Geoffrey Wheatcroft
Recent articles by Geoffrey Wheatcroft
Non-Native Sons
The globalization of soccer has distanced players from national fan bases—which is why the World Cup provokes such identity crises.
The Tragedy of Tony Blair
When he came to office, the Prime Minister seemed another JFK. Now his mystique is dissipated and his promise shattered. The chief cause of his failure is the war in Iraq—a war he led his people into against their will, for reasons that were not true.
Not Green, Not Red, Not Pink
Oscar Wilde cannot be simplified into an Irish rebel, a subversive socialist, or a gay martyr.
Paddy Solemn and the Desperate Chancer
The conflict between two eternal Irish types.
The Defeat of the Left
On George Orwell, World Cup soccer, and the Queen.
A Terrifying Honesty
V. S. Naipaul is certainly no liberal—and herein lies his importance.
The Fruits of the Tory Revolution
The recent election of the party's new leader is the surprising result of four decades of reform.
Bron and His "Affec. Papa"
Auberon Waugh, the acerbic British man of letters, died in January. Our author remembers him and reflects on Waugh's complex, heartbreaking relationship with his father, Evelyn.
A Revolutionary Itinerary
An Englishman tours historic battlefields in Massachusetts and New York.
Who Needs the BBC?
The British Broadcasting Corporation is having a hard time living up to its past. But what a past! Our correspondent reviews its history, seeking the roots of its present troubles.
Geoffrey Wheatcroft has written
for The Atlantic on subjects as diverse as Margaret Thatcher and Salman Rushdie, the
Republic of Ireland and the island of Antigua, and has been affiliated over the years with
some of England's best-known publications. In the late 1970s he was a columnist for
The Spectator, and also its literary editor. In the following years he was first the editor
of the "Londoner's Diary" in the Evening Standard and then that newspaper's opera
critic. He is currently a columnist for the Daily Express. In the interstices of regular
employment he has written many freelance articles and published two
books—The
Randlords (1985), a study of South African mining magnates,
and Absent Friends
(1989), a collection of biographical sketches. His new book,