ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
Understanding the Portuguese revolution
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
Mural depicting the symbol of the revolution - a soldier with a carnation in the barrel of his gun; People celebrating on top of a tank in Lisbon during the Carnation Revolution of April 25 1974 [Pics: IsmailKupeli/CC]
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
MICK McSHANE rubs shoulders with Mod legend Steve Craddock and joins in with the joyous Glasgow choir
DENNIS BROE sifts out the ideological bias of the newest TV series offerings, and picks out what to see, and what to avoid
New releases from Brown Horse, Craig Finn, and Julien Baker & TORRES
The Captains’ Coup: From Dictatorship to Democracy in Portugal (1974-1976)
Wilfred Burchett, Verso, £25
WILFRED BURCHETT was one of the most respected journalists of the 20th century and much admired by his Australian compatriot John Pilger. He had a long, distinguished career, from reporting from the front during the second world war on the effects of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, through the Korean and Vietnam wars, to the Portuguese Carnation Revolution, the subject of this book. It was written in 1975-76 but only published in Portuguese; this is the first English edition. The editors and Verso are to be thanked for making Burchett’s incisive commentaries on the April 25 1974 revolution available to non-Portuguese-speaking readers.
By chance, Burchett and I arrived in Portugal at the same time — three days after the coup by disgruntled army officers — to find ourselves thrown into the tumultuous revolutionary ferment of those heady times. He was a consummate journalist with a keen nose for key historical forces and events.
More from this author
Mountains of research show that hardcore material harms children, yet there are still no simple measures in place
Peter Mitchell's photography reveals a poetic relationship with Leeds
Odysseus’s homecoming myth is treated as a factual story, with strong resonances for our contemporary world. This is an implicit anti-war film that has an urgent relevance, writes JOHN GREEN
JOHN GREEN recommends an entertaining, if harsh and instructive, study of bullying, discipline and power dynamics in schools and at work
