Churchill's Wizards by Nicholas Rankin

Churchill's Wizards: The British Genius for Deception 1914-1945

This book made a good holiday read (although how tactful it was to sit on a beach mostly full of Germans reading a book about the British success in two World Wars might be open for comment…).

It was divided into two parts, one for each war and in terms of the subject “deception” it quickly becomes clear that the First War was at best a dress rehearsal for the second.  Lessons were only just being learnt when peace arrived in 1918 but many of those who had been learning these lessons were on hand in the later thirties to pick up where they had left off.  

This is a book about “British Genius” and makes no attempt to claim to be a comparative study across the combatant nations of either war but this leaves the claim to “Genius” feeling a little precarious – that all the German Agents sent to Britain during World War Two were captured and most turned into double agents is a success but given the Germans did the same to the British Agents sent to Holland it would be hard to claim this as an example of a particularly “British” Genius. 

Overall while this is an enjoyable collection of characters and incidents the sum fails to be greater than the parts, we seem to jump around in time, place, and topic largely at random (especially in the first part), without any clear organizing argument or thrust or significant new scholarship.  This is also a good point to say a word or two about the title, “Churchill’s Wizards”, I get the feeling this book started life as a book about deception in the Second World War which grew to take in the First as the “back-stories” of so many of the leading characters required tales from that War to be included.  During the Second World War Churchill’s theatrical and maverick tendencies did give fertile ground to deception, especially around 1940 when Britain was under resourced with its back to the wall, it seems the more outlandish the scheme the more likely it was to get a Prime Ministerial blessing. But for most of the First War Churchill was in no position to give such blessing and any Wizards that were around could not in any proper sense by call “Churchill’s.  Rankin also make a spirited attempt to exonerate Churchill from the carnage of Gallipoli, suggesting that the campaign was only a failure to the extent and in those areas which it deviated at others command from Churchill’s original plan.  This all leaves one wondering if someone so securely enthroned in the nation’s heart as the greatest Briton really needs his reputation pampered and inflated any further? If Churchill was meant to be the tread that held the whole together it didn’t come off.

During Churchill’s time as Head of the Admiralty the Royal Navy made the switch from coal to oil and so British interests in the Middle East began to grow.  We tend to look down smugly at the oil driven American bungling in the Middle East - yet in so doing we deceive ourselves, the chequered map of the region who mostly drawn with British hands (and arms) as we installed client rulers and stirred up insurrections which are still rumbling today.  While standing back from endorsing these actions Rankin shows that these tactics and those used against the British in rebellions across the Empire were turned and used to great effect in the fight against Germany.Maybe this is the Genius, that the Imperial British had the spark of imagination to see that the successes of those fighting against them could be turned and used equally well for King and Empire...

 

Unspeak by Steven Poole

Unspeak: Words Are Weapons

I picked this up in the Oxfam shop thinking it would be a good read – sadly I was disappointed. 

Sat on the beach I noticed the review on the back comparing it to Naomi Klein’s No Logo and my heart sank – in my opinion No Logo is a massively over hyped collection of tautologies and non-sequiturs and while the reviewer meant the comparison as a complement, for my own reasons it equally stands up.

My first complaint is that Steven Poole puts forward “Unspeak” as some radical new idea, and in particular drawing a distinction between in and Orwellian doublethink, however nothing beyond the introduction backs up “Unspeak” as anything new.  “Unspeak” as a concept adds nothing to our analytical tool kit on the politicized use or abuse of language.

The second complaint is that Poole gets stuck in a rut on the “war on terror”.  He begins well with balanced analysis of the language games around anti-social behaviour in chapter 2 and climate change/global warming in chapter 3 but then from chapter 4 to 9 it is all the “war on terror”.  This completely unbalances the content of the book and worse still Poole gets distracted from his topic, language, and mostly just grinds an anti-Bush axe.  I would almost be interested to see how Poole would update this 2005 book to deal with the Obama era discourse on the “war on terror”.

While not all the examples that Poole quotes were to me as convincing or convicting as he believes it is not that I really object to most of the analysis, the US government (like everyone else) clearly tries to frame the scope of any discussion on its action by setting the terms that are used.  The “but” comes because this is really nothing new and nor it was it a big secret that Poole discovered and need to share to enlighten the world.

Some books are important and need to be read, while others are no more than a waste of good trees.  Sadly Poole has written the later.     

 

Canterbury Essays and Addresses by Michael Ramsey

Canterbury essays and addresses

This collection brings together a wide ranging selection of reflections and sermons of Michael Ramsey given during his time as Archbishop of Canterbury. 

They are filled with his characteristic wisdom, but also many of them have a surprisingly contemporary punch about them. For example his speech in the Lords about reform of the Divorce Laws touches many of the issues that are at play in the current debates around gay marriage - is it the Church or the State that gets to decide what marriage is?

The final section of pastoral essays has a clear unifying message, that is, the Church needs o be centred on the prayerful attention to the Lord, the world is busy and over crowded with distractions (and if that was true of the early 60s how much more so is it true for us) and the Church, as an institution and as individuals, is often tempted to ever increasing activity - however this will amount to nothing if its foundation is not prayer - again and again the quote is "Be still and know that I am God".  If we really must have Mission Action Plans then let the first "Action" by "Be still and know that I am God".

Additional Eucharistic Prayers

Common Worship: Additional Eucharistic Prayers: with Guidance on Celebrating the Eucharist with Children (Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England)

I am afraid that this might turn into a bit of a rant as the Authorization of these 2 new Eucharistic Prayers by the Church of England seems to me to be a significant wasted opportunity - one of those moments when on reflection it would have been better not to offer anything rather than offer this half hearted effort.

The bigger part of this booklet (which is less than 25 pages in total) is "Guidance on Celebrating the Eucharist with Children prepared by The Liturgical Commission".  The first interesting thing about this is the font, I am sure many of you are familiar with the soulless font of Common Worship - it is the only thing "Common" about the the whole project - yet this Guidance breaks away. Clearly this is a strong visual cue that while the Guidance is found within a Common Worship volume it is not to be viewed as an authoritative rubric to the new Prayers and carries only the good standing of The Liturgical Commission to commend it rather that the full statuary power of Synod.

The Guidance seem to fly in the face of most actual applications of Common Worship, for example "One important part of that preparation is the building up of a repertoire of remembered liturgical texts.  This makes it important to include in a children's Eucharist a number of texts which will, over time, be learned by heart." (p4). Far too many of those charged with the preparation and leading of worshipin the Church of England now seem to believe that any text learned by heart is anathema and texts should be varied whenever and wherever possible (and often even where it is not legally possible).  The disease is particular strong when preparing liturgies for the "unchurched", those for whom gaining a sense of familiarity with some of the texts of the service would surely have a dramatic impact in creating a growing sense of belonging within the worshipping community (but maybe I am foolish to think that would be a worthy objective).

The Guidance also very very firmly places the context for these Eucharistic prayer as primary school services and in contexts where the children firmly out number the adult participants (i.e. they are not even for the Parish Family Service), but the official "notes" on the use of the prayers is more vague - it says that "they are not intended for use on a weekly basis at the main celebration..." but any Vicar actually bothered enough about Canon Law to consider an excuse will retort that "not intended for use..." is a world away from "not permitted for use...".

Now this brings me on the Prayers themselves, and while there are certain stylistic touches about them that are far from my tastes my real complaint is that they bring nothing new to the table (or Altar depending on your Churchmanship!). If Common Worship had offered us only Prayers A, B, and C then these two new ones would have a place, but I struggle to see how they offer the opportunity for a distinctively different pastoral response than any of Prayers D to H.
If we really need more Eucharistic Prayers then they should stand apart from the current set.  For those who were crying out for something different they have been given more of the same and so disappointingly with this publication the debate will have been closed down for the foreseeable future.

Creative Ideas for... by Simon Rundell

Creative Ideas for Sacramental Worship with Children
Creative Ideas for Alternative Sacramental Worship

After participating in Blessed Worship at Greenbelt (see recent blog posts) I splashed out on these two books by Simon Rundell , the Vicar of Blessed's host Parish.

Considering the price (c.£15) my first reaction on their arrival was one of disappointment as they are slim volumes, however they are in fact packed full of ideas and inspiration and therefore I think they are worth the money overall.

Each one begins with a chapter of "philosophy" by Simon, which while mostly right thinking is often expressed in rather dogmatic terms. Then comes a "how to" chapter, for children on animation and for Alternative on the use of PowerPoint, these are very useful step by step guides linked to the accompanying CDs and a great introduction if you want to dip toe in either water, but they are by their very nature a little dry. Then comes the larger part of each book, the example liturgies and other worship resources.

Simon is very clear that the best worship is not copied out of a book but born out of community and therefore I am sure he would be very please to hear me write that there is very little that I would want to take directly from these books and use as is. Yes there is some I would adapt, some that I take inspiration from, and a significant amount which is an inspiration only to the extent that I absolutely definitely won't be doing it!

There is a serious playfulness within Simon's approach, it is at times hidden by the overblown pontificating - but one of the best quotes captures his true spirit "This anointing can get playful and messy, which is good, simply because good religion is messy and abundant in grace, suymbolised by copious amounts of oil smeared around."  (from the book about Children) And he is using messy in its general sense and not in the sense of the "messy" that has rather become hijacked in the last couple of years as the brand name of a yummy mummy craft based way of doing church.

One of the great truths that I like to push is that we have too much "incranation" and not nearly enough "ascension" as an organisational metaphor within the Church (I can't understand why I don't get much traction with this - maybe I need to get it printed on a T-Shirt?).   These books are all about the ascension, bringing people up, bringing them in to the heart of ritual and worship - for example we shouldn't have Nave Altars but Sanctuary Congregations.  You make a service accessible to children and young people not be stripping things away and simplifying it but by giving them grown up roles within it, by allowing them to sense the vastness of the ideas that are at play - Christianity which is "Bitesized" is dead - God is more than a mouthful...

It has been interesting reading these alongside Rowan Williams "the Lion's World" about C. S. Lewis' writings - in Narnia Lewis gives children a diet of grown up drama, of passion and pain.  He takes seriously the capacity for children to have a rounded encounter with the world and not merely a sanitized version.  In this Simon Rundell, and Blessed, are entirely in step with Lewis.

Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis

Out of the Silent Planet (Cosmic Trilogy)

Rowan Williams' excellent book The Lion's World set me off on the trail of C. S. Lewis' "Cosmic" trilogy, of which Out of the Silent Planet is the first part.

Published in 1938 it predates the space race by a generation and there is a simplicity to the "science" of this sci-fi which allows you to step over into the whole story without stumbling over the fact that we know lots about the destination, Mars/Malacandaria, which is incompatible with Lewis' narrative (especially reading it while NASA's Curiosity mission is expanding the boundaries of our knowledge of the Red Planet day by day).

However like a lot of sci-fi its main messsage is one about the here and now, our hero Ransom compares the treatment of the Malcandarians by his fellow travellers with the treatment of colonial officials with "the natives" of Empire (the very attitude we find in Union Castle). Lewis gives us 4 races or species which live in Malcandaria in diverse equality, poets, engineers, intellectuals, and philosopher spirits, and in so doing he offers a powerful critique of Western society that privileges profit driven utilitarian capitalism above all else.

This is a radical book albeit in sheeps clothing - and I am full of expectancy as to how the drama will unfold in parts 2 and 3

White Elephant by William Norton

White Elephant: How the North East Said No

This is a comprehensive account of the referendum about a North East Regional Assembly, at 390 pages with a further 100 pages of Appendices, but it is an account written by a leading actor in the No Campaign for that referedum and so it has to been acknowledged that it is a comprehensive account of half the story - this is however in no way a problem.

What is fascinating is that Norton takes you right into the guts of the campaign, and explores those tiny events that shaped it - it is a tale of a politics not of grand visions and great statemen but of ego, personality, bluff, and luck.  For those who subscribe to the "cock-up" theory of war there is much in this book to assist your argument.  It shows not only did the No Camp actively win the referendum but also the Yes Camp actively lost - there were a number of gift-horses during the campaign that the Yes Camp most definitely looked straight in the mouth.

This is not the politics of the idealist but the dirty street-fighting of pessimist. And therefore it is a great read for anyone who is interested in the actual process of engaging the public to vote.  There is a recurring theme that the No Camp struggled at length with the fact that they were exclusively the "No" Camp breaking the first rule of campaigning that you have to be "for something" - you should have a positive message.  The answer seems to be that the first rule is rubbish and it is much better to keep the message simple - if you want people to vote no then tell them why to vote no - don't muddy the waters explaining why they should be voting yes to some other idea that is not even on the ballot paper.

There is also an interest in the perspective of the author writing in 2008, with New Labour and therefore effectively the Yes Camp still in Government - there are a number of point where you are left wondering if the tale would have changed now the Conservatives, the leaders of the No Camp, are the party of Government. If you are a Labour supporter you are likely either to end up shout at the book for its historical inaccuracy or blushing in shame that Labour really were bad - a case of pay your money make your choice. Also the fact that the referendum campaign was viewed by many as a dry run for a referendum on the EU Constitution the Tony Blair side-stepped connects to the current politics as I was reading in a week when Ed Milliband told the Labour Party Conference that they would support holding an in/out referendum on the EU.

Norton's style will not be to everyones taste, there are endless footnotes - most of which are witty (or not) asides to his own main narative - and the feeling that it is "all about me" is inescapable, but it would be a very strange ego that wrote a memior and made it "all about someone else" so I think that should be forgiven.

I had got the book because graduating from Durham in 2002 I had missed the referendum but had been aware that the Regional Assembly was going to be coming to Durham - something as students we had mixed views about, Durham had bad traffic, expensive housing, expensive eating before you added a lot of new bureaucrats into the mix - but hearing the Regional Assembly had been voted down there was a pang of sadness that Durham was going to miss out of this extra accolade of being the capital of the North East.