Partage des connaissances

Nom légal: Braithwaite, Rodric Quentin
Date de naissance: 1932-05-17
Sexe: male
Nationalité: UK
Professions: diplomat
Courte biographie: Sir Rodric Braithwaite was educated at Christ’s College, University of Cambridge, where he achieved First Class Honours in Modern Languages. He went on to serve in HM Diplomatic Service, with postings in Jakarta, Warsaw, Moscow, Rome, Brussels (British delegation to the European Community) and Washington. Between 1984 and 1988 he served as a member of the Sherpa Team (preparing HM’s Government for the G7 Economic Summits), and from 1988-92 was HM Ambassador in Moscow. Other appointments included Foreign Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon. [now Sir] John Major, and Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee.

Sir Rodric has had a number of academic appointments, including time as a Visiting Fellow, All Souls College, University of Oxford; Honorary Fellow, Christ’s College, University of Cambridge; and as Visiting Fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington.

Other appointments include service, as Governor, English National Opera; Chairman, Royal Academy of Music; and he is a member, formerly Chairman, of the International Advisory Council, Moscow School of Political Studies; he is a member, and formerly Chairman, Programme Committee, Ditchley Foundation.

He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in 1994.

His books include:

Across the Moscow River: The World Turned Upside Down. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. 2002. pp. 371. ISBN 978-0-300-09496-1
Moscow 1941: A City and Its People at War. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. 2002. pp. 446. ISBN 978-1-86197-759-5
Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–89. New York: Oxford University Press. 2011. pp. 417. ISBN 978-0-19-983265-1. Translations into Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Japanese

He makes regular contributions to The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Observer, The Sunday Times, The New Statesman, Prospect Magazine, The Evening Standard, and Survival.

http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/research/...

Membres

Critiques

Moscow 1941: A City & Its People at War par Rodric Braithwaite

Overall an excellent effort! Bravo! I read criticisms by those who rated the book low and found that they contradict each other: one thinks it’s shallow, another – too detailed, one lacks personal accounts, another complains about their unnecessary abundance.

My humble Muscovite’s impression is that it is a well-balanced take on the extremely important, but bitterly disputed matter. The author doesn’t just through you into the midst of the battle for the last 100 miles to the city, but first he sets stage, which helps to get a bigger picture. It’s impossible to understand the battle without knowing that much (or that little, If you wish) of background facts and processes, you are reading about the larger-than-life clash of two very unique states. You need to go back to the events happened as early as 1905 Russian Revolution and tell about recent archive discoveries of Post-Communist 1990-es.

Personal narratives from people from all layers of society serve an essential tool too. They add depths, and human touch, because emotions and feelings there are timeless and easy to relate to. Without them the narrative could turn into dry enumeration of divisions, pieces of artillery, types of tanks and kilometers trudged through. I think if you look for that kind of story you better turn to one of Osprey’s books.

I am impressed by how a Western author treats the material. His tone is respectful and attentive. Here and there he gives a legendary glossed version of a fact (a one we were taught in Soviet schools) and then recites recent attempts to debunk it, making the book interesting even to Russian readers. He doesn’t try to sensationalize though. His summation of the story of tortured Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who was made an icon in the USSR is indicative:
“In all the confusion and rumour-mongering, however, one thing remained beyond doubt. A young girl did die gallantly, though perhaps pointlessly, at the hands of the Germans”.

What I found even more valuable is his appropriate cross-comparison snippets of British experience of similar ordeals: The London Blitz, rationing, wartime losses etc. When put in perspective, it all helps to grasp the magnitude of what was happening in those months. It also shows that many weird and sometimes brutal measures were echoed by or firstly introduced by similar or comparable actions in Great Britain (like requisition of domestic pigeons). This helps to demonstrate that it’s not Russians, who were quirky, but the time itself called for abnormal and sometimes illogical (by peacetime standards) actions.

P.s. Believe it or not, but Mr. Zeldin mentioned in the book as a promising young actor of “The Swinemaiden and The Shepherd” still acts at 96.… (plus d'informations)

Signalé

Den85 | 2 autres critiques | Jan 3, 2024 |

Armageddon and Paranoia: The Nuclear Confrontation

A brilliant overview of Western and Soviet nuclear strategy, mutually assured destruction, and the instruments thereof. It is not so much about the timeline and history of events as so much looking at how these occur within the grand scheme and picture of the issue and time. Very clear on strategic thinking (and lack of it) and very good on discussion of agendas. In addition, it has a fair mindedness which is admirable. In places, it can be humorous but no inappropriately so. I enjoyed it. To be recommended.… (plus d'informations)

Signalé

aadyer | Jul 31, 2018 |

Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979-89 par Sir Rodric Braithwaite

Long overdue English language account of a war the West profoundly misunderstood, and a wonderful read to boot. The author presents a scrupulously fair description of the Soviet Union's bloody and painful campaign from their reluctant overthrow of the dictatorial Amin regime, through successive failed campaigns to crush the mujerhadin, to their army's escape from Afghanistan a decade later as the Soviet Union was literally crumbling around them. No punches are pulled, brutality on both sides is scrupulously detailed, as well as the horrendous effect on the Afghan population itself, but perhaps the book's greatest strength is the insight it gives into the war from the perspective of the mostly conscript soldiers, the Aghantsy as they termed themselves, both during and after the war, when they struggled to get what they were entitled to in the economically crippled former Soviet Union. The author examines the often drawn parallel with Vietnam, noting the similarities, some of the way things panned out are eerily similar (the Soviets' desperate flight from their embassy in Kabul just as the Americans had to in Saigon is especially haunting), but also highlighting the considerable differences. He also notes the unexpected general respect that the Russians have in Afghanistan today compared to the Western forces who came in 2001, and concludes the Soviets probably fought their war better than the US and its allies have subsequently done. This is a fascinating, informative and thought-provoking book, certainly one of the better books I have read about the "small wars" of the 20th century. Highly recommended.… (plus d'informations)

Signalé

drmaf | 3 autres critiques | Aug 9, 2017 |

Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979-89.… par Rodric Braithwaite

This was a balanced and sympathetic account of the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan. The author draws many parallels with the much larger American involvement in Vietnam, with one important difference - whereas the North Vietnamese regime was disciplined, coherent, and united, the Afghan mujaheddin were (and are) anything but. The author drives home the raw deal handed to the troops on the ground in a fresh and lucid manner.

Signalé

oparaxenos | 3 autres critiques | Nov 27, 2015 |

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