
Parade's End: Some Do Not...; No More Parades; A Man Could Stand Up -; The Last Post
Julian Barnes and Ford Madox Ford
Book
Booker Prize-winner Julian Barnes introduces Ford Madox Ford's masterpiece Parade's End - now a...

ClareR (5854 KP) rated We Germans in Books
Aug 17, 2023
That letter is the book we read, with asides and clarifications from the grandson.
We don’t have a story that covers from the beginning to the end of the war. This is told from when things have started to go wrong for the Germans. The army is fragmented. The soldiers don’t really know where they’re going, but they know that they want to try and make it back to Germany - on foot. These men are scared, confused and the acts they see committed by both sides are horrific.
The grandson helps us to see the effects of the war on his grandfather, and his subsequent imprisonment in Russia. How 70 years post-war have changed him, how the war changed him as well. He acknowledges that he was to blame for what had happened as much as anyone else, but that he was expected to toe the line as a soldier.
This is historical fiction, but its well researched and has the hint of reality about it. It really gives the reader something to think about, and I know that personally, I haven’t found many books out there that cover this period of history in this way. I can’t say as it’s something I want to avidly read lots of books about, but having read this from a more human perspective (rather than a factual history book that lists dates and places), it feels very personal.
This is a short, powerful novel, and I think it’s worth the time spent reading it if you have an interest in either the time in history, or human nature.

This Boy
Book
Alan Johnson's childhood was not so much difficult as unusual, particularly for a man who was...

Lawrie Bond, Microcar Man: An Illustrated History of Bond Cars
Book
Once a common sight on Britain's roads, few people today seem to have heard of the Bond Minicar not...

British Military Intelligence: Objects from the Military Intelligence Museum
Book
This book tells the story behind items in the Military Intelligence Museum from the Second World...

Mark Halpern (153 KP) rated The Post (2017) in Movies
Jan 30, 2018
Great cast of Hanks and Streep makes this one of the best time period movies of the year

Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated The Book of Eli (2010) in Movies
Jun 15, 2020
The plot: Thirty years after war turned the world into a wasteland, a lone warrior named Eli (Denzel Washington) marches across the ruined landscape, carrying hope for humanity's redemption. Only one other man (Gary Oldman) understands the power of what Eli carries, and he is determined to take it for himself. Though Eli prefers peace, he will risk death to protect his precious cargo, for he must fulfill his destiny to help restore mankind.
I suggest if you watch it, watch it with subtitles. Cause its mostly whispering.

Everything is Wonderful: Memories of a Collective Farm in Estonia
Book
From 1993 to 1994, Sigrid Rausing completed her anthropological fieldwork on the penninsula of...

Ignition and Timing: A Guide to Rebuilding, Repair and Replacement
Book
This is an essential guide to ignition and timing, for classic car owners and restorers. Aimed at...

The Recovering: Intoxication and its Aftermath
Book
Addiction is seemingly inexplicable. From the outside, it can look like wilful, arrogant...