The journalist’s journalist: the irrepressible Claud Cockburn

Believe Nothing Until It Is Officially Denied: Claud Cockburn and the Invention of Guerrilla Journalism Patrick Cockburn

Verso, pp.320, 25

No one should be put off reading Patrick Cockburn’s remarkable biography of his father by its misleading subtitle. ‘Guerrilla journalism’ doesn’t do justice to its subject. The suggestion of irregular warfare from the left underrates Claud Cockburn’s great accomplishments in mainstream politics and journalism and doesn’t begin to embrace the romantic and daring complexity of his life and career.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Get 10 issues
for $20

Subscribe to The Spectator Australia today for the next 10 magazine issues, plus full online access, for just $20.

Delivery of the weekly magazine
Unlimited access to spectator.com.au and app
Spectator podcasts and newsletters
Full access to spectator.co.uk

Unlock this article

Taggedappeasement, Biography, Communism, Hitler, Journalism, Karl Marx, MI5, Nazi Germany, Stalin, the Times, The week, Wall Street crash, Winston Churchill

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator Australia readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in

The journalist’s journalist: the irrepressible Claud Cockburn

After a distinguished spell on the Times, Cockburn launched The Week in 1933, whose scoops on Nazi Germany became essential reading for politicians, diplomats and journalists alike

Get 10 issues
for $20