In Defence of Britains Middle Eastern Empire: A Life of Sir Gilbert Clayton
Book
T E Lawrence (of Arabia) described his war-time chief as "the perfect leader", a man who "worked by...
Awix (3310 KP) rated Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) in Movies
Apr 9, 2019
Well-mounted set pieces, and plenty of them, plus Michelle Yeoh gets an eye-catching role as the 'Oh, James!' character, but the problem is that the rest of it feels like karaoke Bond, without the self-awareness or attempts to move the franchise on that lifted GoldenEye somewhat - plus, it's just not as well written. The result is a mid-range entry in the series, assuming one overlooks the schoolboy error of Bond not being able to read Chinese (as any fule kno, he got a First in Oriental Languages at Cambridge). This still equates to an entertaining movie, just not an exceptional one.
Lumumba: Africa's Lost Leader
Book
Patrice Lumumba (1925-61) is perhaps the most famous leader of the African independence movement....
My Silent War: The Autobiography of a Spy
Book
In the annals of espionage, one name towers above all others: that of H.A.R. 'Kim' Philby, the...
Hopeful - An Autobiography
Book
Omid Djalili's childhood was unconventional, to say the least. He was raised in a beautiful,...
The Nightmare Stacks: A Laundry Files Novel
Book
Alex Schwartz had a great job and a promising future - until he caught an unfortunate bout of...
David McK (3425 KP) rated The Devil's Assassin (Jack Lark, #3) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
For some reason, I found Jack to be less of a likable character than before, meaning I never really rooted for him as much as in the previous two ([b: The Scarlet Thief|18752323|The Scarlet Thief (Jack Lark, #1)|Paul Fraser Collard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1383577532s/18752323.jpg|24752025] and [b: The Maharajah's General|21307578|The Maharajah's General (Jack Lark, #2)|Paul Fraser Collard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1418764237s/21307578.jpg|25081676]), with the identity of the spy also - I felt - telegraphed pretty early on! OK, I may not have seen *why* they did it, however ...
Ending with Jack Lark honourably discharged, and able to - finally - use his own identity again, I also wonder just what the hook for the next novel will be. That's not to say, however, that I won't be reading it!
Waterloo Letters
Book
This collection of letters from survivors of the Waterloo Campaign was gathered in the 1830s and...
Horse Under Water
Book
The dead hand of a long-defeated Nazi Third Reich reaches out to Portugal, London and Marrakech in...
Moskva
Book
'Even better than Child 44' Daily Telegraph 'Given that the definitive thriller in 1980's Moscow...