I came across MLR Smith — the pen name of Michael Rainsborough — when I was doing a Masters called Terrorism, Security and Society, in London, back in 2011. Small signs of ‘woke’ were only just starting to come through, but I saw them and didn’t like it. I also saw that a lot of the academic work on terrorism was shallow at best. So MLR Smith’s work stood out a lone voice questioning the premises of multiculti Britain — that political Islam was not a threat, that we were all post-religion urban sophisticates now, and everything would be fine.
His work has aged well. And even though he ascended to the role of head of Department, his relationship with War Studies at King’s did not. He tells the story in this interview.
He is a rare find in an accomplished academic — a person who is genuinely curious about others. A lovely man. You can find some of his work here. I have also just started reading his book The Strategy of Maoism in the West: Rage and the Radical Left. Which seems even just from its title to be a very good summation of our current predicament.
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"If you want to know where a Culture War leads, go to Northern Ireland in the 1970's and '80's." My chat with Michael Rainsborough