Author:David Cesarani
In May 1947 Alexander Rubowitz, a Jewish teenager, was mysteriously abducted in Jerusalem. He was never seen again. Rubowitz was active in a Zionist underground group fighting British rule in Palestine. Witnesses said he was seized by British policemen. A grey felt hat found at the scene was traced to Major Roy Farran, a highly decorated ex-SAS officer leading a covert counter-terrorist squad.
As evidence of murder grew Farran fled to Syria. He was persuaded to return and was acquitted after a sensational court martial. He came home to a hero's welcome. But the Zionist underground swore vengeance. It had already penetrated British homeland security and now it sent its top man after Farran.
Major Farran's Hat explores the reasons why Britain lost Palestine, why its counter-insurgency strategy collided with its diplomacy, and why the tactics of the security forces were ill-judged, poorly executed, and futile. Setting Farran's remarkable story in the context of the first modern campaign of international terrorism, it draws on recently declassified files of the Security Services to reveal the full extent and ambition of Jewish terrorist attacks on Britain in the late 1940s.
Part Boys' Own adventure, part narrative history, Major Farran's Hat solves a murder mystery and exposes a shady episode in the final years of the British empire. This story of violence, cover ups and expediency throws light on Britain's legacy in the Middle East, with remarkable echoes of today's War on Terror.
Morris tells Edward's story fluently and conveys a compelling sense of the reality, and the contingency, of personal rule... It is on the subject of "the forging of Britain" that Morris is most consistently thought-provoking
—— GuardianMarc Morris's new account of the life of Edward I is a splendid example of the genre. Edward's life is in many ways an ideal subject for such an approach, full of incident and action... An excellent, readable account of his reign
—— Literary ReviewThis is a direct, forthright and welcoming book... Edward I was called a "great and terrible king" and he has been well served by Marc Morris. He leads us confidently through the litany of battles and conflicts
—— Scotland on SundayA highly readable account of an important reign
—— ScotsmanMarc Morris has written the first full biography of Edward I for around 100 years, and uncommonly good it is too ... He was a remarkable man, and a great king. Marc Morris does him justice, brings him clearly before our eyes, and, like a true historian, judges him by the standards of his age, not ours. It's compelling stuff
—— Allan Massie , Daily TelegraphThe title of Marc Morris' book is apt. No king of England had a greater impact on the peoples of Britain than Edward I. By telling his story in the context of the thirteenth-century English views of the Scots and the Welsh, and seeing Scottish and Welsh developments as interlocking with, but being more than simply responses to English invasion, he has succeeded in writing a book for today
—— TLSAn insightful, compelling and highly readable account of one of Britain's most influential kings
—— Robyn Young, author of the Brethren TrilogyEdward I's reign during the Middle Ages was one of the most dramatic in history: a time of adventure and political advances, including Holy Land crusades and battles with Scotland. A brilliant biography
—— Daily ExpressHistorical biography's newest star
—— BooksellerHis conclusions neatly balance the equally pertinent questions of why Communist systems collapse, and why they lasted so long
—— Stephen Howe , IndependentOne of Britain's leading experts on communism provides a grimly humorous and richly anecdotal study
—— George Pendles , Financial Times, History books of the yearScholarly, well-paced and critical...few can match him for insider knowledge
—— Tristram Hunt , Sunday TimesBalanced, insightful, illuminated by intriguing detail and flashes of humour, this worldwide panorama is a miracle of compression
—— Christopher Hirst , IndependentThis superb book gives the history of the ideology and the reasons for its decline
—— Simon Heffer , TelegraphIt reads like Sovietology rendered by John le Carré
—— Timothy SnyderThe book is well written with flashes of mordant humour and sufficient records of personal foibles and institutional stupidity to keep the reader going through some dreadful moments of human history
—— Political Studies Review
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