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Monday, 16 December 2024

A tale of three books.....

 


This is not a good, bad and ugly type review. Just some reflections on what I have been reading recently. 

The first of the three is James Holland's Savage Storm. I have read possibly all of his books. I have enjoyed them all and some of them have improved my knowledge immensely. I found this one a different kettle of fish. I don't think this is the fault of the author. Some things ticked me off very quickly from the incongruous 1907 bayonet on the cover to the number of barrels on a nebelwerfer (one page says five and the next six, either or both could be correct). What I found most difficult was the the lack of a clear narrative. The constant diversion into individual's personal histories made it difficult to follow the story. The writing is fine, I think the problem is the editing. I think I'll get Cassino from the library. 



I watched a WW2 TV episode with the author of this book. It looks at the beliefs and attitude of the German soldier on the eastern front through their letters home. An interesting book, pretty much on the academic side. If you have read the works of Omar Bartov, Michael Burleigh, Christopher Browning (or even Daniel Goldhagen, but I'm not intending to start a debate on that one), then this is a valuable addition to the story. Nice to have 50+ pages of footnotes!   


I got this for my birthday. A fictionalised memoir of a Churchill tank troop commander. Written in 1957, I have no idea how this escaped my attention for so long. A great read and a really useful perspective on war fighting in NW Europe. 

So, that's the end of book club for this week. More to follow in due course.