question number doctor. ago to google and get the information and did you will know more than the average medical provider. [applause] up next book tv sat down with a journalist and author simon jenkins in london to talk about british politics and history, journalism and architecture. mr. simon jenkins is the author of many books including battle for the fault land and a short history of england. >> now joining us from london on book tv is simon jenkins. here is a little bit about our guest before we get started in

our chat with him. he served as the editor of the evening standard newspaper as well as editor of the times of london as well. he served as a columnist for that paper and also worked with the as political editor and he is a huffingtonpost.com blogger and the former chairman of the national trust here in england and he is the author of several books. he's written about the war and about newspapers, imperialism, race relations, government policy. three of your latest books include churches, margaret thatcher and a history of england. that is a mix of topics. >> different sides. a political columnist with the guardian actually and i've written about politics all my life. i've been involved in the political controversy.

it is architecture. there were two books on london buildings. i'm fascinated by architecture generally. i write books about english churches and houses. so have my time is worrying about the environment and landscaping and that sort of thing and the other half. i tend to keep them apart. >> which one brings you more pleasure to write about? >> probably architecture. i just get inside buildings and a curious way. the book i'm working on now is about english landscape, and it is an attempt to look at what constitutes the beautiful view of the landscape and that has now moved on from buildings that i find i can fall in love with a

subject like that very easily and it becomes an obsession. so now i'm very concerned with beautiful places and buildings and coastlines and these two things merge into one and i am very concerned of the threat to the countryside and the coast line and with saving at. islamic the national trust is that private? is that a government agency? >> nothing to do if the government whatsoever. it is about 250. good friends of theirs they are much smaller. we had a huge estate 600,000 acres of land. it's been running about 120

years and as a big organization. >> how long have you been the chairman? >> he mentioned that you write about politics and served as an editor in london. a couple of current topics that tie into the book recently there was a vote in the island and you have written about this. 98% of the islanders wanted to retain their british sovereignty >> we decided to do the thinking there wouldn't be a war. it was on of those very few countries get to fight. there were triumphs at work to a very strange affair. it's one of the last battles and

i still follow the book and in nablus that had to read this on the last known battle. but it was a controversial war. eight entrenched this kind of crazy colony off the coast of argentina. it's very difficult to justify that when you have a group of nationalist or passionate in the negotiations -- >> what did that do to margaret thatcher's career? >> it saved her life. i have no doubt of all she would have lost another six months had not been for that. she went from being a politician in england really in trouble, deep recession, very unpopular fighting war with she became a

hero. she was serious and has to divide a lot. >> simon jenkins, one of your recent book, thatcher and sons, who are the sons? >> the prime minister when she in 1990 and then tony blair and gordon brown. they were all basically pursuing the same approach. they were reaganites, no doubt about it. this was a revolution that began in 76, 78 at the end. it spread across the world and the belief that finally it was over anhave to be tough on

the public spending and it became associated with margaret thatcher but part of the book is jalabert they were great buddies at the time and realized she was rig there was no point in pretending she was wrong and they would pursue the policies and so on and eventually -- >> gordon brown was the chancellor, wasn't he? >> and the british economy was under control for the first five or six years of the government. but gradually they started spending and borrowing and borrowing and spending more than the american government.

and by 2,007 or eight it was out of control the same way that you experience in america. i think to be honest margaret thatcher wouldn't have done that they were a discipline in those terms and what happened right across in 2005, six, seven, eight it was reckless and paid the price. >> when margaret thatcher was first elected did you vote for her? >> i can't remember i think i would have voted for her. they were terrible times. britain did not look like a happy country in the fear that we were not ungovernable and the unions were out of control. it was a terrible time and the 70's.

she didn't stop it but by then she did stop it and by the end these it was looking pretty good. we thought we had done everything right we were the most potent and prosperous country in europe and was her doing. miss panicky also wrote a book about the tories and the economy how did those two things -- most people don't put those two things together. >> on the one hand was a belief in the pri sector, using taxes in setting the enterprise free but at the scene and the public sector of the economy was ruthlessly some centralized. you had a crippling of the power and the city's restricted power and revenue. everythingahp government.

it was an ironic use of the term but all state rights had been abandoned and abolished. it was completely a centralized economy like france used to be pivoted and i think it was deleterious in the institutions like the famous british religion almost. it's from the central government >> overall how would you describe david cameron's performance and the state of the british economy? >> the way that all of the western economies are they borrowed too much and they spent too much. cutting spending is very difficult politically. it is in a bad way and i thought he was good when he came in. he's having a terrible time now. he seems to be changing his mind

continually. it is not a happy scene at the moment. >> one of the guests we have had on blonden nseries talk about the income inequality in the state's and in great britain that it's the greatest that it's been since the 1930's. d.c. that? is it a danger? >> it causes unhappiness and makes people resentful. they think of the system but i do not think it is crippling as some people think. a lot of people are very rich nowadays in manipulating the market and whatever it may be. that is in part a function of the mistakes that were made in the last five years. it's difficult to handle. there should be higher taxing. one of the reasons we are in such a mess is that there is no demand in the economy because we have went down on poor people's income and i don't think --

[inaudible] >> you mentioned that you are a columnist still for the guardian. how would you describe the help of british newspapers? >> its poor. it's terrible. >> as bad as the u.s.? >> not quite as bad. for instance you still have the papers in london that's pretty phenomenal. there are as many keepers and britain at the moment as when i joined the professional long while ago and they are selling more copies now than they were then. at least quality papers. and they are still going the need a rich man or country to support them. in the case of my paper, the guardian and it has the resources to the times has the resources to back it up and the independence, the

telegraph makes money and they seem to go along even as it is declining. the beginning to make money on the web, online. they haven't gone away in "new york times" has gone to charge. but i think we will. we just have to find ways of making money on the internet. >> rupert murdoch will street journal the sturgeon a yearly fee to get it on line. you worked with him for a couple of years. was that like? >> as an editor he is a sort of a genius. i love when people make these decisions and rupert murdoch made decisions. he made a decision yesterday for today that extraordinary. and to see if fast-moving

company making decisions quickly he listens and then makes a call rather than the opposite when they talk and talk and do not make the call. that is how he got where he is. but at the same time, he has a kind of butterfly blind and he is cruel to people and he clearly had his eye off the ball in britain as far as the dispute was concerned he was clearly way off line and causing trouble. you can't do that. i think the role is you end up relying on your family. >> what is the status of the phone hacking scandal? >> it is a mess. i think that he knew he made a mistake and gave his finals to the police said he now has 20 or

30 journalists being arrested and it is a mess. >> when will it conclude? >> you can see everyone has revenge and this big ann curry you don't know how it is going to turn up to the it is sort of a danger to bring in a state regulation newspapers which is not necessary but it's all a fallout. >> was common practice the phone hacking or paying off? >> those are two different things. when i was a kid reporter we did all the time that these guys are being paid thousands of pounds. having someone's phone is very difficult to do, technically

difficult. when our friends came and it was easy to do and now towards the end with the news of the world would do was a systematic intrusion. >> when people talk about fleet street what is that? >> the national press. >> are all of the newspapers located on one street? no. you can walk down fleet street and you can feel the press rumble under the ground and there is no doubt but no. >> book tv on c-span2. we are talking with simon jenkins, the author of several of eclectic books, different books as well as a former newspaper editor and a columnist with the guardian and the chairman of the national trust.

one of your most recent books is a short history of england. how do you write a short history? >> it was literally short. you could read it in three hours the idea was we should have the most important defense in the newspaper story. the technical exercise. i was fascinated to learn about my own country. but that was a technical task in a majority of the short history. but i actually became fascinated by these things in the history and the democracy, the difficult democracy. you can go and impose the democracy. it's crazy. it is a very difficult process. and how that evolves fascinates me the other thing interesting to me is england to the ayman,

england is half. almost all histories of britain tend to be of britain or the united kingdom. they uncomfortably include dublin ireland and england and as if you write the history of america you had to cover mexico and canada. we really do. it was not a history and you get a different view of england because it is anglo-saxon and substantial migrant population is still very much england and if you go to scotland or other a lot of people think they are all british. you are not british when you leaving went to go abroad and i was trying to draw that lastrence out in this book. summer prior to the election he

used the term anglo-saxon and that raised some eyebrows. why? >> because there's a kind of political correctness of route that now. we have to pretend that we are one country. now ireland is gone, scotland is going there will be three other countries in the british isles and i think that we can adjust to that but no, it is unfortunate. >> go back to scotland. >> will be in a different relationship to what is now. and it will keep creating i read be very surprised of scotland wasn't in intensive purposes independent.

it is bigger than the countries in europe. you feel it is the capitol city in a different country. estimates of about lead the islands in the british empire. >> you are quite right. it does. >> would you consider yourself to be an antiimperialists? i know that is a genetic term. >> in that interpretation to the iraq war and afghanistan i just don't think that we should intervene and other people's affairs. there are times you have to the

benches because people are suffering. but the idea that you go into a country and impose your rule to get out as we know he would make a mess of it. there is a hostility around the world. i think it is deep in our dna. the british and the americans in the british empire seem to crave this amount people. >> another one of the authors that we spoke with our charles emmerson and he's written a book comparing 1913 to 2013. and he saw something, some similarities between the fate of the british empire. of the rise of asia and china. >> i think that's the dating of

the topic. i think it is very astute. they continued on the clause i imperial whole and now is falling apart. in an attempt to produce the european empire of the bureaucrats almost didier when i was a boy in the british empire you could write about england or pretend. it was canada, australia, all these things. it's gone now. the first british empire that used to be called is going and it's replaced by the european empire of brussels. these tend not to work and to

establish a sort of sovereignty, a supremacy using the empire of dhaka as you are free that you want to call it. people will not have it thought to be disconnected britain make the right decision to stay out of the euro? >> yes, unquestionably. >> why? >> for the same reason that france spain. it means you're industries are going to be at a disadvantage to holland and scandinavia. and we devalue since then. the attempt to fix rigid currencies and cultural and

political patterns does not work. they fall apart and greece is a desperate country at the moment and thir stock now they claim they are going to stick to the euro. >> short history of england does that entice you to write a longer history? >> no. i like brevity. i am a journalist and i like approaching the problem and bringing it down to its simplest elements discovering a building now like to keep it comes vice. >> if you are to recommend a longer history of england to someone which author would you recommend? >> winston churchill a shortened version was pretty good.

not a lot to say that hasn't already been said. >> how much of that history involves royalty? >> not very much. royalty in england expired in the 18th-century and one story i tell is the reason why that democracy was so vigorous and early. they came in as promised and they were not interested in a ruling britain. they took a back seat on the parliamentary democracy came in on the democracy they were there

in 1714. it's the best thing that could happen to britain in. and they made such a mess that you were free. we were free. it was a factor after that. >> what do you think of the current monarchies still being in place. >> i am quite relaxed about it. i know that it's just on the organizational terms. the head of state is just one long of ritual and exhausting

they were curtailed by that. we shuttled off to the family. they went around shaking peoples and comer greeting ambassadors, wasting time. and they were all over the country may be not very well but on the job in hand. we have a presidential system. it's not very efficient, the heads of state and chief executives in the state. >> simon jenkins former newspaper editor, current columnist come author of several books and once again writing a book next about -- >> the beauty of england. >> do you have a political or a history book in the works? i am leaving out of that into the architecture and landscape. >> simon jenkins come thanks for joining us on book tv.

>> now from london book tv interviews peter, the author of over 30 nonfiction books including biographies of charles dickens and william shakespeare. this is a little over 20 units. >> you are watching booktv on c-span2. book tv has traveled to london to talk with british authors and we are pleased to be joined now by biographer, historian and novelist, peter ackroyd the history of england volume ii has recently come out. mr. ackroyd, who were the tutors? >> they were a successor of monarchs that mentioned this deal the unusual method by the war and perjury and that is despite their rather suspect beginnings they imposed their

persona upon england in the most remarkable way if we take the case of henri eight for example, he was the one who engineered, maintained and subsidized the reformation of england turning inland from catholic to a protestant country. so the tutors perhaps of all the monarchs have had the most important effect upon the english social and public life. >> why were they called the tudors? >> it was the beginning of their family as it were but by the devices managed on the prominent member of the aristocracy. >> what were the years of the

rain? >> now you've got me. i can't remember all the details. you just have to say that it was the 16th century. >> how many served? >> henry vii, viii. his son ruled for a very short time. there was queen mary and elizabeth who led and turned to an abrupt end. >> who took over that point? >> it went to james six of scotland. >> was he a when mr.? >> no, he was a steward and he was the first