On the History of the English speaking since 1900
Here's David Warren's review of a book that's been making the rounds by some bloggers. It's titled History of the English speaking people
Basically, it's update of Churchill's famous book and I suppose this new book by Andew Roberts is yet another paean to the genius of the Anglophones who alone have preserved Western civilization.
Sure enough, David Warren confirms my prejudice and this particular paragraph:
We have a history of having to protect them [the Europeans] from each other, or liberate them, again and again, while they mutter about the distastefulness of “Anglo-Americanism”. But someone has to play adult in the planetary kindergarten.
compelled me to turn my head so I could blow out my breath in exasperation.
Yeah, dividing Europe into the continential equivalent of the Germanies so that no one area could challenge Britiah dominance did such a great job of keeping the peace over the centuries. Anglophones never, ever, bother to ask themselves if thwarting the European tendency to unite under a federation of some kind, was in the best interest of both the Europeans and the Brits.
I've often held that British intervention has distorted the European political development vis-à-vis democracy, capitalism and civil society as much as the Europeans themselves. Of course, the Brits were right to fight Hitler and Mussolini. The Brits also valiently oppose communism, despite that the greatest traitors, Philby, Burgess and MacLean were their countrymen. Their treason delayed the fall of communism by a good 30 years.
What nonesense!
If the Brits had really stood up to Prussian militarism, the elites would've opposed Prussia in 1864 not 1904. Further, the British political elite pretty much ignored Prussia until Wilhelm I decided to build a high sea feel (in today's jargon a blue water navy) that alarmed them enough to sign the Entente cordiale with France.
As for the Second World war, Roberts gives a patronizing sneer to the Poles, Czechs, French, Norwegians, Greek, Danes, Belgs and Dutch as who fought on despite having lost their countries. Nothing exudes gratitude than being labelled a client and dependant by your principal ally. And the Brits wonder why the Europeans sometimes mutter under their breath invectives towards the Anglophones?
