins in the middle of 1944 and ends with Indian independence. It’s a fascinating book if you’re British, American or Indian. It has to be said that it’s not always an easy read. Some of the blow-by-blow accounts of conferences can be dry. You feel, if only I knew where to skim. But on the whole it’s a fascinating book and it told me what I needed to know about what actually happened to this country at that time. It’s a very sad story. It’s more despair than anger, and most despair at Winston Churchill. It’s a very bleak portrait of the prime minister. His obstinacy with regards to India, his belief that purely through his charisma he could keep Britain as a world player alongside the Soviet Union and America.
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James Meek spent several years in Russia in the 1990s and now lives in London. He has published four novels and two short story collections. In 2004 he was named Foreign Correspondent and Amnesty Journalist of The Year. His third novel, The People’s Act of Love (2005), received significant critical acclaim and went on to win the Scottish Arts Council Book of Year Award and the Ondaatje Prize. It has been translated into 20 languages. His fourth novel, We Are Now Beginning Our Descent (2008), won the Prince Maurice prize.
