A thread: I have only read this article and NOT the book from which it derives, but as the author of the standard biography of Anthony Blunt, I feel inclined to comment. The main contention is that not only was Blunt spying for the Soviets, but that he was/
Well, well, well. So it was Anthony Blunt who is likely to have been the spy who foiled Operation Market Garden, led to 17,000 Allied deaths and left Berlin & Eastern Germany to fall to Russia. Can we have no more romanticising of the Cambridge spies pls?
https://t.co/TsfOqq2A2B
What makes the Wilhelm story feel contemporary is the governance failure.
Carter’s point is that an ego-driven leader, surrounded by flatterers, can mistake provocation for statecraft and impulse for “instinct.”
A serious country does not rely on personality to be stable. It builds stability into the system.
- Professionals who can deliver bad news without being punished
- Transparent decision-making that can be challenged in public
- Real legislative oversight over major strategic shifts
That is not “weakness.”
That is how a democracy keeps its power from becoming a personal hobby.
Kaiser Wilhelm II, who ruled Germany from 1888 to 1918, had a talent for causing outrage. He believed he was brilliant at diplomacy, despite all evidence to the contrary, and had a limited understanding of cause and effect. Read about the lessons of Kaiser Wilhelm II: https://t.co/Dt4jMh2ixj
1).
Kaiser Wilhelm II Hohenzollern (1859–1941) [1] [2] as the @realDonaldTrump archetype
Article [3] by Miranda Carter (@MJCarter10) [4] [5] [6] of June 6, 2018
A thread: I have only read this article and NOT the book from which it derives, but as the author of the standard biography of Anthony Blunt, I feel inclined to comment. The main contention is that not only was Blunt spying for the Soviets, but that he was/
A thread: I have only read this article and NOT the book from which it derives, but as the author of the standard biography of Anthony Blunt, I feel inclined to comment. The main contention is that not only was Blunt spying for the Soviets, but that he was/
I’ve just finished Miranda Carter’s biography of Anthony Blunt - fascinating and well-written. I’ve gone from not that interested to gripped. What should I read next? I’m curious about the idea that there was an Oxford spy ring too. #spies
Just finished Miranda Carter's gripping Anthony Blunt: His Lives. Her Blunt is stoic, aloof, vain and bewildered. You'd quite like him. ***** @MJCarter10
@markwsrichards I’m barely on this any more but wanted to say how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE Drayton and Mackenzie-& John did too! Work money and friendship —what great subjects that nobody writes about!
Gives me no pleasure to say that #KingAndConqueror is a dreadful disappointment. 2025 cgi equivalent of shonky cardboard sets, desperate lack of extras, but most of all shockingly bad script & unforgivably boring.