Book corner - What are you reading, and Why?
#61

A woman of no importance. Written by Sonia Purnell. It is about a american woman Virginia Hall unknown to us all i'm sure ,recruited in to the british S.O.E secret service at the start of the second world war.One of the first agents to get in to france and successfully help start the resistance.This book is well written and the history well told, highly recommended.
#62
Banned









Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2015
Location: Algarve, Portugal.
Posts: 4,478












A woman of no importance. Written by Sonia Purnell. It is about a american woman Virginia Hall unknown to us all i'm sure ,recruited in to the british S.O.E secret service at the start of the second world war.One of the first agents to get in to france and successfully help start the resistance.This book is well written and the history well told, highly recommended.

Married to a Frenchman before occupation.. Lived in a rural part and....??? Parachuted back in. Never caught because of...(something). Features of the typical English Rose. Decorated.
How bad's my memory?
#63
BE Forum Addict









Joined: May 2012
Location: Cayman Islands
Posts: 4,328












I'm re-reading "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac, published in 1957, reckoned to be a sort of early-hippies' bible. I'm blessed with a bad memory for books, which enables me to forget the content while remembering the pleasure it brought me during my first reading. I'm certainly enjoying this book the second time around.
#64
Forum Regular



Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 221












Just about to start "The Silmarillion" for the umpteenth time. I love it and in my opinion it's Tolkiens best work. After that I'm going to read "The Fall of Gondolin" which is an extended chapter of "The Silmarillion" and which my daughter just bought in hardback yesterday....
#65


#68

The new book is called( The operators on the streets with britain's most secret service )By James Rennie just read three chapters but already riveting.we have just been accepted into the SAS well worth 99p
#69
BE Enthusiast





Joined: Nov 2019
Location: St Pée sur Nivelle
Posts: 975












Perhaps you have read it and if so apologise for the recommendation.
#70

I have been a 'war freak' all my life. The Vietnam war has always been of particular interest; maybe because it happened when I was a teenager. Whatever: One book I would highly recommend is HUE 1968 by Mark Bowden. An absolutely incredible account of the battle of Hue during the conflict. Honestly, it makes Chickenhawk sound a stroll in the park and I mean no disrespect to those pilots.
Perhaps you have read it and if so apologise for the recommendation.
Perhaps you have read it and if so apologise for the recommendation.
#71
Dedicated European










Joined: Mar 2017
Location: Buda
Posts: 6,394












Just finished John Le Carré's "Agent running in the field" - brilliant, as always, very topical with some very choice opinions & comments on brexit, Trump, etc!
#72
Banned









Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2015
Location: Algarve, Portugal.
Posts: 4,478












I have been a 'war freak' all my life. The Vietnam war has always been of particular interest; maybe because it happened when I was a teenager. Whatever: One book I would highly recommend is HUE 1968 by Mark Bowden. An absolutely incredible account of the battle of Hue during the conflict. Honestly, it makes Chickenhawk sound a stroll in the park and I mean no disrespect to those pilots.
Perhaps you have read it and if so apologise for the recommendation.
Perhaps you have read it and if so apologise for the recommendation.
Also, a very interesting view of events from a female perspective and a civilian is the book, Vietnam and Me by Chris Noel, whose experiences during the war, and right up to date, show the true costs of a lost war.
#73

I have just finished reading "The Volunteer." It's based on a true story of a Polish guy who volunteered to get himself sent to Auschwitz, to see what was happening there. He then reported back to the Polish underground resistance in Warsaw. The book follows Auschwitz camp from it's early days through to it's development as a part of "The Final Solution", as well as the building of Birkenau. Despite the harrowing nature of the subject, I found it engrossing.
#75

I have just finished reading "The Volunteer." It's based on a true story of a Polish guy who volunteered to get himself sent to Auschwitz, to see what was happening there. He then reported back to the Polish underground resistance in Warsaw. The book follows Auschwitz camp from it's early days through to it's development as a part of "The Final Solution", as well as the building of Birkenau. Despite the harrowing nature of the subject, I found it engrossing.
Last edited by el collado kid; Dec 2nd 2019 at 7:49 am. Reason: forgot