John Swettenham's Books

Secrecy and the Media

The Official History of the United Kingdom's D-Notice System

By: Nicholas John Wilkinson

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Secrecy and the Media

The Official History of the United Kingdom's D-Notice System

By: Nicholas John Wilkinson

Secrecy and the Media is the first book to examine the development of the D-Notice system, which regulates the UK media's publication of British national security secrets. It is based on official documents, many of which have not previously been available to a general audience, as well as on media sources. From Victorian times, British governments have consistently seen the need, in the public interest, to prevent the media publishing secret information which would endanger national security. The UK media have meanwhile continuously resisted official attempts to impose any form of censorship, arguing that a free press is in the public interest. Both sides have normally seen the pitfalls of attempting to resolve this sometimes acrimonious conflict of interests by litigation, and have together evolved a system of editorial self-regulation, assisted by day-to-day independent expert advice, known colloquially as the D-Notice System. The book traces the development of this system from nineteenth-century colonial campaigns, through two world wars, to modern operations and counter-terrorism in the post-Cold War era, up to the beginning of the Labour government in 1997. Examples are drawn from media, political and official sources (some not yet open), and cover not only defence issues (including Special Forces), but also the activities of the secret intelligence services MI5, MI6 and GCHQ. These cases relate principally to the UK, but also to American and other allies’ interests. The story of how this sometimes controversial institution now operates in the modern world will be essential reading for those in the media and government departments, and for academics and students in the fields of security, defence and intelligence, as well as being an accessible exposé for the general reader. Nicholas Wilkinson served in the Royal Navy 1959-98, and from 1999 to 2004 he ran the independent Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee. He was a Press Complaints Commissioner from 2005 to 2008, and is a Cabinet Office Historian.

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Page Count

884

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1134052537

ISBN 13

9781134052530

Politics of Command

Lieutenant-General A.G.L. McNaughton and the Canadian Army, 1939–1943

By: John Nelson Rickard

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Politics of Command

Lieutenant-General A.G.L. McNaughton and the Canadian Army, 1939–1943

By: John Nelson Rickard

In December 1943, Lieutenant-General A.G.L. McNaughton resigned from command of the 1st Canadian Army amidst criticism of his poor generalship and of his abrasive personality. Despite McNaughton's importance to the Canadian Army during the first four years of the Second World War, little has been written about the man himself or the circumstances of his resignation. In The Politics of Command, the first full-length study of the subject since 1969, John Nelson Rickard analyses McNaughton's performance during Exercise SPARTAN in March 1943 and assesses his relationships with key figures such as Sir Alan F. Brooke, Bernard Paget, and Harry Crerar. This detailed re-examination of McNaughton's command argues that the long-accepted reasons for his relief of duty require extensive modification. Based on a wide range of sources, The Politics of Command will redefine how military historians and all Canadians look at not only "Andy" McNaughton but also the Canadian Army itself.

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Page Count

417

Publisher

University of Toronto Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

144269890X

ISBN 13

9781442698901

Disaster in the Far East, 1940–1942

The Defence of Malaya, Japanese Capture of Hong Kong and the Fall of Singapore

By: John Grehan,Martin Mace

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Disaster in the Far East, 1940–1942

The Defence of Malaya, Japanese Capture of Hong Kong and the Fall of Singapore

By: John Grehan,Martin Mace

Despatches in this volume include that on the Far East between October 1940 and December 1941, by Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham; the despatch on operations in Hong Kong between 8 and 25 December 1941, by Major-General C.M. Maltby, General Officer Commanding British Troops in China; the report on the air operations during the campaigns in Malaya and Netherland East Indies between December 1941 and March 1942; and the important despatch by Percival detailing the fall of Malaya and Fortress Singapore.This unique collection of original documents will prove to be an invaluable resource for historians, students and all those interested in what was one of the most significant periods in British military history.

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Page Count

506

Publisher

Pen and Sword

Published Date

ISBN 10

1473852811

ISBN 13

9781473852815

The Shaping of Peace

Canada and the Search for World Order, 1943-1957 (Volume 2)

By: John W. Holmes

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The Shaping of Peace

Canada and the Search for World Order, 1943-1957 (Volume 2)

By: John W. Holmes

The establishment of the United Nations system at the conclusion of the Second World War was followed by a period of disillusion in the late 40s about the prospects for world order. With the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 there came a regrouping of forces and revised calculations of what was possible. The first volume of The Shaping of the Peace described Canadian attitudes and policies towards international institutions as the Second World War ended. This volume is concerned with the developments in the decade after the war, with the changing Canadian concepts as they were shaped by events and challenges. Although principal attention is paid to the organs of the United Nations, other themes such as the establishment of NATO, the progress of the new Commonwealth, and the changing concepts of the North American relationship are analysed as essential elements in the Canadian search for equilibrium. The author was himself involved in many of the activities described in these volumes; this is not a personal memoir, however, but a third-person account based on recollections tempered by research of the records.

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Page Count

685

Publisher

University of Toronto Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1487590210

ISBN 13

9781487590215

Science and Spectacle

The Work of Jodrell Bank in Postwar British Culture

By: John Agar

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Science and Spectacle

The Work of Jodrell Bank in Postwar British Culture

By: John Agar

Science and Spectacle relates the construction of the telescope to the politics and culture of post-war Britain. From radar and atomic weapons, to the Festival of Britain and, later, Harold Wilson's rhetoric of scientific revolution, science formed a cultural resource from which post-war careers and a national identity could be built. The Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope was once a symbol of British science and a much needed prestigious project for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, but it also raised questions regarding the proper role of universities as sites for scientific research.

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Page Count

292

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1317743024

ISBN 13

9781317743026

The Real Oliver Twist

Robert Blincoe: A life that illuminates an age

By: John Waller

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The Real Oliver Twist

Robert Blincoe: A life that illuminates an age

By: John Waller

From a parish workhouse to the heart of the industrial revolution, from debtors' jail to Cambridge University and a prestigious London church, Robert Blincoe's political, personal and turbulent story illuminates the Dickensian age like never before. In 1792 as revolution, riot and sedition spread across Europe, Robert Blincoe was born in the calm of rural St Pancras parish. At four he was abandoned to a workhouse, never to see his family again. At seven, he was sent 200 miles north to work in one of the cotton mills of the dawning industrial age. He suffered years of unrelenting abuse, a life dictated by the inhuman rhythm of machines. Like Dickens' most famous character, Blincoe rebelled after years of servitude. He fought back against the mill owners, earning beatings but gaining self-respect. He joined the campaign to protect children, gave evidence to a Royal Commission into factory conditions and worked with extraordinary tenacity to keep his own children from the factories. His life was immortalised in one of the most remarkable biographies ever written, A Memoir of Robert Blincoe. Renowned popular historian John Waller tells the true story of a parish boy's progress with passion and in enthralling detail.

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Page Count

481

Publisher

Icon Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1840464704

ISBN 13

9781840464702

Prize Possession

The United States Government and the Panama Canal 1903-1979

By: John Major

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Prize Possession

The United States Government and the Panama Canal 1903-1979

By: John Major

Prize Possession is a history of United States policy towards the Panama Canal, focusing principally on the first two generations of American tenure of the Canal Zone between 1904 and 1955. John Major also provides an extensive look at the nineteenth-century background, the making of the 1903 canal treaty with Panama, the move after 1955 towards the new treaty settlement of 1977, and the crucial significance of the Canal to American policy-makers and their public. The book is based for the most part on the hitherto largely untapped sources of US government agencies, namely, the State, War, and Navy Department, and the Canal Zone administration, as well as on the papers of notable dramatis personae such as Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and Philippe Bunau-Varilla. As such it makes an important and original contribution to our knowledge and understanding of a subject which has not yet received its due from historians.

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Page Count

460

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521521262

ISBN 13

9780521521260

The Colonial Office and Nigeria, 1898-1914

By: John M. Carland

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The Colonial Office and Nigeria, 1898-1914

By: John M. Carland

A study in the relationship between one department of the Colonial Office and the colonies in which it had responsibility.

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Page Count

286

Publisher

Hoover Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0817981438

ISBN 13

9780817981433

Space Has No Frontier

The Terrestrial Life and Times of Sir Bernard Lovell

By: John Bromley-Davenport

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Space Has No Frontier

The Terrestrial Life and Times of Sir Bernard Lovell

By: John Bromley-Davenport

An exploration of Lovell's life and achievements in the scientific and political context of the time The extraordinary life of Bernard Lovell began before World War I and his story encompasses many of the great events of the last 100 years: World War II, the invention of radio astronomy, the space race, the Moon landings, the exploration of the solar system, the Cold War, the Cuban missile crisis, and the defense of Britain against nuclear attack. It can now be revealed that he was also a spy. The great radio telescope which Lovell built became and remains one of the most important scientific instruments in the world. The Jodrell Bank Observatory and the Lovell Telescope have held their place at the frontier of research for 55 years. His legacy remains great, as can be seen from the extensive media coverage and personal tributes that his death in 2012 attracted all over the world. With the 70th anniversaries of many wartime events in which he played a crucial role, as well as the recent declassification of information relating to his activities as an agent in the Cold War, this biography is sure to have a broad and timely interest.

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Page Count

299

Publisher

Bene Factum Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1909657042

ISBN 13

9781909657045

Sunset in the East

Fighting Against the Japanese through the Siege of Imphal and alongside them in Java 1943-1946

By: John Hudson

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Sunset in the East

Fighting Against the Japanese through the Siege of Imphal and alongside them in Java 1943-1946

By: John Hudson

It is generally recognized that the war in Burma against the Japanese was as fierce as any. The Battle of Kohima was the turning point of this extraordinary campaign and personal accounts of the fighting there are greatly sought after. The author was in the thick of the action and his record is indeed a graphic and moving one. Thereafter he was sent down to Malaya, but when the War ended, he found himself in Indonesia under the most bizarre circumstances. A bitter war of national independence from the Dutch colonial power was underway and it became necessary to employ the defeated Japanese troops to keep a semblance of order. This little known turn of events makes for the most fascinating reading and adds a new dimension to what would in any case be a first class memoir.

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Page Count

189

Publisher

Casemate Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

1783379839

ISBN 13

9781783379835

Old Enough to Fight

Canada's Boy Soldiers in the First World War

By: Dan Black,John Boileau

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Old Enough to Fight

Canada's Boy Soldiers in the First World War

By: Dan Black,John Boileau

Between 15,000 and 20,000 underage youths, some as young as ten, signed up to fight in Canada's armed forces in the First World War. They served in the trenches alongside their elders, and fought in all the major battles: Ypres, the Somme, Passchendaele, Vimy Ridge, and the rest. Many were injured or suffered psychological wounds. Many died. This is the first book to tell their story. Some boys joined up to escape unhappy homes and workplaces. Others went with their parents' blessing, carrying letters from fathers and mothers asking the recruiters to take their eager sons. The romantic notion of a short, victorious campaign was wiped out the second these boys arrived on the Western Front. The authors, who narrate the fighting with both military professionalism and humanity, portray many boys who, in the heat of battle, made a seamless transition from follower to leader to hero. Authors Dan Black and John Boileau combed the archives and collections to bring these stories to life. Passages from letters the boy soldiers wrote home reveal the range of emotions and experiences they underwent, from the humorous to the unspeakably horrible. Their parents' letters touch us with their concern, love, uncertainty, and often, grief. Meticulously researched and abundantly illustrated with photographs, paintings, and a collection of specially commissioned maps, Old Enough to Fight is Canadian military and social history at its most fascinating.

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Page Count

466

Publisher

James Lorimer & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

1459405420

ISBN 13

9781459405424

A Company of Planters

Confessions of a colonial rubber planter in 1950s Malaya

By: John Dodd

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A Company of Planters

Confessions of a colonial rubber planter in 1950s Malaya

By: John Dodd

Through a collection of letters written to his best friend and to his father in England, and from his own personal diary entries, John Dodd’s memoir offers a fascinating and amusing glimpse of life as a colonial rubber planter. With true stories and confessions that would make even Somerset Maugham blush, we discover what life was really like for young colonial planters in late-1950s Malaya. Increasing daily rubber output may have been their goal but for the young planters the bigger picture of chasing girls and finding a ‘keep’ was of much greater importance. But life was more than just a series of stengahs in the clubhouse, dalliances in the Chinese brothels of Penang and charming ‘pillow dictionaries’ – there were strikes, riots, snakes, plantation fires and deadly ambushes by Communist terrorists to contend with. Set against the backdrop of the Emergency period, the rise of nationalism and Malaya’s subsequent Independence, A Company of Planters is a very personal, moving and humorous account of one man’s experiences on the frequently isolated rubber plantations of colonial Malaya.

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Page Count

396

Publisher

Monsoon Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1912049112

ISBN 13

9781912049110

The Battle for Burma 1943-1945

From Kohima & Imphal Through to Victory

By: John Grehan,Martin Mace

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The Battle for Burma 1943-1945

From Kohima & Imphal Through to Victory

By: John Grehan,Martin Mace

Despatches in this volume include that on operations in Burma and North-East India between November 1943 and June 1944, by General Sir George J. Giffard; the despatch on operations in Assam and Burma between June 1944 June and November 1944, by General Sir George J. Giffard, Commander-in-Chief; the despatch on Naval operations in the Ramree Island area (Burma) in January and February 1945 by Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur J. Power, Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station; and the despatch on operations in Burma between November 1944 and August 1945 by Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese. This unique collection of original documents will prove to be an invaluable resource for historians, students and all those interested in what was one of the most significant periods in British military history.

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Page Count

312

Publisher

Pen and Sword

Published Date

ISBN 10

1783461993

ISBN 13

9781783461998

Book's by John Swettenham

Secrecy and the Media

Secrecy and the Media

Politics of Command

Politics of Command

Disaster in the Far East, 1940–1942

Disaster in the Far East, 1940–1942

The Shaping of Peace

The Shaping of Peace

Science and Spectacle

Science and Spectacle

The Real Oliver Twist

The Real Oliver Twist

Prize Possession

Prize Possession

The Colonial Office and Nigeria, 1898-1914

The Colonial Office and Nigeria, 1898-1914

Space Has No Frontier

Space Has No Frontier

Sunset in the East

Sunset in the East

Old Enough to Fight

Old Enough to Fight

A Company of Planters

A Company of Planters

The Battle for Burma 1943-1945

The Battle for Burma 1943-1945

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