Yearly Archives: 2010
Tribute to Michael Richey
This Obituary by Jimmy Burns appeared in The Tablet on the 21/1/2010 Mike Richey’s death at the age of 92, three days before Christmas Day ,marks the passing into history of the last of a group of English Catholics who left an enduring mark on the 20th century. On the day of Mike’s birth , his father George , a distinguished British officer who had fought in the Matabele War, the Mashona rebellion and the Boer War, wrote to Mike’s mother Adelaide,from the western front: “We are busy preparing for …
The brave women of Buenos Aires By Jimmy Burns
Published by The Financial Times March 13 2010 In the Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires, around the central pyramid that commemorates the overthrow of colonial Spain, a neat circle of painted white bandannas marks the spot where Las Madres de Mayo – some of the bravest women in the world – protested in the last decades of the 20th century against Argentina’s bloody military junta. When I was in the square earlier this year the only protest was, ironically enough, that of a makeshift camping site set up by Malvinas, or …
PARK PEOPLE – Jimmy Burns interviews Jean Barker, Baroness Trumpington
Published in Friends of Battersea Park Review January 2010 Told by a mutual friend to expect “ a very lovely personality”, I approached my first ever interview with Lady Trumpington with a huge sense of anticipation , somewhat overawed with the task of engaging with one of the most formidable personalities living in Battersea. Consider this skeleton CV: One of Lloyd George’s landgirls before serving in naval intelligence at the WW2 codebreaking Bletchley Park, a one-time councillor and Mayor of Cambridge, a minister of state and now , aged 87 …
Secrets of Salamanca By Jimmy Burns
Published by The Financial Times: November 20 2009 Madrid has always exercised a curious hold on me. I blame it on the fact that I was born there, only to be whisked off by my Anglo-Spanish parents to England. I have spent more than a half a century making up for my early displacement from the Spanish capital by returning to it as often as possible. Recently, research for a book about my late father’s espionage activities there in the second world war has given me the perfect excuse to …
THE DEFENCE OF THE REALM by Christopher Andrew
Allen Lane) 1031 pages (£30.00) Review for The Tablet submitted 16/11/2010 I approached this authorised history of the British secret service MI5 with a degree of scepticism. Is one dealing here with history researched by an independent historian or an apologia for a government organisation whose hundred years of existence has drawn its lifeblood from secrecy and varying economies of truth? Christopher Andrew is a refreshingly unstuffy professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Cambridge, whose insights into the complex world of espionage and ability to convey them in comprehensible …
Chasing Diego – again by Jimmy Burns
An abridged version of this article appeared in the Dutch magazine Hard Gras in April 2010 Buenos Aires, January 2010, the start of World Cup Year. Superficially Maradona is a man transformed, his latest act of irresponsible behaviour-a foul-mouthed rant against some journalists when Argentina quialified- led to a dip in his poll ratings but is turning into a mere blip on a road to redemption in his role as coach of the national team. In the final preparatory stage for the Cup, Argentina beat Germany in a friendly! His …
Papa Spy paperback published on May 3rd 2010
The critics praised the book as one of the best books ever published on fathers & sons, the spy world, and wartime Spain. It is now published by Bloomsbury to usher in its 2010 Spring list.
New edition of Hand of God
Updated paperback edition of Jimmy Burns’s international best-selling biography of the greatest player in the history of football, Maradona: The Hand of God is being published by Bloomsbury in the run-up to this summer’s World Cup in South Africa where the controversial Diego returns as Argentina’s national coach.
A vote for the Common Good
What I would like to see in the UK after May 6 Some priorities… A redistribution of wealth to alleviate poverty and ensure a programme of improvement in essential services Vigorous action to avoid exposing this and future generations to the environmental ravages of climate change Increased but well managed investment in the NHS to ensure equal access and quality care Addressing inequalities includes making care of the elderly a key priority. Winter fuel payments, free bus passes, TV licences, and pension credits must be acknowledged as significant achievements …
Mourinho’s Black Magic
Mourinho’s Black Magic I can’ say that I can remember many moments of football that have made me feel physically sick before inducing a prolongued bout of black dog (depression) but few have provoked both reactions as much as the site of Jose Mourinho scampering across the turf of the Camp Nou, and striking his defiant pose af the end of last night’s match. If ever there was a moment of profound profanity it was this one. Bobby Robson’s one-time transalator, since elevated to the status of ‘special one’ by a culture …