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“Jo is an avid reader of all things Mitford and over the past few years has written a forward for the recent edited diaries of the six sisters and is also featured on the blurb for the recently published letters.” M Jones

Please tell me what is the exact title of the book of edited Mitford diaries which Rowling wrote a forward to. I would like to read it very much. Thanks in advance to whoever knows the answer.

I sent in a translation, so hopefully they’ll post it soon – it’s a really interesting article! I just hope I submitted it correctly because I used the “Contact Us” form.

she’s a great lady just like her series…:)

@ sevvy , what have you been drinkin- Narcissa is played by Helen McCrory. end of discussion.

Bella i think Sevy was speaking of who she was modeled after – her historical person

I just read the Spanish announcement that JKR is coming to libraries in Spain, and I was in tears, they wrote it so nicely.

@Marianne I don’t want to be rude…so don’t take this the wrong way…cause everyone is intitled to there own opinions, and one must respect other peoples opinions even if one doesn’t agree…

I don’t get it?

How do you get this: “Which means you indirectly criticize all governments especially those in the EU which are not in the “Coalition against Terrorism. And you think Iran, Iraq and North Korea belong to the “Axis of Evil”.”Marianne

out of this: “My model of the world after Voldemort’s return was, directly, the government of Neville Chamberlain in Great Britain during the Second World War, when he tried to minimize the menace of the Nazi regime for political convenience.” Joanne

I don’t believe she supported for the Greater Good in the 7th book, she continuely showed how people were flawed throuhout the entire series, Dumbledore starting in book 5 (correct me if I am wrong) with him not telling Harry about Voldemorts plans and the prophecy, and even more so in book seven she shows he had had realization in them…he was a teacher and not a governor (in the politcal game of power sense not in the title sense) he rejected power so he wouldn’t abuse it. Fudge in his earmst efforts to show that nothing was going on nothing was wrong and in his blindness toward Dumbledore he created a hostile government that was weak and easily corrupted (Umbridge) He took over the newspaper and tried to decieve people. He didn’t want to face adversity and he dug himself in a hole, trying to make people believe he was a good leader.

Hello to everybody who is not willing or can´t understand what I said. I do not think Mrs Rowling is such a naive person who is just talking about the past. I do not know if you guys care about political realities. But it´s a matter of fact we have got some similar situations today. Germany is not willing to send more troops to Afganistan just because the US administration wants it. And judging after what Mrs. Rowling said about Chamberlains decision to try a more decent policy towards the Nazi regime is the very same as saying th NATO members who are not willing to send their military forces to fight dictatorships and terror groups like Al Kaida are too cowardly to fight. Don´t get me wrong. Mrs. Rowling used a historical person as archetype for Fudge, indeed. But it shows very clear which position she has got in terms of the of idea as war as a righteous instrument to fight “evil”. Nothing more or less. Rowling talks about choices. Chamberlain probably made the wrong decision. Alright. But what would have been the right decision for Mrs. Rowling instead? She really should tell. And now calm down guys. No reason to get angry.

How interesting that it was based on Neville Chamberlain’s government.

Current governments over the world are sticking their head in the sand over climate change and could be compared to Fudge.

She loves her daughter. Her daughter is really lucky. She is the first daughter in human history who is loved by her mother. When will Jo get an award for loving her daughter?

Not so crazy. In the English speaking world, Hitler is just the symbol for overall evil. In fact, he was real, the Nazi-phenmenon had a past, has apresent and even a possible future; so JKR isn`t doing as such a great favour by simplifying things again. It won`t be enough to be just good, we “have to know” (B. Crouch jun. as Mad Eye) to do good. I liked Jo`s idea of the “abandonned boys”, a pity she didn´t specificate Bye the way, wich one is Harry more similar to in DH, the Flaw…,p.596, Jesus or the rising Hitler…saviour, leader..?

@Uli, in my opinion Mrs. Rowling clearly supports (not just through her statements but especially by Deathly Hallows) the idea of “War on Terror”. “War on Terror” is not just a political idea, but a religious one, too. When the Alliance against Hitler fought the terror regime in Germany it had nothing to do with goodhearted intentions. It was a question about power, vengeance and retaliation. When Japan´s Kamikaze pilots bombarded Pearl Harbor (which was a coward and brutal act) the Americans simply wanted revenge. The idea of freeing the world from a brutal Japanese war power was not the intention, when Hiroshima and Nagasaki got destroyed.

Marianne, You are making a huge leap of inference, connecting an author’s comments about the inspiration behind a character to the author’s private political belies! JKR’s reference to the 1938 Munich Accords is simply conjuring up a well-embedded image or platitude in British (and to lesser extent US) popular culture: “If only we had stopped Hitler in 1938, then…” or at most “if only the British PM had firmness of convictions”. To read more into that reference might be fun, and we could create and invent meanings for the HP series and claim those are ‘really’ JKR’s beliefs…but that would be false logic and a projection onto her of our spinning fantasies….

IF JKR had said, “they should have stopped fascism in 1936 by defending the Spanish Republic”, then you would have a clear political statement that would indicate her views…sorry, 1938 and Chamberlain aren’t as definitive as you seem to think.

So, this might be a fun conversation to have in a coffee shop or pub. But, only as long as we recognize that whatever meanings we invent aren’t JKR’s but our own.

@budb, well. Some people think about Quidditch other people think about the message behind the message. That´s life.

Fudgian politics inspired by Chamberlain’s appeasement politic? then clearly from the post-war perspective of it, because the maiority of the English public thought it a very reasonable politic at it’s time. Except criticts form the Conservative corner as Winston Churchill. Chamberlain never went in denial about the power of Germany, as Fudge does. He knew very well that England was far from ready to oppose Germany , nor were the Dominions prepaired to go to war and as most Western politicians Chamberlain thought the Sowjet Union a greater thread to worldpeace then Germany. Had Germany declaired war on Russia in 1938/39, the alliance would looked completely different.

For racial ideology one doesn’t have to leave England, because the one that inspired the Nazi was the 19th century writer Houston Stewart Chamberlain ( not clear how he was related to the prime minister).

Girls in love with Hitler, calling mad? mmmmm, 50 years after the act maybe, but in it’s time not that abnormal, there seemed to have been quite a few women who would throw themselves at this icon of power who inspired a whole nation.

What I however like to hear from Rowling about the Grindelwald item is a parallel with ” The Other Minister ” where she paints in her world a link between the Wizard and the Muggle World. Did she think about such a link at the time of Grindelwald too? There is a perfect candidate for such a connection, not Hitler but the mystic of the Nazi’s and head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler.

I don’t get what’s the big deal about Jo knowing a former prime president of her own country, especially one like Chamberlain. (I’m just pointing to all the posts saying she’s a ‘historian’. Who doesn’t know about Chamberlain? I’m from Finland and I, of course, know were the leaders in Europe at the time of WW2 and before it.)

Anyway. She seems like a very nice person.

I don’t think what Jo has said about Fudge being based on Chamberlain, is stating her personal opinion on the current situation. It’s merely Jo, using a piece of history, to help shape a character within the HP series.

budb—well said! : )

Marianne, JK Rowling is a FICTION AUTHOR, not a politician. She is not obliged to take a stance on “The war on terror”. Peter and Jean, I think you should get together and form a spelling support group.

Thanks to whoever posted on the Mitford sisters – Bellatrix, Narcissa connection. Fascinating! Does anyone know if she has directly been asked a question relating to this in an interview?