The Battle of Agincourt’s status as perhaps the greatest victory against overwhelming odds in military history — and a keystone of the English self-image — has been called into doubt by a group of historians in Britain and France. The English Montaigne: A review of William Hazlitt: The First Modern Man by Duncan Wu. A review of Reading Gladstone by Ruth Clayton Windscheffel. A review of Incest and Influence: The Private Life of Bourgeois England by Adam Kuper. A review of The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5 by Christopher Andrew (and more). A review of Spooks: The Unofficial History of MI5 by Thomas Hennessey and Claire Thomas (and more and more and more and more and more and more; and what do real life spooks make of fictional spies?). A review of books on British intelligence. An article on Penelope Fitzgerald and the story of a British family. From Prospect, while Britain’s annual exam standards row rages on, the most important question is ignored: what should our children learn?; and how to really hug a hoodie: Karyn McCluskey has led a controversial project in Glasgow to tackle gang violence — it seems to be working, but is there the political will to roll it out across the whole country? The Tories and the GOP: Rupurt Darwall on the limits of political “modernization”. Jean Eaglesham profiles the new generation of thinkers, pundits and money men vying for influence on a future Cameron government (and more on the new ruling class jostling for power around Prime Minister Cameron). Burned by the Sun: Courting Murdoch was always bound to backfire on Labour but the paper's influence is built on a myth. Saluting the Sun: The British tabloid offers the world’s most amusing corrections.
