How Well Does the Algorithm really know me? 

Whenever I’m too tired to read (or even Game) but don’t want to go to bed (yes, I’m stubborn that way) I often find myself listening to music on YouTube – in addition, it must be said, to the music emanating from my radio 15 hours a day. About a month ago I was doing this and after about 30 minutes I thought it would, actually would HAVE, made a decent Blog post if ONLY I had made a note of the actual music tracks. 

So, a few days ago I was idly checking my phone and was prompted to listen to ‘Sleeping on the Blacktop’ by Colter Ward, so I clicked on it. Just as it was going to go to the next track, I noticed what it was and let it run... Then I thought... THIS is what I meant a month ago and grabbed a nearby note pad. Two tracks in I started to wonder: How much of my favourite music will it give me. Just how well does the Algorithm really KNOW me? Quite well, it seems! This is what it presented me with... 

Sleeping on the Blacktop by Colter Ward 

No Roots by Alice Merton 

Smells like Teen Spirit by Nirvana 

Gangsters Paradise by Coolio 

7 Nation Army by The White Stripes 

Song 2 by Blur 

Wonderwall by Oasis 

Solitary Man by Johnny Cash 

Drops of Jupiter by Train 

Breakfast at Tiffanys by Deep Blue Something 

I Think I’m Paranoid by Garbage 

Human by Rag’n Bone Man 

Makeba by Jain 

Barracuda by Heart 

A Thousand Years by Christina Perry 

Home by Machine Gun Kelly, X Ambassadors & Bebe Rexha 

Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm 

Roll the Bones by Shakey Graves 

Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol 

Broken People by Logic & Rag ‘n Bone Man 

Don’t Let me be Misunderstood by Nina Simone 

We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel 

Black Sheep by Metric (with Brie Larson) 

Creep by Radiohead 

My Silver Lining by First Aid Kit 

...and then it crashed out with something I didn’t like. Not BAD. 25 tracks in a row. I was honestly impressed.  

Happy Birthday: McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 – April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago blues". His style of playing has been described as "raining down Delta beatitude".

Muddy Waters grew up on Stovall Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi, and by the age of 17 was playing the guitar and the harmonica, copying local blues artists Son House and Robert Johnson. In 1941, Alan Lomax and Professor John W. Work III of Fisk University recorded him in Mississippi for the Library of Congress. In 1943, he moved to Chicago to become a full-time professional musician. In 1946, he recorded his first records for Columbia Records and then for Aristocrat Records, a newly formed label run by brothers Leonard and Phil Chess.

In the early 1950s, Muddy Waters and his band—Little Walter Jacobs on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Elga Edmonds (also known as Elgin Evans) on drums and Otis Spann on piano—recorded several songs that became blues classics, some with the bassist and songwriter Willie Dixon. These songs included "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "I'm Ready". In 1958, he traveled to England, laying the foundations of the resurgence of interest in the blues there. His performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960 was recorded and released as his first live album, At Newport 1960.

Muddy Waters' music has influenced various American music genres, including rock and roll and subsequently rock.

Just Finished Reading: The Art of Rest – How to Find Respite in the Modern Age by Claudia Hammond (FP: 2019) [264pp] 

I think I picked this up during a period of increased stress at work – or at least in the aftermath of a stressful time. I honestly don’t deal with stress very well and, as much as possible, avoid it where and when I can. I think I am pretty good at resting though! I don’t feel the pressure of constantly needing to DO something and most certainly don’t suffer (as some of my friends have done much to my bemusement) of FOMO – the ‘fear’ of ‘missing out’, which is something I’ve never really understood. Whatever and how much you do, you will ALWAYS be missing out on SOMETHING – so, get over it! 

Anyway, to the book itself. Rather typically it has taken me around 7 years to read it, which means I’ve actually been retired and living the LOW stress lifestyle for around 6 years now. But it was interesting to see what I could have done to lower or recover from stress by relaxing more. The contents of the book are based on the results of a global survey essentially asking people what they did to relax and then ranking them 1-10 in reverse order. Each section covered the relaxation strategy and, as much as possible, the scientific underpinnings of why and how it worked. I was somewhat surprised, although not completely, by how many of the 10 I actually practiced before reading this. Some of them I felt were pretty obvious whilst others seemed a bit more niche (if not exactly unique to me!). 

The 10th most popular made me laugh a little – Mindfulness. Although I’m aware of the ideas underpinning the idea, my only direct experience with it have been at work where we received advice and a few short training sessions to help us reduce our stress. Much cynicism resulted as we were all convinced that the ‘trendy’ idea was being used purely to tick boxes for Head Office. Number 7 was a Nice Hot Bath which made me smile. For speed and convenience throughout the week it was a shower for me. But on Sunday, as I had the time to take my time, I had a bath instead just to soak there and think about nothing in particular. Perfect. Number 4 was Listening to Music. This I do whenever I can and wherever I can. I used to wear headphones often, plugged into an MP3 player with my favourite downloaded music (or ripped from my CDs). It always made me feel like I was in an MTV music video. Music was on in my house during every waking moment – as it is at this very moment – and it certainly relaxes me (especially the Classical music I listen to 15 hours a day). The top method for relaxation honestly surprised me – Reading. It's not that I don’t think that reading IS relaxing – I certainly relax that way – but that so many people agree with me that it got to number ONE on so many people’s lists!  

So, if you’re struggling to relax and take time off from the daily grind this could be the book for you. It’ll certainly give you some ideas of how to wind down and may well help you achieve a slightly more relaxed outlook. Rather than buying it though I’d recommend you pick it up from your local library. Reasonable.   

Welcome to April. We made it! April is one of my favourite months for a number of reasons, and not just because its my birthday soon. It's the month when what few financial restraints I have are relaxed (not that I'm looking for anything particularly silly or expensive ATM... although a 13cm tall Space Marine WOULD look pretty cool next to my PC screen...) and its BOOK Month here @ SaLT which means you should notice a slight uptick in book related posts. Enjoy! 

Anyone else use this - especially when its been in the back of a dark cupboard for 10+ years? I think it actually gets stronger with age. Leave it for 20 years and one sniff will clear your sinuses, start a nose bleed and then blow the back of your head off!

Just Finished Reading: The Dry by Jane Harper (FP: 2016) [401pp] 

Australia, two years into the drought. Who could blame him for losing it? Going crazy? Killing his family and then himself? Horrible as it was people could understand, especially those in the small town of Kiewarra going through the same thing. Luke’s parents though, they couldn’t accept it. Not their son. They just couldn’t imagine him killing his wife, his son. No. But what other explanation was there? The police investigation was over. An open and shut case. Obvious. But still... It was Luke’s father who called Aaron Falk, a teenage friend who had left the town years earlier under a cloud of suspicion. Now in the Federal police looking into financial crime, he seemed the ideal person to look at the farms finances to see if anything stood out as a reason. Almost immediately questions started to appear. Why did the discarded shotgun shells not match anything on the farm? Why did Luke kill everyone except the 13-month-old baby? Guilt? Shame or something else? The more Aaron dug the more he found and he wasn’t alone. The new local cop had his suspicions too. But digging into the past, recent and distant, has consequences and some people want the past buried for good and for good reason. Be careful what you dig for... 

As usual I picked this up because it looked ‘different’ and that it languished in a pile of books for the best part of 10 years. Part of the reason I then picked it up was that it was based in Australia (adding variation to my fictional world tour) and that Sarah was enthusing about it over on her Blog. I was, to say the least, not disappointed. This novel had a wonderful sense of place, and you could almost FEEL the moisture being pulled out of you as you turned the pages. You feel Aaron’s shock of returning home to an area he knew so well now devastated by years long drought. There’s also a real feeling of animosity with some of the people he left behind. The author really gets across the complexity of emotions in all of her characters, and you KNOW how much I like good/great characterisation which we have here in spade!  

The mystery itself is very, very good. Although I had my suspicions about the killer, I also had similar suspicions of other residents that didn’t pan out (obviously). It's always great when you’re kept guessing to the end and the reveal isn’t a rabbit out of the hat gimmick but makes complete sense but you still didn’t see it coming. I don’t think I can fault this in any meaningful way – or at all actually! A good solid mystery, very good characterisation, a solid main character, good dialogue... and a quick read – so much so that I found myself slowing down to saviour it more. I could ask for a better more entertaining read and count this as one of the highlights of the year so far. Even better there’s a pair of sequels and I already own the first one. Definitely recommended to anyone who’s looking for a bloody good mystery thriller.  

[Highest page count of the year so far: 401pp][+2pp]

The Last 10 Books (I added to my Wish List) - March 2026  

As usual I’ve been adding books (and other things I won’t mention here) to my Wish List like it's the end of the world. As always, I blame a combination of YouTubers, Current Events, my Butterfly mind and updating my hardbacks to paperbacks. So, here they are:  

Made in Manchester: A Peoples History of the City that Shaped the Modern World by Brian Groom 

Irregular Army: How the US Military Recruited Neo-Nazis, Gang Members, and Criminals by Matt Kennard 

Hayek's Bastards: The Neoliberal Roots of the Populist Right by Quinn Slobodian 

Sceptred Isle: A New History of the Fourteenth Century by Helen Carr 

The Twilight War: The Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran by David Crist 

Lenin: A Biography by Robert Service 

Trotsky: A Biography by Robert Service 

The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism by Clara E. Mattei 

Escape From Capitalism: Economics is Political, and Other Liberating Truths by Clara E. Mattei 

Liverpool: A Story of Britain by Sam Wetherell 

A nice mix I think with the usual heavy emphasis on History. Zero idea when (or indeed IF) any of them will get purchased, but its highly likely I’ll be reading the book on Liverpool this year. I’m really looking forward to THAT one! 

Where in the World? - 2025/2026 edition  

Has it been a whole YEAR already? Time certainly flies when the news cycle is on super-spin mode! My regular readership will probably remember that I’m reading around the world in the sense that I’m reading fictionalised tales in real locations. This means that SF or Fantasy doesn’t count even if it takes place is a version of London or New York. But it’s the location that counts, not the authors origins or anything of that kind. So, where have I been this last year? Updates, as usual, in BOLD.   

Afghanistan – 2
Australia – 1
Botswana - ½
Burma – 1 (NEW)
Canada – 2
China – 2 (+1)
Crete - 1
Cuba – 2
Cyprus – 1 (NEW)
England – 95 ½ (+9)
Estonia - 1
France – 18 (+4)
Germany – 5 ½
Greece – 2
Holland - 1
India – 2
Ireland – 2 (+1)
Italy – 6 (+2)
Iraq - 1
Jamaica - 1
Japan – 5 ½ (+2)
Norway – 2
Malaya - 1
Portugal – 4 (+1)
Russia – 5 (+1)
Scotland - 2
South Africa – 1
Spain – 4 (+1)
Sweden - 3
Turkey - 2
Ukraine – 2 (+1)
USA – 63 (+5)
Vietnam – 3

That's presently just slightly under 17% of the world... by total number of countries, not total area or anything!
 

Although I’ve only added a disappointing TWO new countries to the list, I am encouraged by the spread even if the US and UK (OK, England) get the lion's share of visits! In the next 12 months I’m going to aim for at least THREE new countries and might even manage to push it to FOUR with a bit of effort. Wish me luck!  

Happy Birthday: Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a Welsh politician who was Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1970 to 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was Vice-President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. Kinnock was positioned on the soft left of the Labour Party.

Born and raised in South Wales, Kinnock was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1970 general election. He became the Labour Party's shadow education minister after the Conservatives won power in the 1979 general election. After the party under Michael Foot suffered a landslide defeat to Margaret Thatcher in the 1983 election, Kinnock was elected Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition. During his tenure as leader, Kinnock proceeded to fight the party's left wing, especially the Militant tendency, and he opposed NUM leader Arthur Scargill's methods in the 1984–1985 miners' strike. He led the party during most of the Thatcher government, which included its third successive election defeat when Thatcher won the 1987 general election. Although Thatcher had won another landslide, Labour regained sufficient seats for Kinnock to remain Leader of the Opposition following the election.

Kinnock led the Labour Party to a surprise fourth consecutive defeat at the 1992 general election, despite the party being ahead of John Major's Conservative government in most opinion polls, which had predicted either a narrow Labour victory or a hung parliament. Shortly afterwards, he resigned as Leader of the Labour Party; he was succeeded in the ensuing leadership election by John Smith. He left the House of Commons in 1995 to become a European commissioner. He went on to become Vice-President of the European Commission under Romano Prodi from 1999 to 2004, before being elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Kinnock in 2005. Until the summer of 2009, he was also the chairman of the British Council and the president of Cardiff University.

[I quite liked Kinnock. I think he would have made a pretty good PM. It's a shame he never got the chance. Instead we got John bloody Major...]

Interesting!

Just Finished Reading: Israel’s Forever War – Israel, Palestine and the Last Hopes for Peace by Paul Moorcraft (FP: 2024) [204pp] 

All eyes seem to be on the Middle East and Israel in particular at the moment and rightly so. With the Straight of Hormuz effectively closed and oil prices rising towards the stratosphere it's hard not to take notice. But why did this war actually happen? Whist not directly about the present adventure in the zone this interesting short book does look at some of the recent background to current events primarily inside Israel/Palestine as well as in the region generally. 

Primarily looking at events after the Hamas attack on 7th October 2023 and the following 12 months of Israel's response, the author attempts throughout to be as even handed and as unemotional as possible – quite possibly to the detriment of the narrative. He looks at the Camp David Accords in 1978, the Oslo Accords in 1993 as well as various summits, conferences and initiatives attempting the solve the ‘Palestinian Problem’ and the repeated attempts to achieve a ‘Two State Solution’ which, at least in my opinion, has been a pipe dream, a fantasy, from the earliest days. The author acknowledges the perception/reality of Gaza being an open-air prison as well as Israeli war-crimes perpetrated against the Palestinian people but, from memory, doesn’t use the word Genocide at any point. Maybe he didn’t agree with the definition or maybe he thought it too emotive, I’m not sure. 

He did point out some of the history of the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Hamas and how the Israeli government actually encouraged the existence and growth of Hamas as a counterweight to other Palestinian groups – essentially a way to divide and weaken all sides and prevent a unified front against Israeli occupation. Ironically this worked far better than anyone no doubt imagined. 

This is a very difficult topic to look at rationally. Emotions are VERY high on both sides and compromise seems (indeed probably is) impossible. History dies hard especially when SO much blood has been spilt over such a long timescale. Personally, I am not confident at all that anything can be resolved inside the existing Israeli borders. One particular thing that did jump out at me was a brief discussion about Israeli incursions into Southern Lebanon (happening yet again as I write this). The world was very surprised by how well Hezbollah forces did against the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) in 2006 effectively fighting them to a standstill. Hezbollah where trained and equipped by Iran. If US forces go into Iran in the coming days/weeks it probably won’t go as well as expected considering the guys who trained the group that held the IDF at bay will be facing them.  

Overall, I thought this a reasonable if rather short account of recent events in and around Israel. There are some irritating repetitions (I wondered if this was a somewhat rushed publication derived from a number of articles mushed together and not completely edited as it should have been) but it certainly wasn’t a poor/bad attempt at describing things. Its thinness (and proximity to events) did limit proper analysis but that wasn’t what the author was going for I suspect. If you just want a fairly brief and mostly high-level view of current events this could be what you’re looking for. Reasonable.  

[Side note: I do feel guilty about not reading about the Ukraine war yet (its coming). Along with reading up about Israel I guess I’ll also have to shoehorn a book or two about Iran and, probably, Cuba at some point. Wars not only teach Americans geography, but they also add to my TBR and generally I don’t need much help in that department.]  

They *tried* that here once... It did NOT go well. People just used other banks ATM's or got Cash Back from like ANY high street store!

Just Finished Reading: The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak (FP: 2021) [343pp] 

Cyprus, 1974. It was a bad time to be in love. It was a worse time to love across divided communities. Both Greek Kostas and Turkish Defne knew this but when has love ever been rational? Both of them knew that their families would be horrified at their relationship and both went to great lengths to hide it, but in a small community it wasn’t long before a few knew and a few more started to suspect. As the violence increased Kostas’ mother (who had already lost two sons to the conflict) decided to send him away to an uncle in England. It was only for a short while, until things improved. 25 years later Kostas returned home looking for his lost love. He wasn’t certain she was still alive or if she had moved on with her life, but he had to find out one way or another. 

London, late 2010s. Ada Kazantzakis, 16 years old, is tasked by her history teacher to write about a family member over the Christmas holidays. Coincidentally, her aunt who she has never met, arrives from Cyprus full of anecdotes and sayings from the Turkish side of the family. After an initial rough start Ada begins to discover details of her parent's lives before they moved to England and to discover the roots she had been searching for. 

This is not, as my regular readers will know, my normal read! It was, in essence, a love story (on the surface a simple Romeo & Juliet pairing but much more than that) although coupled with a (somewhat) coming of age tale. But it is much, much, more than that. For one thing this is a beautifully written book, easily the most beautiful read of the year for me. I can see why the author is so acclaimed and popular. It is also the tale of an island and a community that tore itself apart in the early 1970’s on religious/ethnic grounds which split the country in two where it remains to this day. I knew something of the actual events – watching them unfold on the nightly news in my early teens – but this novel made it far more personal and up close. [Side note: one of my early bosses in London was stationed in Cyprus with UN forces there to ‘keep the peace’ He had some interesting stories to tell]. As well as the conflict itself the author dropped in elements of the island's history going back centuries which, naturally, has prompted me to look for history books on the subject – especially regarding the history of the British there (recently in the news of course). 

I REALLY liked this. It was very well told, and I really liked the author's style. I’ll definitely be looking for more by her. I think a good part of this was the fact that it was a very different read. The other thing that really stood out (apart from the historic background) was the characters who seemed very real indeed. Although it's hard to choose who was my favourite, I think (if forced) I’d have to choose the Turkish Cypriot aunt Meryem who I found highly amusing for a host of reasons. [Another side note: Meryem cooks – a lot – and mentioned Turkish baklava. This reminded me of when one of the bosses in London took the admin team out one lunch time to a local Greek restaurant he liked. It was there that I had Greek baklava for the first time and loved it. I’ll see if I can source some of the (very different) Turkish variety and see if I like that too!] One last thing: although the natural environment figured quite a bit in the story, it's the first time that a TREE was a main character in the tale (outside Fantasy or SF novels where strange creatures are a given). It worked though, which shows how strong her characterisation skills are! Very highly recommended although sensitive souls will need a tissue handy for the sad bits. 

The Last 10 Movies – March 2026 edition. 

My movie watching has been really slow of late so it's basically taken me 3 months to watch 10 movies! I am about half way through another one with a further two lined up so, maybe, the gap to my next movie post won’t be SO long. One of the nice things about this set is the fact that there’s a sprinkling of new (to me!) movies between the old favourites. New films are in BOLD. 

Death of a Unicorn (2025) 

Passable comedy horror father/daughter bonding movie that had a few moments but was only just about watchable. 

Clueless (1995) 

Still amusing modern riff on Jane Austen’s Emma. Alicia Silverstone is both cute and funny. 

Kiss the Girls (1997) 

Still solid thriller based on a James Patterson novel... and it has Morgan Freeman in it, so.... 

Palm Springs (2020) 

Very funny and very clever ‘Groundhog Day’ of a group of people stuck in a time loop during a wedding. Rather philosophical at times and (for a change) a reasonably well thought out ending that made sense. 

Die Hard 2 (1990) 

I really wanted to watch the original, but it wasn’t available free, so.... It had its moments but didn’t have the zing and the tight plotting of the first movie. Nice try though... 

The Hunt (2020) 

A surprisingly good film about rich people hunting poor people for sport. Rather violent (as you might expect) and a little too ON the nose but definitely entertaining. I particularly liked the female lead, Betty Gilpin. 

Where Eagles Dare (1968) 

Need I say more? I’ve been fan-boying over this since I first saw it at age eight. 

The Big Short (2015) 

I finally saw this and was quite disappointed. Not a patch on Margin Call I thought. 

Underworld (2003) 

Still a reasonable film (and it has Kate Beckinsale in TIGHT leather) but starting to age a bit now. Some of the acting is VERY poor but I largely forgive it for the action scenes and Kate doing her thing... 

Dune Part 2 (2024) 

I was going to watch something else, but this dropped on Prime so... Rather long but still very impressive. It was only my 2nd viewing so I picked up on a few things I missed the first time. Looking forward to Part 3.  

Happy Birthday: Sir Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, three British Academy Film Awards and nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards. His films have grossed over US$11 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing actors of all time.

Oldman began acting in theatre in 1979 and made his film debut in Remembrance (1982). He appeared in the Royal Court Theatre in London and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, with credits including Cabaret, Romeo and Juliet, Entertaining Mr Sloane, Saved, The Country Wife and Hamlet. He rose to prominence in British film with his portrayals of Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy (1986), Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears (1987) and Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990). Regarded as a member of the "Brit Pack", he achieved greater recognition as an American gangster in State of Grace (1990), Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1991) and Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992).

Oldman portrayed villainous roles in True Romance (1993), Léon: The Professional (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), Air Force One (1997) and The Contender (2000). He has also played franchise roles such as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter series (2004–2011), James Gordon in The Dark Knight trilogy (2005–2012), Lord Shen in Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) and Dreyfus in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Sir Winston Churchill in the historical drama Darkest Hour (2017). He was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayals of George Smiley in the thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) and Herman J. Mankiewicz in the drama Mank (2020).

Oldman also wrote and directed the film Nil by Mouth (1997). He starred in the BBC television film The Firm (1989). Since 2022 he has starred as Jackson Lamb, a cantankerous British spy, in the Apple TV+ thriller series Slow Horses, a role for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. He also earned an Emmy nomination for his guest role as an inebriated actor on the NBC sitcom Friends in 2001. He has also acted in music videos for David Bowie, Guns N' Roses and Annie Lennox. He was made a Knight Bachelor by King Charles III in the 2025 Birthday Honours.

Just Couldn’t Finish Reading: Camelot and the Vision of Albion by Geoffrey Ashe (FP: 1971) [220pp] 

It seems that whilst growing up in England you absorb the legends and myths surround King Arthur simply by breathing in the air. Even without doing TOO much research I came probably name most of the characters and most of the highlights off the top of my head. I actually picked this book up decades ago (long after its publication date though!) and have, finally, gotten around to reading it. Unfortunately, it really wasn’t what I was looking for. 

The author was well placed to discuss all things Arthurian – and I do mean ALL (which was the main issue I had here) - having been the editor of a book on the subject with contributions of eminent scholars and being involved in the archaeological dig at Cadbury Hill fort where Arthur (the real one) apparently had his headquarters. So, things started out pretty well... 

The author made some interesting observations about the ancient origins of the Arthur legend – going back to Ancient Greece no less – which I kind of went along with (for the most part) but I think he hit his sweet spot with the discussion of the REAL Arthur in the 5th Century and the evidence for his existence and where exactly some of the storied locations might have actually happened. Unfortunately, after this, things got a little.... weird. Not only did the author bring in the Vikings, which seemed reasonable, there were diversions into early British Christianity and then into the Russian Revolution, Zionism and Ghandi.... So, weird...  

Although SOME of what he said was interesting – from a general standpoint – the problem I had was the authors growing lack of focus on the subject at hand: Arthur and the legend that surrounded him. More discussion on how the legend arose (there was some of that here but nowhere near enough) as well as how it changed over time to suit changing times (ditto) without the distractions from other parts of the world would have helped a LOT here. But much to my annoyance such an investigation was largely absent. 

No doubt there are much better books out there on Arthur and his Round Table etc.. I do have one more (much more modern and substantial – at least on page count) which I’ll see to include this year but, for the time being, I might see if I can schedule in some of my fiction/fantasy Arthurian reads. Regrettably not recommended. 

"Air power is an unusually seductive form of military strength because, like modern courtship, it appears to offer gratification without commitment."

Eliot Cohen, 'The Mystique of US Air Power', Foreign Affairs 1994.

Just Finished Reading: Paths of Glory by Humphrey Cobb (FP: 1935) [201pp] 

The Western Front, France. It was a mistake, just not the one they suspected. After only 5 hours at the rest area, the 181st Company were on the way back to the front line – although a different section than before. Even the officers didn’t quite know why they were marching back so soon after being relieved. After weeks of exhausting combat, they certainly needed, and deserved, their rest but the veterans were cynical enough to shrug their shoulders, grumble and keep moving. On arrival at their new trench the Colonel finally received his orders. In two days, they would assault and take the German position known locally as ‘The Pimple’ and hold it until relived. This would be the third attempt and would not fail, indeed the General’s reputation and hoped for promotion depended on it. The attack, as everyone suspected, failed in spectacular fashion and with significant French casualties. Not satisfied with the effort, or lack of according to the General, a court martial was called and four of the attackers would be put on trial for cowardice in the face of the enemy – a capital offence. With the weight of the General Staff ranged against them is there any hope or will they all be shot at dawn? 

I’d seen the 1957 movie adaptation directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Kirk Douglas a few times so was looking forward to reading this. I was not disappointed. Although the movie is somewhat different the main core of the story remains the same – with the attack, the longer court scenes and the ending making it across media largely intact. The biggest change I think was the inflation of the role of Colonel Dax (the regiments commander) from a fairly peripheral role in the book to a central one in the movie as befits the star of the film. Being a quite short book, it doesn’t have any time to pad the plot and this spareness intensifies the tension as the unit involved come to terms with the objective they’re about to attack (from the perspective of a great deal of experience) and their incredulity at standing trial accused of a cowardice they did not commit. Each section leader was given the task of choosing one of their men to stand trial, knowing exactly what the outcome would be, and their choices of how to do so was fascinating – especially that of the devoutly Catholic Major. We also get to know the men on trial and how each reacts to their predicament. Again, sparse text results in excellent characterisation. 

I was honestly hooked on this story from the off. Despite being dropped straight into things – mid march from the Front before being called back – there is no need to settle into things, and you fall right into the action. I’m guessing that this is because, at least looking back on the events over 100 years ago, we have enough cultural touchstones so little explanation is required. On publication, less than 20 years after the event, many of the readers could draw on personal experience to fill out any background. Despite being written by an American who served with the Canadians on the Western Front this brilliant novel has a very French feel to it and actually reminded me of Under Fire by Henri Barbusse. Although not exactly an anti-war novel per se, this narrative hits HARD. Don’t expect to come away from this untouched emotionally but do expect to find yourself in the days and weeks after finishing it pausing for thought. Quite excellent and therefore definitely recommended.