The London Review of Books has a new six-part documentary podcast starting today. The Belgrano Diary

is hosted by Andrew O'Hagan with new episodes every Thursday. Here's the start of episode one.

In the spring of 1982, Britain went to war with Argentina over a group of remote islands in the South Atlantic,

one of the last forgotten remnants of the empire.

The Falklands to the British, Las Malvinas to the Argentinians.

Home to half a million sheep and 1800 people,

with limited strategic importance,

that Ireland's value was almost entirely symbolic.

The writer Jorge Luis Borges said it was like two bald men fighting over a comb.

The most controversial event of the war happened right at the beginning, when there was still hope that diplomacy might prevail.

Good evening, reports are emerging tonight

that the second biggest ship in Argentina's navy, the General Belgrano,

has been sunk. There were over a thousand men on board.

On the 2nd of May 1982 at 4pm Buenos Aires time, 8pm London time, the British hunter-killer

submarine, HMS Conqueror, fired three torpedoes at the Argentinian

cruiser, the General Belgrano. Two of them hit. 323 Argentinian men were killed. It was the bloodiest military action of the conflict.

The first time, Britain had fired torpedoes in anger since the Second World War.

Just rejoice at that news and congratulate our forces and the Marines.

Rejoice.

After the fighting ended and Britain emerged victorious, the sinking became hugely contentious.

It was the event that ended any chance of peace.

Was the attack a legitimate act of war? Or was it a deliberate escalation?

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