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The article is a review of the memoir "Smoking Red: The Memoirs of a Fighter Pilot" by Wyndham Ward. The memoir focuses on Ward's 58-year career in aviation, particularly his time in the Royal Air Force (RAF). It provides a narrative of British air power from the aftermath of the Suez Crisis to the Falklands War, touching on topics such as the Soviet threat and Operation Unthinkable. The review also discusses the challenges faced by the RAF due to economic constraints and changing defense policies. The reviewer recommends the book for those interested in aviation history. [Extracted from the article]

This article discusses two books edited by Ryan Shaffer that focus on the intelligence services in Africa. The first book examines the history and challenges faced by African intelligence services, while the second book provides a comprehensive overview of intelligence cultures in all 55 African states. The books highlight the politicization of intelligence and the need for reforms to improve oversight and reduce susceptibility to political influence. The article also mentions specific chapters that delve into the intelligence services of Kenya, Nigeria, Liberia, Rwanda, Mozambique, Sudan, and South Africa. It discusses the role of intelligence agencies in South Africa's history, particularly during the apartheid era and the post-apartheid period, and suggests that intelligence agencies have been influenced by rival factions within the ruling party in recent years. The text also briefly mentions the role of intelligence agencies in assassinations during apartheid and the intelligence operations outside of Africa. Overall, the text provides insights into the complex and often controversial role of intelligence agencies in African countries. [Extracted from the article]

The 9/11 and WMD controversies have encouraged new trends in CIA historiography. The writing of timely leadership memoirs means that in-house viewpoints now tend to precede outside assessment, eliminating one of intelligence historiography’s distinctive quirks. At the same time, former CIA personnel are far more willing to go on the record with journalists and scholars thus ensuring that their version of events reaches the widest possible audience. Finally, an invasion of British scholars into the field comes with the promise of objectivity conferred by distance. It is argued that, because of that distance, there has been a disposition to rely on the kind of source material that lends itself to a cultural approach to CIA history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the Royal Navy (RN) in the aftermath of the Falklands War of 1982, focussing on the long-standing disparity between commitments and resources in UK defence planning. Two central arguments are developed. First, it is argued that the 1981 defence review failed to address the disparity between UK commitments with resources. Second, despite victory in the Falklands War, the UK naval lobby failed to reverse the long-term decline in the size of the RN although, in the long-term, the 1982 war reinforced the case for enhancing RN maritime aviation capabilities. This article presents a case of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the RN seeking, and failing, to resolve an insoluble problem. This analysis of UK naval policy demonstrates that British defence planning remains torn between a maritime strategy and a continental commitment to the present day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historiography of Anglo-German relations since 1949 presents the fate of the Oder-Niesse line as an irritant symptomatic of issues such as Britain's disinterest in the reunification of Germany, and Germany's dislike of Britain's detente policy. The history of the Oder-Neisse line illustrates not only Britain's stance in the cold war but also the limits to its power and influence in Central Europe where brokering frontiers had always been beyond its capabilities.

This article explores recent literature on the often-overlooked Burma theatre of the Second World War. The brutal contest in Burma, which took place in the most hostile of climates, was never a priority for any of the belligerents in the global war. Despite this, a re-examination of the men who fought in the jungles, hills, and plains of Burma from myriad nations and cultures – and who bled and died in their thousands – adds a number of dimensions to our understanding of the war in the Far East. The twenty-first century has seen an expansion of the literature on the Burma theatre which has added both depth and colour to this truly unique arena of war. These contributions are invaluable in the realms of logistics, airpower, intelligence, politics, and soldiery. This fresh wave of literature includes the re-publication of certain first-hand examinations of some of the most disastrous moments in British military history; the longest fighting retreat conducted by the British Army; the reforging of that army into a victorious fighting force; and accounts of some of the greatest special operations units in history. Such accounts, in tandem with a number of recent scholarly monographs and edited volumes, argue strongly for the rediscovery of this 'forgotten' war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]