I quite agree. I’d recommend The Heart of the Matter too, virtually all of GG’s novels in fact.
I’m about a third in and so far it’s been an eye opener I didn’t realise that during the late 50’s and 60’s how much disdain was held for Chet Baker in the U.S amongst both critics and his fellow musicians it’s actually quite a difficult read at times.
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The Bank That Lived a Little. Philip Augar
Amazing book. The 2008 chapters are unputdownable. Quite a revelation.
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Dipping back into this book which along with the Tony Palmer TV documentary All You Need is Love changed my life.
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I have this book too and it’s very good.
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Sounds really interesting. Adding it to my wish list.
An early Le Carre, one of his best.
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I love the Bernie Gunther series, not least because of its historical setting in Germany just after the war.
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An excellent account of both campaigns with fascinating insider perspectives. Highly detailed, but still a very enjoyable read.
I would, in all seriousness, be interested in why insider perspectives would be relevant right now as i’d Consider adding this to my wish list. If there’s one thing Brexit is surely crying out for right now it would be for the perspective of someone on the outside of the whole sorry mess. Really good to see someone reading a book about it rather than newspapers though.
It is simply an account of how we ended up where we ended up with a lot of thoughts as to why. It may not have the relevance you are seeking - but it is an interesting read …
Duly noted. I’ll go read some reviews.
Great series. I have just finished Prussian Blue, which switches back and forth between mid 1939 and 1956.
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The Owen biography is on my pile of books to read, but I have not heard of Before Action. As a counterpoint to the latter, I am about to start Somme Mud by E.P.F. Lynch, describing the experiences of an infantryman in France from 1916-1919. I also look forward mentions of the locations there that I have explored over the years. I really enjoy the macro view of history provided by biographies and individual accounts. They make the events so much more tangible than sweeping descriptions of large formations and high-level decision-making processes.
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Somme Mud is excellent Leggit, I really enjoyed it. I agree that these individual accounts help to bring a tour of the battlefields alive. If you are aware of both Hodgson and Captain Martin and the Devon’s at Mametz Before Action is an essential and very moving read.
Stu
