My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audio Book) Twenty-year-old Jean Paget is captured by the Japanese while working in Malaya during World War Two. Along with a group of women and children she is forced to march through the jungle while the enemy figures out what to do with their prisoners. Meeting some Australian…
Category: War
‘Burke in the Land of Silver’ by Tom Williams
My Review (4 stars out of 5) Taking on the role of a spy, soldier James Burke reinvents himself as a Buenos Aires leather merchant, and with his trusty assistant William, sets off to aid efforts to free Argentina from Spain. Caught between two warring factions, Burke is faced with a difficult task and soon…
‘The Great Escape’ by Paul Brickhill
My Review (5 stars out of 5) The classic wartime adventure story that tells how 600 men worked on a plan that would eventually result in 76 men escaping from a prisoner-of-war camp. With men engaged in digging, forging passports and other documents, making suitable escape outfits and keeping the Germans occupied when they got…
‘High Risk’ by Ben Timberlake
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) Ben Timberlake delves into his various careers and non-careers as an archaeologist, Special Forces soldier, combat medic and drug addict, emerging in one piece, though perhaps not quite the same man as he once was. From a truly scary near-death experience in a very dodgy bar in…
‘The American Crusade’ by Mark Spivak
*** May 2001. Islamic terrorists crash a Boeing 737 into the Mall of America, killing three thousand people. With the nation in fear for their lives, Vice President Robert Hornsby has the opportunity to stamp his fervent beliefs on his country and become the most powerful vice president in American history. But can Hornsby succeed…
‘Diary of a Young Girl’ by Anne Frank
Diary of a Young Girl Teenager Anne Frank’s record of life in a secret annexe for more than two years during World War Two, is a unique document, portraying innocence and humanity, suffering and survival in the starkest and most moving terms. This version of Anne’s diary brings together all the versions of the book,…
‘Doctor Zhivago’ by Boris Pasternak
Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak’s epic novel of love and war throws physician and poet Yuri Zhivago into the lives of two women. Epic is certainly the word, here, and knowing I’d never attempt this in book form, the audio version seemed like a good option. Although it’s basically a decent story, if somewhat improbable (all…
‘There Was a Country’ by Chinua Achebe
There Was a Country From the author of ‘Things Fall Apart’, ‘There Was a Country’ is Chinua Achebe’s long-awaited account of the significant experiences of his life, most notably during the Nigerian Civil War (or Biafran War). Charting one of the last century’s greatest humanitarian disasters, successful novelist Achebe recalls his observations as a spectator…
‘The Reckoning’ by John Grisham
The Reckoning (Audiobook) 1946. In Clanton, Mississippi, the townspeople are left shocked and confused when local farmer and war hero Pete Banning drives over to the Methodist Church and shoots and kills the Reverend Dexter Bell. Instructing a bystander to fetch the sheriff, Banning returns home to await his arrest. However, what baffles everyone, not…
‘Biggles and the Black Peril’ by Captain WE Johns
Biggles and the Black Peril After a clammy white mist makes visibility impossible, flying ace James Bigglesworth and his pal Algy are forced to land their Vandal amphibian somewhere in Norfolk. The apparently desolate landscape prompts the pair to do a spot of exploring with a view to finding somewhere to eat. However, on discovering…
