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. 

Robert Harris, give him a prize. (Author spotlight part II)

Fatherland.
Epic!
Archangel, fantastic.
Enigma, intriguing. 
Robert Harris comes in for a little criticism next. 
Pompeii, the first of the ancient Rome trilogy was a great read and quite different from his first few books, but the last in the series, Lustrum, was a bit boring, lacking the punch and originality of the others.
'The Ghost' was made into a rather interesting film and came with a clever twist at the end and 'The Fear Factor' was pacey and religiously researched. Now I've got 'An Officer and a Spy' in the to read pile, so I can't pass judgement on his latest yet, but what a diverse mix of genre's and subject matters, from fictional outcomes of WWII and spying in 1940's England, through Stalin's Russian, to Rome in the height of its power, Robert Harris has written historical fiction like no other author I've read and I can't wait for what comes next.
I really need to get on with my own writing and follow in this eminent authors booksteps.
Inspiration for the day goes to all those lovely people who worked tirelessly to keep the country running when the big storms hit.