A Brief History of Cunning
American writer and satirist Joe Queenan traces the history of cunning, from Odysseus to Karl Rove, via Machiavelli, Richard Nixon and Margaret Thatcher.
American writer and satirist Joe Queenan traces the history of cunning, from Odysseus to Karl Rove, via Machiavelli, Richard Nixon and Margaret Thatcher. He talks to experts, observers and practitioners of the dark arts, from Professor of Classics Edith Hall to Tim Parks, translator of Machiavelli's The Prince.
In Italy he meets a commentator who describes cunning as a pathology of intelligence, while former Conservative party treasurer Lord McAlpine sees it more as a 'little nudge here, a little nudge there'.
Other contributors include writer Kathy Lette, Italian journalist Beppe Severgnini, law professor Don Herzog, and actor Ian Richardson, prime minister in the ±«Óãtv's House of Cards.
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- Sun 10 Aug 2008 21:30±«Óãtv Radio 3
- Sun 14 Jun 2009 21:30±«Óãtv Radio 3
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