Barbarossa. Pearl Harbor. Swindon? Surprise attacks can, in a moment, change the course of history, the destiny of a nation and the future of a leader. After it was revealed this weekend that the Iranians have developed missiles capable of reaching the United Kingdom – and reportedly attempted to hit the UK-US military base on the Chagos
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On March 16, 1966, Neil Armstrong and David Scott became the first astronauts ever to dock with another spacecraft when they linked their Gemini 8 capsule to the uncrewed Agena target ship. However, the cheers had barely died down at Mission Control Houston when Scott realized they had a problem. The conjoined spacecraft had begun
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On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Gavin Mortimer reports on the battle between the EU and farmers; John Campbell explains Lord Haldane’s significance to politics today; reviewing Polar War by Kenneth R, Rosen, Mark Piesing ponders who will rule the arctic; and, Daisy Dunn celebrates the history of poems on the underground. Produced and presented
In 2007, two Russian submersibles descended from the ice at the North Pole to plant a small Russian flag on the sea floor more than two miles down. While the aquanauts were greeted as heroes in Russia, the reaction of other Arctic nations was somewhat less positive. ‘This isn’t the 15th century,’ complained the Canadian
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A new biography asks the same question – and looks into a potential affair with Jackie
In October 1945, towns and cities across the United States celebrated ‘A Tribute to Victory Day’ in celebration of the United States’s military victory over Nazi Germany and imperial Japan. The biggest event was held in Los Angeles and broadcast live across the country. In scenes ‘reminiscent of the pre-war Nazi rallies at Nuremberg’, Iain
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In Agent Zo , Clare Mulley has written a thrilling, consistently tense page-turner
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In the hands of a less skilled writer, The Stalin Affair could easily have been rather dull
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Nahlah Ayed transports the reader to World War Two as experienced by the brave SOE agents who landed behind enemy lines
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Beverly Hills Spy is the story of the espionage war with Japan, and the damaging rivalry between intelligence services that prevented them from working together
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Mustafa Suleyman’s new book is a rousing call-to-arms for humanity
