Just Finished Reading: The Attack by Yasmina Khadra (FP: 2005) [257pp] 

Tel Aviv, Israel. They heard the explosion from the hospital so had already started preparing for the casualties before they arrived. Dr Amin Jaafie saved lives that day but lost some too. The bomb had done its work well. The restaurant had been destroyed and 11 people including children lay dead. Exhausted by the time he returned home he barely had time to register that his wife had not yet returned from visiting her mother before he fell into a deep dreamless sleep. Only hours later the phone rang asking, ordering, him back to the hospital in the early hours of the morning. His wife had been found dead at the bombsite. Before he could even process the news, he was told that her wounds were consistent with those of a suicide bomber. His wife of 15 years was responsible for the attack. With that one call Dr Jaafie's world began to fall apart. How could she do this? How could she have become radicalised without him knowing or realising? Who had changed her and how could she leave him in such a way? Despite the warnings from the authorities, he was going to find the answers to these questions no matter the cost. But Dr Jaafie is unprepared for the answers he will find. His secular lifestyle and insulation from the realities of the region and its history of conflict are about to be called into question like never before. 

As usual I picked this up around 20 years ago because it 'looked different' and then, again as usual, it sat in a pile of books untouched until recently. I had a fair idea what to expect from the blurb but honestly didn't expect how intense it turned out to be. Dr Jaafie is a great character. His world falls apart organically after the initial shock so it's not hard to feel every emotion he goes through from confused denial to grief to anger to self-destructive rage. It is not a pleasant journey for him or for the reader! Being initially isolated from the conflict he comes to it as the reader does – partially informed (or misinformed) - and slowly uncovers the reality of life for Arabs under occupation. The well drawn characters he meets along the way – from extended family members to hardened terrorists are all nuanced with realistic backstories and motivations. Not once did I roll my eyes or find myself ejected from the narrative. These people were real. Likewise, the situation 'on the ground' and the environment Dr Jaafie moved through felt like watching an in-depth documentary or well researched docudrama. 

As you might imagine from this brief overview (and especially with the ongoing genocide in Gaza) this is not a read for the faint of heart. Apart from the rollercoaster of emotions the doctor goes through as he investigates his wife's death this is very much about the costs and consequences of terrorism in all of its bloody reality. It is, however, a far, far cry from a sensationalist thriller. It hits HARD but is worth the emotional capital you'll need to turn the pages. I can't say that I 'enjoyed' the experience but I'm definitely glad that I finally picked this up to read. More to come from this author – that's a given. 

Translated from the French by John Cullen.    

Happy Birthday: Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek (24 October 1632 – 26 August 1723) was a Dutch microbiologist and microscopist in the Golden Age of Dutch art, science and technology. A largely self-taught man in science, he is commonly known as "the Father of Microbiology", and one of the first microscopists and microbiologists. Van Leeuwenhoek is best known for his pioneering work in microscopy and for his contributions toward the establishment of microbiology as a scientific discipline.

Raised in Delft, Dutch Republic, Van Leeuwenhoek worked as a draper in his youth and founded his own shop in 1654. He became well-recognized in municipal politics and developed an interest in lensmaking. In the 1670s, he started to explore microbial life with his microscope.

Using single-lensed microscopes of his own design and make, Van Leeuwenhoek was the first to observe and to experiment with microbes, which he originally referred to as dierkens, diertgens or diertjes. He was the first to relatively determine their size. Most of the "animalcules" are now referred to as unicellular organisms, although he observed multicellular organisms in pond water. He was also the first to document microscopic observations of muscle fibers, bacteria, spermatozoa, red blood cells, and crystals in gouty tophi, and was among the first to see blood flow in capillaries. Although Van Leeuwenhoek did not write any books, he described his discoveries in chaotic letters to the Royal Society, which published many of his letters in their Philosophical Transactions.

Just Finished Reading: Sealand – The True Story of the World's Most Stubborn Micronation by Dylan Taylor-Lehman (FP: 2020) [285pp] 

I'm not sure when I first heard of Sealand. It was probably in the late 1960's as, no doubt, my parent's tabloid newspaper had reported its occupation to be used as an illegal pirate radio platform. Sealand or, as it was originally named, Roughs Tower is a small platform (around 400 square metres in size) located around 11Km off the English coast in the North Sea - pictured below. Its original function was as an anti-aircraft installation in WW2 but, as you might imagine, fell into disuse after the fighting stopped. Subsequently ignored and left to rot for years afterwards it was eventually, and illegally, occupied in 1967 by Roy Bates (and family) and declared an independent micro-state shortly after. 

As you might imagine the British government really didn't know what to do about this new 'country' popping up on its doorstep. For one thing it was (at the time) just outside Britain's territorial waters so, at least technically, they had no ownership rights to the structure. This was one reason why Roy Bates wanted it – so that he could install a pirate radio station there and cash in on the craze for such things at the time (the pirate radio stations mostly disappeared after BBC Radio 1 came on-line a few years later). 

The British government did muse over taking the platform by force (which could be easily accomplished by the Royal navy and Marines) but considered it both low priority and potentially very bad 'optics' especially in the age of decolonisation! The Bates family had enough excitement of their own though – with an armed coup, equally armed countercoup, police involvement, arrests and court appearances, international concern over abuse of Sealand passports and much more – never mind the notoriously severe North Sea storms. Being associated with and living on Sealand was far from a cushy existence! 

This was certainly an interesting look at one of the stranger aspects of British/North Sea history. The author looked at the Sealand project in exhaustive (and sometimes exhausting) detail which occasionally morphed into rather annoying fanboy territory. That criticism aside I rather enjoyed this slice of British eccentricity, and it was good to discover the details behind something, and somewhere, that I'd heard very little about previously. An odd little read. Reasonable.