Why people recommend it
Web of Deceit by Mark Curtis is a critical historical investigation into British foreign policy that exposes secret government documents and challenges official narratives regarding imperial actions and international law. On Behind the Bastards, host Robert Evans relied extensively on Curtis's 2003 book across multiple episodes detailing the history of the Chagos Islands and the displacement of the indigenous population. Evans cited specific excerpts from the text, including a secret document written by British politician and foreign secretary Michael Stewart, which acknowledged that an indigenous population did indeed exist despite contrary claims by the foreign office. Furthermore, Evans referenced the book to highlight how the British government ignored United Nations Resolution 266, which explicitly called on the UK to avoid taking actions that would dismember the territory of Mauritius and violate its territorial integrity. Through these detailed citations, the book functions as a crucial evidentiary source on the podcast, unearthing hidden archival records to document the reality of imperial decision-making and geopolitical maneuvering.
Who recommended it
- Robert Evans Discussed
Robert Evans — 5 mentions
“Michael Stewart the baron Stewart of Fulham a British labor party politician and foreign secretary wrote in yet another secret document and I'm reading from Mark Curtis's web of Deceit here by any stretch of the English language there was an indigenous population and the foreign office knew it”
“Michael Stewart, the Baron Stewart of Fulham, a British labor party politician and foreign secretary, wrote in yet another secret document and I'm reading from Mark Curtis's Web of Deceit, here: "By any stretch of the English language, there was an indigenous population and the foreign office knew it."”
“in his 2003 book web of Deceit Mark Curtis notes that in making this agreement quote Britain thus ignored UN resolution 266 XX which called on the UK to take no action which would dismember the territory of Meridius and violate its territorial Integrity but chagos was the middle of nowhere”
“in his 2003 book web of Deceit Mark Curtis notes that in making this agreement quote Britain thus ignored UN resolution 266 XX which called on the UK to take no action which would dismember the territory of Meridius and violate its territorial Integrity”
“In his 2003 book, Web of Deceit, Mark Curtis notes that in making this agreement, quote, "Britain thus ignored UN Resolution 266 XX, which called on the UK to take no action that would dismember the territory of Mauritius and violate its territorial integrity."”