Finest Years, Churchill as Warlord. (Max Hastings)

Well this was an interesting read. 

Not fast paced but interesting all the same. 

For example, who knew just how many mistakes one of the most famous men in history made, during his tenure as PM throughout World War II? 

Who knew how little the Americans were prepared to assist Britain, during our darkest hour?

Who knew how bad our armed forces performed through much of the conflict, compared to their Russian and German counterparts?

Winston Churchill, as we all know, was an exceptional orator, and from the moment he took his place at the PM's table, he inspired a nation with his speeches, some of which are as famous today as they were 70 years ago.

What he wasn't, was a military tactician. It didn't help that he had an army from the dark ages, using tactics from a different age. We shouldn't forget that the French army, (the largest in the world at the time), offered little resistance to Hitler's Wehrmacht during the battle for France, either.

The biggest shock for me though, was just how unhelpful and capitalistic America was when their supposed ally was in dire straits. How Churchill kept his head and continued to chip away at the then President and not just throw his toys out of the pram, underlines just what a great leader he was. 

How he kept his temper when our once enemy, turned ally, Stalin, started dictating the pace through 1944-45 and the Americans jump to his tune, is again, a mark of the man. A lesser man would have had a spat with the President, kicked off at the Russian, and who knows where that would have left Britain. 

Talking of capitalism, America had no intention of entering a war to assist an ally, (Britain and France declared war on Germany remember, when they invaded Poland [our ally] along with Russia, not for money, or profit, but because it was the right thing to do. America on the other hand, only entered the war when Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, and even then they continued with their lend lease agreement, which virtually bankrupted Britain by the wars end to the tune of £3 billion.  

A great ally then!

As usual, Max Hastings has done his research impeccably here, we have Russian diplomats with their opinions of Churchill, (not often favourable) Americans profiteering to the detriment of their ally, Churchill's highs and his many lows, his good side and his bad, but overall, this book gives the reader an in depth and probably as truthful a picture of the great man himself, Winston Churchill, as you are ever likely to read.

Four stars for this one then - it needed more pace to get five - but that is not a slur on the author, he did everything he could with the historical facts.

The Remains of the Day, book review. (Kazuo Ishiguro)

Another gem, from a master storyteller.

England in the 1950's, told from the prospective of Stevens, an ageing butler from Darlington Hall.

Beautifully written and another of Ishiguro's books that has been made into a film.

I can't comment on the film, as I haven't seen it, but his skill in writing a novel in the late 1980's that depicts the 1950's so convincingly, is amazing. The sense of 'Old England' that he portrays, the stiff upper lip, the congenial mild mannered ladies and gentleman Stevens encounters whilst on his travels, are all so totally convincing for a middle England in the decade after the war, that it feels like you're really there.

Ishiguro uses both Historical and fictional characters in this novel, which adds to the sense of realism.

Having visited Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh whilst reading this book, I was able to see first hand what it is like, to live in a large, stately home, and enjoyed the book more for it. 
A lovely book, deliciously written by an author of many talents.
Four well deserved stars.

A fantastic 'Catastrophe'. Max Hastings does it again.

Well, Max Hastings' latest book Catastrophe, makes for horrific reading.

He takes the reader through the years that lead up to the 'Great War' as it was called at the time, and how just a few people in power, made the decisions that would end the lives of millions. 

The book looks at both the eastern front as well as the western conflict, it charts the inadequacies of the leading generals and how their incompetence lead to such devastation over the first few months of the conflict. On one day alone, 27,000 French men died, 27,000! This tally doesn't include the injured or the German, British, Russian, Austrian, Hungarian or any of the other nations that were fighting that day, just the French. 

The book finishes at the end of 1914, so if as a reader you want to know what happened throughout the war, you will need further reading, but if like me, you just want to find out how it all went so disastrously wrong, this is up to Max Hastings' normal high standard, and you won't be disappointed. 

A solid four stars.
Inspiration for the day goes to all those thousands of men and women who helped the wounded, lonely and bereaved during and after this dreadful catastrophe.