Book Talk: Tom Ricks on Churchill and Orwell in the Age of Trump

Do the legacies of these two figures still resonate in today’s world?

On this episode of The E.R., Max Boot joins us to discuss his new book "The Road Not Taken."
On this episode of The E.R., Max Boot joins us to discuss his new book "The Road Not Taken."
On this episode of The E.R., Max Boot joins us to discuss his new book "The Road Not Taken."

On this week’s first episode of The E.R., FP’s executive editor for news Sharon Weinberger is joined by Kori Schake, David Kenner, and Tom Ricks to discuss Ricks’s new book, Churchill & Orwell: The Fight for Freedom, released this week. The panel discusses Orwell’s seminal works and the ideas that informed his writing during Churchill’s political tenure. Ricks depicts the personal stories of both men – Orwell’s distinct fixation with smell and Churchill’s miserable childhood – giving listeners an inside look into their upbringings.

On this week’s first episode of The E.R., FP’s executive editor for news Sharon Weinberger is joined by Kori Schake, David Kenner, and Tom Ricks to discuss Ricks’s new book, Churchill & Orwell: The Fight for Freedom, released this week. The panel discusses Orwell’s seminal works and the ideas that informed his writing during Churchill’s political tenure. Ricks depicts the personal stories of both men – Orwell’s distinct fixation with smell and Churchill’s miserable childhood – giving listeners an inside look into their upbringings.

In this charged political era, do Orwell’s works still resonate in the West — and across the wider world? Is Churchill still a figure that begs respect? They were among the first to foresee the unraveling of the European political order. At a time when many of their contemporaries seemed to have given up hope on democracy, both men fought against the rise of totalitarianism and fascism.

Tom Ricks is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, penning numerous bestsellers including Fiasco and The Generals. He is a Foreign Policy columnist and edits the daily Best Defense blog. His newest book, Churchill & Orwell: The Fight for Freedom, was released on May 23, 2017. Follow him on Twitter: @tomricks1.

Kori Schake is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, where she focuses on military history, and a former foreign-policy advisor to Sen. John McCain. Follow her on Twitter at: @KoriSchake.

David Kenner is FP’s Middle East editor, based in Beirut. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidKenner.

Sharon Weinberger is FP’s executive editor for news. She is the author of The Imagineers of War: The Untold Story of DARPA, the Pentagon Agency That Changed the World. Follow her on Twitter: @weinbergersa.

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