Gary > Recent Status Updates

Just started!

Great descriptions of Hitler's descent into a raving nutcase.

Leithen, our hero, is on the case of the mysterious Mr Lumley, and is feeling vulnerable.

This narrative demonstrates several main points:
1. Germany was unprepared for a big war;
2. Hitler was unqualified to run a war and his generals were too spineless to put up a united front against his foolish decisions, even as early as 1941;
3. The German Army was incredible, fighting for months with almost no rest, little maintenance and reducing numbers of men and equipment against overwhelming odds but winning.

Our hero, Richard Hannay, has escaped the clutches of both the police and the baddies – for now! He is in Scotland, on the run. Gosh, it's exciting! :-)

I am now reading about the campaign in the Soviet Union: Operation Barbarossa. Guderian gives us a blow-by-blow account of the initial attacks across the Bug and the drive on Minsk and Smolensk. It's fascinating.

I am very much enjoying this new novel by C.M. Gray. I have whizzed through the first seven chapters and can't wait to get back to it. Our main protagonist has now been recruited by S.O.E. and is undergoing specialist training in Scotland.
The writing is great and the story feels realistic in most aspects. Roll on Chapter 8!

Much of the BEF is reaching Dunkirk, thanks to the heroic and unsung heroes of other British units fending off the German advance. The Waffen SS have already committed war crimes, having massacred prisoners and civilians. The Royal Navy is getting men off, but have already lost a dozen ships, bombed by the Luftwaffe. The outlook is bleak but British pluck will see them through!

The BEF are fighting like hell and causing the Germans a lot of problems while they suffer and die. The Anglo-French relationship is suffering; the under-trained and undisciplined French army has not stood and fought in several places, which let the Germans through and get behind the BEF, which is becoming surrounded. The only option now is to get them out to fight another day, which the French see as abandonment.

The relationship between the French and the British is deteriorating. It doesn't bode well.

The children are enjoying their adventures, currently in Babylon!

We haven't got anywhere near Dunkirk yet because we're being treated to the history of the Nazi invasion since 10 May, which is both fascinating and necessary to understand why it happened. Our French allies are not doing well, unfortunately; neither their government nor their generals are fit to lead, so their undisciplined, badly trained men have no faith they can hold out against a highly efficient Wehrmacht.

I have read the two Introductions and am now into the text. Excellent so far.

I am now reading the final volume, The Story of the Amulet. More adventures for the children!

Great book. The phoney war is over and the fighter boys are trying to fend off hordes of Messerschmitt bf109s and Heinkel and Dornier bombers from France and the low countries, while being severly outnumbered. Good luck, lads, you need it.

I think this book will appeal to younger children but some 10 year olds may find it silly.

Further adventures of the Five Children. No Sammyad this time but a golden phoenix and a magic carpet – awesome!

Over-egged my page count earlier! Only on P. 58.

The first part of the book covers the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in WWI and the development of aircraft and the fledgling RAF prior to WWII. Well written with numerous personal stories. Loving it!

So many suspects and an intriguing plot. Great stuff from the queen of crime.

A fascinating look at London life in the 1830s.

The plot thickens! Two admissions of murder, but did either of them do the dirty deed? MIss Marple is not convinced ...

Just started as a little light counterpoint to the Dickens essays I'm also reading.

Excellent description of the experience of booking and catching a coach in the early morning – it made me cold just reading it!

This is a collection of Dickens' essays, which are based on his extensive and inspirational journeys on foot all around the capital. He wrote notes as he went and mingled with the ordinary working people, criminals, police, lawyers ansd all manner of others, rich and poor: mainly poor. These gave him the inspiration for his novels, which have gifted us a detailed and fascinagting history of the London of the C19th.

I'm about halfway through and Bendrix is discovering more about his former lover, having been agonising over her loss. He recognises that he destroyed the relationship himself in many ways but struggles without her. Her husband appears, on the face of it, blissgully ignorant of her affairs. This is another in-depth analysis of a relationship by an author who has great skill in portraying them.

Incredibly well researched and comprehensive social history of Germany after the war.

This is pretty amazing – a complete social history of Germany in the late 40s and early 50s. Well researched and explained – fascinating.