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About Neal Ascherson

Neal Ascherson is a journalist and writer. For many years he was foreign correspondent and then columnist for the (London) Observer. Among his books are The King Incorporated: Leopold the Second and the Congo (1963; Granta, 1999); The Struggles for Poland (Random House, 1988); Black Sea (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1996); and Stone Voices: The Search for Scotland (Granta, 2003)

Articles by Neal Ascherson

Tuesday 17th January

Is Britishness a generous thing, or has it damaged England?

Neal Ascherson and Peter Oborne, 17 January 2012
The Daily Telegraph's Peter Oborne and Scottish writer Neal Ascherson discuss national identity in light of the approaching referendum on Scottish independence.
Monday 18th July

A democracy of journalists

Neal Ascherson, 18 July 2011
The stramash over abuse of power and standards at Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp should reinvigorate the idea of journalists’ self-regulation, says Neal Ascherson.
Friday 6th August

Abkhazia and the Caucasus: the west’s choice

Neal Ascherson, 6 August 2010
The Georgia-Russia war of August 2008 refroze a region. The small Black Sea nation of Abkhazia is the key to its unblocking, says Neal Ascherson.
Friday 18th June

Charles de Gaulle remembered

Neal Ascherson, 18 June 2010
A London radio broadcast on 18 June 1940 by an unknown French officer altered history’s course. It was also the first act in Charles de Gaulle’s extraordinary thirty-year role as national-political leader and embodiment of “a certain idea of France”. Neal Ascherson traverses a landscape of memory - from Greenock to Paris, Algiers to Warsaw - to recall his encounters with a colossus of French and European history.
Wednesday 4th November

1989: how it ended

Neal Ascherson, 4 November 2009
The wave of change across east-central Europe in 1989 was a real revolution - but with one missing feature. Neal Ascherson recalls a time of surprise and exhiliration.
Monday 22nd December

Conor Cruise O'Brien, the irascible angel

Neal Ascherson, 22 December 2008
A man of high wires and sharp edges, Conor Cruise O'Brien, recalled by Neal Ascherson
Plus: John Horgan on a great Irish internationalist
Tuesday 19th August

After the war: recognising reality in Abkhazia and Georgia

Neal Ascherson, 19 August 2008
A messy conflict reflects collective forgetting. It's time to recall history, break the cycle, and build the future in Abkhazia and Georgia
Thursday 6th March

The Polish March: students, workers, and 1968

Neal Ascherson, 6 March 2008
The spark of the great student revolts of 1968 ignited in Warsaw. Neal Ascherson traces - and recalls - the "Polish March" (archive)
Friday 26th October

Poland after PiS: handle with care

Neal Ascherson, 26 October 2007

The election map is Warsaw's test and Europe's warning

Wednesday 22nd August

The case for pre-emption: Alan M Dershowitz reviewed

Neal Ascherson, 22 August 2007
The Geneva conventions began 143 years ago. Today, sophistry endangers the rights they protect (archive)
Monday 21st May

Who needs a constitution?

Neal Ascherson, 21 May 2007
Britain's lost it, Scotland's found it, now it's England's turn
Tuesday 8th May

Scotland's democratic shame

Neal Ascherson, 8 May 2007
The fallout of Scotland's messy election may be a London-centred deal that corrodes the democratic potential of Britain's post-devolution politics, reports Neal Ascherson.
Thursday 25th January

Ryszard Kapuscinski: from Poland to the world

Neal Ascherson, 25 January 2007
The foreign correspondent's decades-long observation and insight revealed truths of power from Tehran and Addis Ababa to Warsaw itself, says Neal Ascherson.
Thursday 11th January

Catholic Poland's anguish

Neal Ascherson, 11 January 2007
The painful exposure of senior clergy's collusion with the communist-era secret services reflects the ambiguities of the Catholic church's place in post-war Polish society, writes Neal Ascherson.
Tuesday 27th June

Scotophobia

Neal Ascherson, 27 June 2006
A reviving English nationalism that targets its northern neighbour's financial dependency exposes deeper flaws in the British political settlement governing the two countries, says Neal Ascherson.
Wednesday 1st March

Torture: from regress to redress

Neal Ascherson, 1 March 2006
A new Human Rights Watch book examines the return of torture as practice and doctrine. Its core theme is United States policy in the era of "war on terror", finds Neal Ascherson.
Friday 17th February

Good Night, and Good Luck

Neal Ascherson, 17 February 2006
George Clooney's new film brilliantly examines the freedom of the American media during the McCarthy period. But, asks Neal Ascherson, is it really old news, and who can take up the challenge today?
Monday 6th February

A carnival of stupidity

Neal Ascherson, 6 February 2006
The conflagration over Danish cartoons of Islam's prophet reveals that Europe's balance of freedom, mutuality and coexistence is at a trigger-charge moment, says Neal Ascherson.
Thursday 22nd December

Fears and hopes

Neal Ascherson, 22 December 2005
In the last days of 2005, leading thinkers and scholars from around the world share their fears, hopes and expectations of 2006. As Isabel Hilton asks: What does 2006 have in store? (Part one)
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