Distilling the Frenzy : Writing the History of One's Own Timed

Cover; Title Page; Table of Contents; Dedication; INTRODUCTION : DISTILLING THE FRENZY: THE PSYCHODRAMATIC AND THE PROSAIC; 1 : THE HUMAN FOOTNOTE:; 2 : STAYING BEHIND, CATCHING UP AND LOOKING FORWARD:; 3 : AN INSTINCT TO INTERVENE:; 4 : CHILD OF THE URANIUM AGE:; 5 : THE THIN WISPS OF TOMORROW:; 6 : TASKS AND FLOWS:; 7 : A VERY PECULIAR PRACTICE:; 8 : POWER AND THE PURSUIT OF INFLUENCE:; 9 : THE VIEW FROM A HOGWARTIAN WINDOW:; 10 : THE POWER AND THE STORY:; 11 : PAPER TRAIL:; 12 : CONCLUSION THE TAXI DRIVER AND BERTRAND RUSSELL:; NOTES; A, B, C; INDEX; D, E, F; G, H, I; J, K, L; M, N, O.;In Distilling the Frenzy, the UK's leading contemporary historian examines the special considerations that apply to writing the history of one's own times, and revisits the grand themes running through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. He looks at Britain's persistent impulse to punch well above its weight in the world; at the sustenance of the nuclear weapons policy which has accompanied that impulse; and at the intelligence operations which underpin it. For the human perspective on these huge issues, he applies his trademark blend of scholarship and wit to assess the contrasting styl. In Distilling the Frenzy, the UK's leading contemporary historian examines the special considerations that apply to writing the history of one's own times, and revisits the grand themes running through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. He looks at Britain's persistent impulse to punch well above its weight in the world; at the sustenance of the nuclear weapons policy which has accompanied that impulse; and at the intelligence operations which underpin it. For the human perspective on these huge issues, he applies his trademark blend of scholarship and wit to assess the contrasting styles and achievements of post-war prime ministers from Clement Attlee to David Cameron. As one of Britain's foremost constitutional experts (and now a cross-bench peer) Peter Hennessy brings a unique perspective to the question of reform of the House of Lords, that irritation to the body politic once again at the very forefront of political debate. Shot through with a thread of autobiography that gives the book an especial immediacy, Distilling the Frenzy is a major work of contemporary history. Cover Title Page Table of Contents Dedication INTRODUCTION : DISTILLING THE FRENZY: THE PSYCHODRAMATIC AND THE PROSAIC 1 : THE HUMAN FOOTNOTE: 2 : STAYING BEHIND, CATCHING UP AND LOOKING FORWARD: 3 : AN INSTINCT TO INTERVENE: 4 : CHILD OF THE URANIUM AGE: 5 : THE THIN WISPS OF TOMORROW: 6 : TASKS AND FLOWS: 7 : A VERY PECULIAR PRACTICE: 8 : POWER AND THE PURSUIT OF INFLUENCE: 9 : THE VIEW FROM A HOGWARTIAN WINDOW: 10 : THE POWER AND THE STORY: 11 : PAPER TRAIL: 12 : CONCLUSION THE TAXI DRIVER AND BERTRAND RUSSELL: NOTES A, B, C INDEX D, E, F G, H, I J, K, L M, N, O. P, Q, RS, T, U V, W, X About the Author By the Same Author Copyright.