A British Historian’s Meditations

Shortly after his resignation (which I personally continue to regard as one of the saddest casualties of the war), Lord Carrington drew my attention to a tract written by Dr. Johnson about an earlier Falkland Islands crisis, just over two centuries ago. Spanish frigates from Buenos Aires had chased the British out, but Britain had returned—by diplomatic pressure and without bloodshed. The dispute, boomed Dr. Johnson, was “A Contention for a few spots of earth, which, in the deserts of the Ocean had almost escaped human notice.” He opposed going to war over them, and I must admit—back in April—I shared something of Dr. Johnson’s reluctance; being (as I still am) deeply concerned about the long-term injuries to the Western Alliance and to the relations of both the U.S. and Britain with Latin America as a whole. Since Britain’s sparkling military success, many here who openly doubted its prospects two months ago are now saying they never questioned Mrs. Thatcher’s wisdom for a moment! All very human; but I feel I must come clean and admit that I also had grave reservations about the feasibility of pulling off a D-Day operation eight thousand miles away amid the Antarctic winter.

At the risk of making a fool of oneself by leaping to premature conclusions, it may already be worth while to sketch

AH

About the Author

Alistair Horne

Sir Alistair Horne’s Kissinger: 1973, The Crucial Year is published by Simon & Schuster.

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Shortly after his resignation (which I personally continue to regard as one of the saddest casualties of the war), Lord Carrington drew my attention to a tract written by Dr. Johnson about an earlier Falkland Islands crisis, just over two centuries ago. Spanish frigates from Buenos Aires had chased the British out, but Britain had returned—by diplomatic pressure and without bloodshed. The dispute, boomed Dr. Johnson, was “A Contention for a few spots of earth, which, in the deserts of the Ocean had almost escaped human notice.” He opposed going to war over them, and I must admit—back in April—I shared something of Dr. Johnson’s reluctance; being (as I still am) deeply concerned about the long-term injuries to the Western Alliance and to the relations of both the U.S. and Britain with Latin America as a whole. Since Britain’s sparkling military success, many here who openly doubted its prospects two months ago are now saying they never questioned Mrs. Thatcher’s wisdom for a moment! All very human; but I feel I must come clean and admit that I also had grave reservations about the feasibility of pulling off a D-Day operation eight thousand miles away amid the Antarctic winter.

At the risk of making a fool of oneself by leaping to premature conclusions, it may already be worth while to sketch