>> >> >> could be the welcome to politics & prose is a pleasure to have been here and post 89 hear him discuss his latest book "pacific". he will talk for about 40

minutes then take questions for 20 beds we encourage questions just use the microphone. so read the line starts then please pull the pier or chair and then we will have the books 90. a journalist and photographer broadcaster and author awarded day british empire services to literature. and in "pacific" he discusses the oceans fast and a mystery how the pacific has shaped his image history please welcome simon winchester. [applause] >> it is lovely to be back i have been here numerous times that i love the store.

and die blast say in the last few days that leads me to believe it was on my side because the chinese relaxing i'd policies to allow them to have two babies and now in the south china sea i read about extensively in chapter 10 of this book and over in a big lead at the moment the foreign minister of the marshall islands is pleading with the british government to allow the displaced people from the bikini atoll to relocate and britain because the sea level is rising again and that is in chapter five at the plight of those from the key is in chapter one.

in that demonstrated so it has been a fairly good week end my publicist is very pleased. so how to write a book about the pacific i thought i would look at how it was structured because of the three card build big to bear in mind. first of all, the idea that was a reasonably good idea but said debt you think perhaps good writing is something that you strive for but the second most important is the structure of the book you have to have a coherent structure of a

back to visit the idea so i have tried to come up with interesting and insensible structures in which i look to the whole history of the atlantic accord dated from the seven ages of man and as a lever and soldier and as an old period and that seemed to work reasonably well but said i just became a citizen of the united states and i felt particularly enamored and i chose the five elements of chinese philosophy of water fire a at the battle.

that seemed to go reasonably well but of course, the book has just come out but i figured hills are fairly short but what i have to decide is where to begin the story because they humankind's history goes back to the phoenicians. but with western brands knowledge in the 16th century the giddy but the plot those the river the poll of but attempted to believe in if you read about some doubt cortez he wrote that late at night apparently and it was three

sheets to the wind but to say it was not cortez it was built the lead. denied he said no. saw as a result of that generation of the of schoolchildren that was discovered by european cortez and rolled. but ferdinand magellan was murdered in the philippines. but bell black and cortez and the magellan might be explorers had decided that

we do about the ad didn't want to just rehash a whole story but the over archie basis if you except of the classical world a bit of today's world and it might be cissus from tomorrow's world. that is the point so what is the date to begin the story? began the september 1945 and that was a huge quake did history with the people's republic of china is the.

. . denied and that seem cristobal but that the cave very big guy league is that was the first of january to 50. -- a1950. we still use the notations of an a.d. end b.c. but not everybody is christian and so there was an assistant at the ted that meant either before christian era or before common era.

that is fine and that is relatively recent defense but not for the scientific to be duty they decided on a new convention and that was. >> host: teed before present because it probes the question and when i present? that is decided by these people fedex movement is the reason for that is to do with carbon dating. because as you will remember from school it is based on a very rigid the fixed ratio between the about and the atmosphere of the stable isotope curbing 12 and

unstable of carded 15 that has say half-life every 720-0530 years. so if and that was a foolproof way to figure out the age i'd tell 1950 because a 1950 banks to do the testing that what

happened in the pacific ocean the ratio of the decay product and then to be propelled into the on the - - atmosphere. said they would measure it. and the whole system led to tell the real sell-off. is brought 1950 is a good date. with the world pluses pure. after 1950 became polluted. so that seemed a reasonable starting point. so started getting 1950 and

then going 65 years is to find a dabber of defense -- a buber of the events point to a trend to indicate to expand on these various seabeds. it was an explanation of. but as an austrian author in brazil that is a writer from

a budapest hotel. hopefully coming back into popularity. and like the death of socrates had the discovery but i thought this is what i want. ted defense that change the pacific. that i was there for 20 and 50 -- 15. but just to go through them to give you the education and. so the first event is the

fourth of january. and that is the state of the you dead message all dash state of the you did message that we up to now have been using these relatively small bombs that destroyed nagasaki but they are considered very small as far as nuclear is concerned now we can build new ones that will be called hydrogen bombs which are theoretically limitless in size. so we will do that and test them in the marshall islands somewhere around bikini. so that is an entire chapter add that haunts the pacific

to this day. i will tell you why it is an extraordinary story. if i keep using the word of the americans and i about american now also. i am not just calling you out so i share that. so the second chapter august august 8, 1955 wed -- whereby chance i was pleased because the ever writes about edward ted. had there appeared a small device $49.

those that sad to give us a team rube -- sitting room and then they listen to your program but this has batteries and was totally revolutionary. you could take with you to work or to bed. and it was made in japan by a company on top of the to the dial. with the telecommunications company and that was the new word that any so the product had been seen. and talked about starting a trend at exactly this table

would as the shipping david. and within months with the japanese inventions but that the way it completely wild. and then this device -- device was triggered by a burglary by which a number of these had a huge amount of electronic stuff so with these radios a story of "the new york times" the next day. i hate somebody was bashed over the head it was a good

robbery story but the only thing to have a chance to steal of a loved -- other electronic operators of the said people but if it is good enough for thieves and within weeks complete -- complained. and the great big pattern that dominates and then was transferred to korea with the chinese ports been the busiest. if you think of saudi who is a public face but to invent the tr55 from the slums of

tokyo and was said to be is the genius. ended beded the walkman and the tevatron television. and then went upon to invent the beta backs. read in chapter three that was 1959. ended april 59 who did not have confidence in this movie.

and in the suburbs of long island wittier times that said about the film decided to go see it a huge raved about it. and it became nervously successful. and it was the story of the girl the kathy. is it started explosion of a $13 billion per year industry. so serving began and it spread up to hawaii there

was a rigid surf the aristocracy. and there would serve naked and it was discussing that takes the fun out if that was really discovered the two '07 by jack london and he and his wife go swimming waikiki and the suddenly out of nowhere little boys on surfboards, shooting by. kim they teach me how to do that? they did. so given october 1907 called

serving the case of sports. and then with redondo beach it became a localized popular phenomenon. and it spread worldwide as a great sport of the word. and degeneres so now cathy's suburban rates to be two days ago. but i live in malibu and i am still serving. and then it begins which

destroyed the city of it all started in 1974. but the large big chapter talks about the minds of the people at the pentagon at the moment. with some kind of meeting between the united states do in china with teetoo great superpowers across the of past ocean. is to keep the eye of the clock but this is true i learned things. with next to nothing. but did you learn all these extraordinary gains as you go along.

so select from the three teams that i found interesting. but i am fairly new at this. so these are too long which is an albatross i want to finish with a whole full story. and they did realize and dead from that moment we started decolonized, of brutalize the people, destroyed the countryside, we have brought a great deal to the pacific. is with the break of diseases so that illustrates

the sadness that we have brought to the nation particularly the politicians. but the first two things i will say about situations that indicate what we have done. the first has to do with nuclear testing. called al the graves. and with very little benefit to the pacific. this story begins in this particular case of this laboratory in lowe's alamos when they are tested the various devices for the

first bombs for hiroshima and nagasaki. you may find this familiar because there was a film made as it puts itself into your consciousness. with the radioactivity that is submitted from to have his ears with the plutonium rap did insulators. and then it would explode and stuff like that. as we move the two hemispheres it was conducted by a physicist.

and with this wall of bricks he hopes will protect him from the radiation and. and then with a screwdriver there are 56 other physicist and standing immediately behind tampa is a senior physicist. it is called tickling the dragon's tail. he throws the screwdriver that alters the hemisphere to become closer. but then everyone measures the amount of radiation carefully that he returns to

vertical and the radiation quiets. then he does it again. and said they were barely touching. -- nearly touching and then he returns a back to normal. bette just about sets a for the third time when someone in the road -- and the rude drops a teacup people's the way they fall onto each other there is a flash of light and the road is flooded with cabarets and it is a legal situation and. -- the fall situation in so he could only be to reach over the brick wall with his bare he did to push the upper hand this era on to the floor thereby eddied the

reaction stay where you are and tossed them until the review should was absorbed that does a quick calculation of the board after five minutes says you are okay. you were okay. you will probably die and i am definitely going to die and i will die in the days. exactly what is he had -- his huge bigger than his head he dies painfully and horribly. graves behind him who was shielded is terribly ill. he is said the hospital for a more than a year with transfusions. river is the key 45 --

remember it is a 1945 but he does not die. after one year he gets better and is released. he undergoes an extraordinary change that radiation is no big deal but if your a real beating you can deal with it. said he goes back to the atomic energy commission but he has a view of radiation that permeates is insured very in 1954 that the biggest of all the bombs did particularly in the second that included a put in

charge of this experiment? the times bigger but the person to do that is all the graves but he says it is no big deal. that there are two reasons why it is the most vittoria's with a cylinder about 10 feet long. to put too much debt to a bigger hiroshima was kelli tons this is megatons. lawyer than the united states has ever exploded. so it was mounted it was in the bunker in the-- leading

up the wind was blowing in the northwest. there are no ships or island's zero were nothing. so then relatively safely exploded but the baby for the wind would blow directly east where there were two islands which were full of people. the decision had to be whether to explode the lava bed or not. 6:00 in the body everyone in and the team said do not 17 megatons. when it will radiate that people downwind. they said don't worry. radiation is still big deal. they will get over it.

they will be fine. so against the advice of all the be commuters he ordered it to be pressed with this titanic explosion occurring. you can imagine the size. it is like the sun rising in the west many visits with clouds boiling with 20 miles into the at this period with that half an hour it seemed that stowe was follicle the island but it was calcified coral petty started to lick it and it tasted they all fell ill and initially to say this to be and experiment might get a big they were staggering around and bought the team had the gastric problems then after

three days the damage to the big airfield that there were observed over the weeks. so that is the classic example of the example and there are other to treat the people of the pacific islands. but north korea is a country i have been to three times. had a duty ben there?

and with the american side. with that platform with the caribbean soldiers on the other side there is a big building and the americans always tell you the soldiers that are built like a brick buildings are to read today. but that building is a hollywood set. so to that particular building and then it goes to the border but that was a weird experience. if it is a fugitive thing if you get to the american

dance north koreans. and vital american interest in soldiers are looking give the with binoculars figgie who is this guy? so i am lucky at this particular moment thinking about american soldier. looking with the enormous telephoto lens. am looking directly into his eyes i thought the house would give him away of. the returns the gesture but the extraordinary of north korea was it was invented by

an american with a wonderful they've. that i do cherished he was called charles hart will build a steel the third. if you kidded digit this the 14th of august 8045 he did the other young that he would be more familiar with where in the outer office and they are listening over the short wave radio where it is a 50 the august giving a speech that is the most profound understatement you have ever heard that it is not necessarily turn up to

our advantage. but we are surrendering. that is the japanese problem because the soviets are now rasheed cynical through all the previous japanese held cases. down through rich area and ben says we have to stop these people because if we don't it will be a soviet japan that is a longer-term for everybody. where should we stop? there was a 1944 copy of the "national geographic" magazine had there are foldout maps this happened to be a map of japan.

they spread it out isn't it extraordinary that is day japanese quality -- colony that is 40 minutes north. he said i take it is important to americans controlled the old capital of seoul, korea how about the 30th parallel? a bid to take it into marshall. is to tell them to tell moscow. is said and just got bigger at the 30th parallel russian say we're delighted

but as we press through rich area it is the height of summer at the troops are exhausted. we will stop there. you can take their surrender with the plebeian had from the bovid todd that they went to war with each other the radically of progress with the most heavily defended that is in between them. so i begin the story the getty of 1968 but the ship

itself is a museum. still set to be a ship regarded by u.s. navy their active duty that is temporarily out of commission. said to have those bigger she choose to release them and to make concessions with a bitterly cold day this meeting occurred. add-on the appointed hour with the prisoners on board that they were ordered to walk across the bridge of no return ordered back to the americans.

and with those north korean guards for lucky strikes or freedoms and with a bet for every single one was the now general teeeighteen huckabee vendor on -- tsa teed -- titi the commuter. but that the russians take hold as a wooden bed, ms. korea because of the collapse of the soviet union like vietnam it would be a socialist country and rich as south korea is today but there would be indicted in not a nuclear power northern part of the

country. so heavily they had not interfered things would be better. so because of the time i will not tell you about the albatross. but the end pages are beautifully designed and the back end paper is the u.s.s. george washington. to do what happens in the pacific bell lot -- a lot. it is a beautiful traditional sailing could do

that is a waterfall and a hopeful story. when she was hawaiis gift to the american people. the important data is not the craft but the way that it sailed. id and 1976 almost the with the world knew her what paul the -- politicians have been doing for centuries to navigate without instruments the zero wristwatches wristwatches, sextant or a compass certainly not gps. they had been badly before thousands of miles over open ocean than the imperialists come to say the said the british ordure rude or french or american and you go from these to these then you need a passport because

you have four different countries. and how to read or write so they would stop sailing and navigation died except there was wide that was in one of the islands so the people that built the canoe's said we will use this without instruments and said you were the only be a left that can teach us he said yes. i have never got the airplay before and taught the fundamentals have you navigate using only the stars or posse through the clouds or the flight of the seabirds. to feel the c&s wells. he put rappahannock at this third -- at bustard negev

fraud polite to tahiti and it took exactly six weeks after using ago instruments at all. that they saw him rise effective than. exactly the right position. a bid to go to vancouver head to be but added peru. so how to do this super ambitious they get around the world. meeting of the 14th of may last year and then christmas

added new zealand. had with the indian ocean and that had never ben out of the pacific but still using these waves and there is a chase boat she will not interfere only comes in and if the opportunity is there but also checks the position in every day. but it is marvelous to watch this without injury go west of the indian ocean if they want to go up past the horn of africa into the atlantic

were to go south of madagascar are. but what they do intend to do is that sometime they will sail up the potomac to greet the hawaiian president. it seems like a wonderful place to do. [laughter] and then through dead straits of magellan then now back through the pacific within four years. but what makes this so important is at long last western people who were beginning to a understand what is going on the we have regarded them to be inferior

to us but now the realization is growing the people out there that we should respect but it means respect for the world in respect for the planet. and head for the last 300 years to respect and learn from the aged to institutions something that we owe to the pacific to be that pattern of the future of how we treat the most important bush did in the world. [applause]

>> fait que. i thought you were leaving. [laughter] could you talk about the confrontation between the tidies david the united states about was is happy there is and where it is headed? >> i am fascinated by it is with the tidies admiral. he was a very tough overall computer of the troops. if you don't mess with admiral lou. the way this story begins in the 282 with the corruption in the philippines it is

hard because i was there. and living in hong kong at that time was covered in four or 5 feet of ash. to important literary bases. and then the secretary of defense dick cheney they were patrolling from the bases in japan. that the americans have left

and to put a lighthouse on one of them. and gradually won by one. tuesday that they should not do this that it is not the territory. that the chinese could do effectively with the results of three years ago the pentagon would work up to see that tidies bases in they begin to say sorry this is the lumber international waters. which is why in the last few days they have dispatched the destroyer with some escort under aircraft to show the tidies but that is

only part of the story. to say we will take the south titus' see but there are three imaginary chains of violence. there is the first island chain rating from japan there is a second gene a few miles out running up through northern australia than the third island chain in the central pacific writing from the aleutian islands to hawaii to new zealand. with the 100th anniversary of the people's republic, we intend to have our ships first in the waters by 2020.

the second island chain through hawaii. they have one aircraft carrier and have ordered four more. is by 2049 we have no doubt at all and to me that seems entirely reasonable. since the end of the second world war and they say with a simple of tibet most of the history they had no serious territorial ambitions. but never been an expensive nation.

that they want maritime or naval equivalence but the pentagon says otherwise to say we will have more aircraft carriers were money or troops or weapons but it is an excuse for the industrial complex to spend more of taxpayer dollars of a threat that is not really exist. but what you see down in the south china sea is of long drawn-out problem. through the century. thank you for your question. >> we will stop there. [applause]

>> please pull up your chair. [inaudible conversations]

>> a longtime journalist working at the "washington post" called america's war machine. tell me how the american military industrial military complex has changed these eisenhower administration. . .

first of all people need to understand the forces that drive the conflicts. that drive us into war. they need to understand that as a result of this conflict we have a vested interest in war. everyone gets a piece of the pie. this has resulted in iraq, and all the other things going on right now, we are seen happen with syria. a push to go into war when we have seen that what we did in iraq didn't work. we see that when we send them boots on the ground in military, and hardware and has not come out well. >> has the general warfare made it easier for the american public to digest the concept of perpetual war? >> it is one of the things that happened when you have war. it happens when you have a big military that is funded to manage your foreign-policy,

instead of your diplomats who are trying to work out something at the table. we put put all of our money into the defenseman military, into the gun, we starve the state department of the people the people trying to make peace at the table. >> 2015, can you see a time in the next ten or 15 years where we would not be in the same situation we are in now? >> jim used to get this question when he would make a talk. he would always say, he was an optimist, that he thought eventually the common sense of the american people would force the kind of change that needs to be made washington. >> molly is the author of america's war machine, she wrote the book with her late husband who passed in 2011. thank you so much. >> thank you.