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The Bandy Papers #3
It's Me Again
“On the way back to the Front I ran over a general.” With this opening line you know that Bartholomew Bandy is back, with a vengeance. It may be 1918 and the war may be grinding on, but Bandy will make a difference. Now he’s in charge of his own squadron of Sopwith Dolphins, but although the hated Hun is pressing fiercely, Bandy’s prime enemy, as usual, is his own Top Brass.
Unable to cope with him, the military commanders post him to Russia, where the Western powers are intervening in the Civil War. Bandy has an exciting spell with the Allied forces in Russia, fighting Bolsheviks, capturing trains, meeting Trotsky, facing Communist firing squads, and, most terrifying of all, being a love slave to the diminutive Dasha Fillipovna.
Unable to cope with him, the military commanders post him to Russia, where the Western powers are intervening in the Civil War. Bandy has an exciting spell with the Allied forces in Russia, fighting Bolsheviks, capturing trains, meeting Trotsky, facing Communist firing squads, and, most terrifying of all, being a love slave to the diminutive Dasha Fillipovna.
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
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63 people want to read
About the author
Donald Jack
14 books9 followersNovelist, playwright, and scriptwriter. Best known for his "Bandy Papers" novels about WWI ace Bartholomew Bandy, which won Jack the Leacock award three times for volumes of the series. Also penned the first modern play performed at the Stratford Festival of Canada, and wrote numerous scripts for television and radio.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
unfinished
February 20, 2017Reminds me a bit of Biggles, only not as clean. The beginning didn't have many swear words, but they seem to intensify the more I read. I found it interesting that Bandy chose to abstain from drink, smoking, and sinful pleasures and was pleased that he got away from that one woman. Still, that particular scene was a little awkward and his plan on "being good" was for his own moral conscience, not because of God.
I decided not to finish this because of the language and because it wasn't extremely uplifting. The characters are quite fascinating and unique. I also loved the scenes of flying sorties!
*I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
I decided not to finish this because of the language and because it wasn't extremely uplifting. The characters are quite fascinating and unique. I also loved the scenes of flying sorties!
*I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
March 5, 2017
2.5 Stars
Full review to come!
Full review to come!
July 3, 2017
GNAB I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Donald Jack and Farrago in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all, for sharing your hard work with me.
Third historical novel in the Bandy Series, this is also a stand alone novel that is clever, witty and a quick read. Bandy is an excellent protagonist and I hope to read many more of his adventures during WWII.
Third historical novel in the Bandy Series, this is also a stand alone novel that is clever, witty and a quick read. Bandy is an excellent protagonist and I hope to read many more of his adventures during WWII.
March 7, 2022
"I think you've spent your entire career trying to make people think the worst of you" says General Ironside to our eponymous hero, Bartholomew Bandy - and this indeed probably best sums up this real curate'e egg of a book.
Think Forrest Gump, think William Boyd's Logan Mountstuart, think Rowan Atkinson's Johnny English - and you are somewhere in the same universe as our main protagonist - yet he is unique (and predates all the other three as it happens too).
In this, the third of the series following Bandy's travails, he spends most of the book as a fighter pilot above the trenches of World War 1 in northern France. But he ends up driving a steam engine through the course of the Russian revolution, coming into contact with various famous historical figures along the way. See the previous paragraph....
He's an interesting hero though, and not always easy to like - quite obnoxious at times, he seems to glorify in his horse like appearance, doesn't seem to worry too much about staying faithful to the wife he hardly know, gets drunk, does daft things and is generally one of those people who is constantly at least toe deep in the brown stuff, yet constantly comes up smelling of roses.
At times, the narrative can get a little tedious, a little self indulgent and sort of loses its way, which made it a lot harder to get through than possibly it should have. But there are more in the series, and I'm going to give them a go, as there is no doubt that there is black comedic potential galore in the life of Bartholomew Bandy.
Think Forrest Gump, think William Boyd's Logan Mountstuart, think Rowan Atkinson's Johnny English - and you are somewhere in the same universe as our main protagonist - yet he is unique (and predates all the other three as it happens too).
In this, the third of the series following Bandy's travails, he spends most of the book as a fighter pilot above the trenches of World War 1 in northern France. But he ends up driving a steam engine through the course of the Russian revolution, coming into contact with various famous historical figures along the way. See the previous paragraph....
He's an interesting hero though, and not always easy to like - quite obnoxious at times, he seems to glorify in his horse like appearance, doesn't seem to worry too much about staying faithful to the wife he hardly know, gets drunk, does daft things and is generally one of those people who is constantly at least toe deep in the brown stuff, yet constantly comes up smelling of roses.
At times, the narrative can get a little tedious, a little self indulgent and sort of loses its way, which made it a lot harder to get through than possibly it should have. But there are more in the series, and I'm going to give them a go, as there is no doubt that there is black comedic potential galore in the life of Bartholomew Bandy.
August 15, 2023
Humour - the continuation of the Bandy saga. He becomes wing leader and surprisingly is quite successful. The Spanish Flu lingers in the background throughout the story. To get rid of him he is sent to Russia to try and stop the Russian Revolution. Well written and funny.
No pharmacy references.
Canadian references - set in WWI with the Canadian forces; Bandy goes back to Canada.
No pharmacy references.
Canadian references - set in WWI with the Canadian forces; Bandy goes back to Canada.
March 13, 2019
All I can say is that if you want a great Laugh about the ups and downs of an incompetent and lovable bumbling hero of a flyer you have to read all of "The Bandy Papers Books. I have never laughed till I couldn't breath so much in my life.
November 1, 2023
Bandy continues to amuse. Otherwise, an amusing book and wraps up the first World War nicely.
March 1, 2017
If you crossed Biggles and Bertie Wooster, then threw in a dash of Eeyore, you'd get Bartholomew Bandy. This is a laugh-out-loud series.
January 26, 2023
Hilarious
July 1, 2018
always a great read. Back then we thought how a Canadian author could write such a good story.He did and thoroughly enjoyed reading most of the Bandy books It was to my delight that there were more to read!!!
November 23, 2025
Third volumne of the Bandy Papers, this time set during the latter years of the First World War.
It's a book of two parts that, at one stage, had me laughing so much I was nearly crying (during the first portion of the book, mainly concerned with Bandy's attempts to get official recognition for parachutes), even if the second portion of the book (mainly concerned with Russia) did not live up to the same promise.
It's a book of two parts that, at one stage, had me laughing so much I was nearly crying (during the first portion of the book, mainly concerned with Bandy's attempts to get official recognition for parachutes), even if the second portion of the book (mainly concerned with Russia) did not live up to the same promise.
March 1, 2012
Bandy is Canada's Good Soldier Sveik or All Quiet on the Western Front, and It's Me Again has one of the all-time great opening sentences: "On my way back to the Front, I ran over a general."
July 21, 2012
Fantastic novel. Without doubt the funnist book you will ever read!
February 10, 2016
Another Bandy-esk adventure. Bandy being Bandy, driving everyone crazy except when he's in the air. He's a genius when flying. Great humour and flying action....Read it, you will like it...
April 30, 2017
This is the third volume of The Bandy Papers. I have enjoyed all of them and I think this is the best so far.
It's Me Again opens with Major Bandy being sent to take command of a dispirited squadron in France. It is remarkably well organised, in that even the coal is whitewashed, for example, but is achieving very little with extremely high casualty rates. Bandy manages to turn this model of efficiency into "the most disreputable bunch of bandits" with one of the highest success rates and the tale of how he does it is, as always, amusing and very exciting and with Jack's typical excoriation of incompetent and uncaring administrators and commanders. There follows a brief interlude of social farce in Canada, and then Bandy is sent off to Russia to intervene in the civil war there. Again, Donald Jack manages to produce a superb mixture of knockabout humour and genuine excitement in a tale which is also plainly well researched. This section reminded me a little of Hornblower, as Bandy's unorthodoxy and resourcefulness produce unexpected results.
This is a great read. It is full of excitement, genuine humour and one episode of real, heart-piercing poignancy, showing what a fine writer Jack was. He has really hit his stride in It's Me Again; the two preceding books are excellent in parts but to me rather patchy, while this is consistently very good. I would suggest reading the first two books before this one, but it's not essential. Whether you do or not, this is a fine book and warmly recommended.
(I received an ARC via Netgalley.)
It's Me Again opens with Major Bandy being sent to take command of a dispirited squadron in France. It is remarkably well organised, in that even the coal is whitewashed, for example, but is achieving very little with extremely high casualty rates. Bandy manages to turn this model of efficiency into "the most disreputable bunch of bandits" with one of the highest success rates and the tale of how he does it is, as always, amusing and very exciting and with Jack's typical excoriation of incompetent and uncaring administrators and commanders. There follows a brief interlude of social farce in Canada, and then Bandy is sent off to Russia to intervene in the civil war there. Again, Donald Jack manages to produce a superb mixture of knockabout humour and genuine excitement in a tale which is also plainly well researched. This section reminded me a little of Hornblower, as Bandy's unorthodoxy and resourcefulness produce unexpected results.
This is a great read. It is full of excitement, genuine humour and one episode of real, heart-piercing poignancy, showing what a fine writer Jack was. He has really hit his stride in It's Me Again; the two preceding books are excellent in parts but to me rather patchy, while this is consistently very good. I would suggest reading the first two books before this one, but it's not essential. Whether you do or not, this is a fine book and warmly recommended.
(I received an ARC via Netgalley.)
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews