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Dick Coward
Coward at the Bridge
Trapped in a cupboard with a nubile blonde nymphomaniac; crossing the Waal under a hail of fire with the US paratroops of 82ndairborne; rattling in a jeep through the Dutch countryside with the men of 1stAirborne Recce Squadron; trying to take out a self-propelled gun with a ruddy useless PIAT. It's all in a day's work for Lt Dick Coward and Sgt Tom Price on their second published adventure.
After the horrors of D-Day, they find themselves plunged into even greater chaos and mayhem as they land in the deceptively tranquil countryside around Arnhem, Holland, as part of Operation Market Garden. What should be a pushover - the ingenious scheme that everyone thinks will end the war by Christmas - turns into Britain's biggest military disaster of the Second World War. But if it's a cock-up, by golly is it a glorious one. Rarely if ever have Allied soldiers acquitted themselves better than the British, Americans and Poles, as they fought against the might of the SS, in their bid to capture 'The Bridge Too Far."
As usual Coward and Price are in the thick of it. They have to be. If Coward doesn't get a VC this time, he'll be booted off the family estate for good, and stand no chance of winning the heart of the fickle, dangerously beguiling Gina.
Will he get the medal? Will he get the girl? Will Price be driven so mad by his master's Bertie Wooster-like stupidity that he ends up throttling him first?
After the horrors of D-Day, they find themselves plunged into even greater chaos and mayhem as they land in the deceptively tranquil countryside around Arnhem, Holland, as part of Operation Market Garden. What should be a pushover - the ingenious scheme that everyone thinks will end the war by Christmas - turns into Britain's biggest military disaster of the Second World War. But if it's a cock-up, by golly is it a glorious one. Rarely if ever have Allied soldiers acquitted themselves better than the British, Americans and Poles, as they fought against the might of the SS, in their bid to capture 'The Bridge Too Far."
As usual Coward and Price are in the thick of it. They have to be. If Coward doesn't get a VC this time, he'll be booted off the family estate for good, and stand no chance of winning the heart of the fickle, dangerously beguiling Gina.
Will he get the medal? Will he get the girl? Will Price be driven so mad by his master's Bertie Wooster-like stupidity that he ends up throttling him first?
- GenresFictionWorld War IIWar
400 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2009
38 people want to read
About the author
James Delingpole
17 books35 followersJames Delingpole is a British journalist and novelist.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 23, 2020
Rounded down from 3.5ish. I haven’t read the first book in this series, I don’t know if I would have liked this more if I had.
I’ll be completely honest, I did not like the main character. He just wasn’t the ‘hero’ that was so desperately needed. At times I felt confused by what was happening. That being said, the action sequences in this book are good. I found my heart racing a little at times and anything to do with real battles in WWII is bound to tug at the heart strings.
This book was enjoyable enough, it just fell a little short for me.
I’ll be completely honest, I did not like the main character. He just wasn’t the ‘hero’ that was so desperately needed. At times I felt confused by what was happening. That being said, the action sequences in this book are good. I found my heart racing a little at times and anything to do with real battles in WWII is bound to tug at the heart strings.
This book was enjoyable enough, it just fell a little short for me.
May 24, 2019
A bit garbled with its chronology, and with a lead not quite charming or memorable enough to be either the Flashman or Bertie Wooster the cover wants us to believe he is. Nevertheless, there's something in here. It has a ring of authenticity to its tale, and if we never end up caring enough for Coward's personal quest, there's enough in the telling to engage.
July 29, 2020
Yeah didn't finish. A book set in World War 2, not really my thing. This also had the main character as a bloke, which I could have dealt with however when he was writing lines about early ejaculation while kissing a girl...yeah that was it for me. So couldn't be bothered finishing it. Too many good books too little time to waste on a book I'm not interested in.
January 18, 2012
Not-quite hero, not-quite anti-hero gets involved in the disastrous Arnhem campaign. Some laughs, a fair amount of pathos and some plain gruesome. "A Bridge Too Far" it isn't quite. Delingpole strains himself at places to be funny - it doesn't always work as he hopes. Sequel set-up used in sledgehammer fashion. Rated M for frequent strong war violence, coarse language and sexual references. 3/5
October 16, 2012
A follow up to Coward On The Beach but not as much impact even though the action sequences are very well delivered. Writing about military action is always a delicate balance between developing character and displaying the fruits of research. This is my particular field and I am only too aware of the traps for a writer. Delingpole avoids some of them but falls into others.
December 20, 2011
Read the first in the series and found it hard going but moved onto the second and have struggled and have not been able to finish. It is not the book I think, I was just looking for more action I suppose and this is more about other things.
November 20, 2014
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11829087
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11829087
July 4, 2012
Feeble, not funny, charmless, boring... enough said?
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews