Overview

My brother officers. Are they human? Thus reads the first journal entry of twenty-three-year-old John Verney, graduate of Eton and Oxford, lover of modern art and literature, who has, almost on a whim, joined a part-time cavalry regiment of the British Army in 1937. At the outbreak of World War II two years later, Verney arrives in the Middle East and there learns, almost in spite of himself, to be a soldier. In 1943, he becomes a parachutist and leads a drop into Sardinia to attack German airfields. His adventures there -- two weeks wandering through enemy territory, his capture, and his eventual escape -- are brilliantly told. Woven into the fabric of this narrative of a young man growing reluctantly to maturity and coming to terms with military life, are Verneys thoughts and feelings about his wife, Lucinda, and the child he has never seen, and his longing to return to them.

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9781589881310

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Reviews

One of the best memoirs of the Second World War. --The Independent It is a mixture of truth and fiction and a very agreeable mixture, told with a freshness and humor which make delightful reading. --The Economist This short, witty book is a triumph. --Observer An exciting writer of new talent. --Sunday Times This book is unclassifiable: commentary, autobiography, satire by turns: but it is wholly readable, wholly successful. The author stands spokesman for a whole generation. --Daily Telegraph

Delightful reading. --The Economist This book is unclassifiable: commentary, autobiography, satire by turns: but it is wholly readable, wholly successful. The author stands spokesman for a whole generation. --Daily Telegraph This short, witty book is a triumph. --Observer An exciting writer. --Raymond Mortimer, Sunday Times

Author Information

John Verney authored twelve books and illustrated countless others. He lived in the English countryside with his large family.

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