Paul Moorcraft – författare

This book explores why there is a major war again in Europe. Putin’s actions need to be understood if not forgiven. With the Ukraine conflict increasingly seen as a proxy war of NATO versus Russia, how likely is the fighting to spread?The author, a highly respected journalist and political commentator, explains why Russia invaded a sovereign neighbour. To what extent did NATO’s expansion to Russia’s borders in the aftermath of the Cold War provoke Putin? Did the West’s recent humiliating defeats in the Middle East and South Asia encourage Putin to exploit what he saw as its decadent strategic weakness and lack of resolve? What were the reasons for Russia’s savage behaviour in Ukraine? How might the Ukraine war end and what will the post-bellum world look like?The war in Ukraine has had worldwide impact with cost of living, food and energy crises and raised the risk of nuclear Armageddon by accident or intent so this book has universal appeal; not just to military buffs. It examines the complex military and political issues in layman’s language while the story is told as a compelling historical narrative.Professor Moorcraft, who has worked in Ukraine and has witnessed Russian troops in action in Afghanistan and other theatres, is superbly qualified to write this work.

The existence of German-speaking units fighting for the Allied cause during WW2 has remained largely a well-kept secret. But seventy-five years on these units' contribution to victory needs to be fully acknowledged.Prime Minister Winston Churchill had no qualms about using native German speakers from Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia and of course Germany itself. The majority were Jews who had fled persecution.Two examples of these secret units were X Troop Commandos and the Special Interrogation Group.The SIG men deserve their legendary status. They fought, and often died, wearing Wehmacht uniform. As this superbly researched book reveals that, after infiltrating Field Marshal Rommel's Afrika Korps, one detachment even drew Nazi pay. Inevitably once the existence of SIG units became known, their immediate execution on capture was ordered, unless their temporary reprieve would reveal intelligence under torture.We learn how Churchill's initiative was copied by both the Americans and the Russians.Post-war SIG and X Troop survivors joined British special forces or were used to hunt down Nazi war criminals.All this and more is covered in this ground-breaking book by a writer who is both a leading historian and foreign correspondent.

No war in living memory has stirred up such anger, fear andloathing as the long-running Israel–Palestine conflict, and peace in the regionhas never seemed further away. The 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel hadfar-reaching and potentially devastating consequences for the Middle East andfor the world. As the war has expanded to take in other players in the area,the future of Israel as a regional superpower is now in doubt and the chancesof all-out war between Israel and its neighbours have become much greater.This essential work looks at the background to theHamas–Israel war and asks whether the international system can contain two simultaneouswars in Europe and the Levant. It examines the wars that preceded this one, therise of Hamas and the roles Hezbollah, Iran and Syria play in the conflict.Paul Moorcraft considers the war’s impact on Israeli society, the economy andthe Israel Defense Forces, while also looking at how media and propaganda shapeour view of the war and how the conflict affects the whole region’srelationships with the west.Here, Moorcraft brings all perspectives together in anexpert and balanced analysis, examining the potential outcomes of the war andarguing that the two-state solution should be revived. Peace has never lookedmore impossible – but the alternative, a forever war, is even more impossible.

What started as a vision about the Olifants River Game Reserve has become the story of a game ranger's life. With a naturalist's eye for detail as well as the bigger picture of managing a fragile ecosystem through years of drought and plenty, Mario Cesare brings a storyteller's delight - and a dash of Italian passion - to sharing his world. Life-and-death encounters with lion, elephant and buffalo are balanced by rescues and interventions as these giants of the lowveld suffer the effects of human interference in their ecosystem. There are problems with poachers and with rapacious neighbours; then the delights of success - and in the case of the elephant population, the conundrums of too much success. Mario Cesare's career has taken him from Timbavati and Mala Mala to Olifants River and beyond - and he delights in sharing his good fortune. His latest task: to develop and nurture the Olifants River Game Reserve as the fences of the Greater Kruger National Park area fall, undoing generations of damage.Man-eaters, Mambas and Marula Madness: A Game Ranger's Life in the Lowveld provides a wealth of lessons on conservation as well as stories of life in the bush as it is enjoyed only by those fortunate enough to live on a 'Big Five' reserve.