Saturday, January 26, 2008
"Gunners on tour" available on Amazon
Truth better than fiction, 26 Jan 2008
By Daniel Mckeown (Japan) - See all my reviews
Despite the title, nothing whatsoever to do with Arsenal FC, but rather an autobiography which covers the author's upbringing and war service, documenting some truly remarkable incidents.
To give some idea of what the reader has in store for them, by the time the author leaves school he has survived a near-death experience, been witness to an actual-death experience involving one of his classmates, his mother has been set upon by rioters and his brother has been run over by a Rolls Royce.
After all this, we still have his war service to look forward to: war service which includes being hauled out of the water at Dunkirk only to hear on the radio that the ship he has been rescued by has been sunk by the enemy (and for the third time this week, to boot.)
Those with an interest in military history will find themselves well rewarded by this book: the author chronicles the British and Allied movements throughout the war, spanning a number of campaigns, and includes detailed description of some of the equipment involved. For others, there is a wealth of incident drawn from the author's experiences, relayed in dry, unsensationalised fashion, which, intentionally or otherwise, invites us to consider on a wider scale the challenges faced by the war generation.
***
I neglected to mention that I have, at one time or another, heard pretty much all of the stories straight from the horse's mouth, the horse in question happening to be my grandfather.
Still highly recommend this book, so click here and broaden your horizons.
(Admirably broadened though said horizons already be by dint of reading these: my words.)
By Daniel Mckeown (Japan) - See all my reviews
Despite the title, nothing whatsoever to do with Arsenal FC, but rather an autobiography which covers the author's upbringing and war service, documenting some truly remarkable incidents.
To give some idea of what the reader has in store for them, by the time the author leaves school he has survived a near-death experience, been witness to an actual-death experience involving one of his classmates, his mother has been set upon by rioters and his brother has been run over by a Rolls Royce.
After all this, we still have his war service to look forward to: war service which includes being hauled out of the water at Dunkirk only to hear on the radio that the ship he has been rescued by has been sunk by the enemy (and for the third time this week, to boot.)
Those with an interest in military history will find themselves well rewarded by this book: the author chronicles the British and Allied movements throughout the war, spanning a number of campaigns, and includes detailed description of some of the equipment involved. For others, there is a wealth of incident drawn from the author's experiences, relayed in dry, unsensationalised fashion, which, intentionally or otherwise, invites us to consider on a wider scale the challenges faced by the war generation.
***
I neglected to mention that I have, at one time or another, heard pretty much all of the stories straight from the horse's mouth, the horse in question happening to be my grandfather.
Still highly recommend this book, so click here and broaden your horizons.
(Admirably broadened though said horizons already be by dint of reading these: my words.)
Labels: AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION, BUNKA, CLAN
