is a parity of a particular fantasy series. The plot such as it is describes the attempt on the part of the now grown up Barry Trotter to stop a movie being created. It's quite funny. There's a lot of puns and bathroom humor which is to be expected. There is also some good situational humor. It's not line for line satire but it does make some excellent points about the books. There's actuallya message buried underneath everything else about fandom and the entertainment industry.Highly recommended if you have a sense of humor about Harry Potter [whoops I did say it].
For more Science Fiction and Fantasy book reviews take a look at My Science Fiction and Fantasy bookshelf.
is the memoirs of the top scoring allied fighter pilot in the second world war. The narrative starts off just prior to the war. The training was difficult. There was very little information given on the experiences of combat. It was mostly the technicalities of flight. He spent most of his time with Canadian units. There are various funny anecdotes. There's also a discussion of tactics and strategies for air combat as well as analysis of the various fighter types. The combats are excellently described its quite easy to understand what's going on.
is a history of this British military unit. There were ad hoc military intelligence organizations put in place up until the late 19th century. It was only in World War I that the Corps was created. The bulk of the book is taken up with the second world war. There were various intelligence gathering techniques including photo reconnaissance, prisoner interrogation and signals intelligence. The differences in Outlook of Germans from different areas where interesting. The postwar history of the unit is described particularly its involvement in various counterinsurgency operations. There are notes but no bibliography. There are appendices. I would have preferred a little more objectivity in this book the core never did anything wrong. Which tends to be one of the weaknesses of unit historys.
is a relatively short history of the town of Auschwitz and the concentration camp. The Jewish community which was there from the 13th century is described. Most of the book is taken up with the creation of the camp originally as a prison for political prisoners then it's evolution into the death camp. The bureaucratic operations as well as the various areas of the facilities are analyzed. This includes the satellite camps set up for various German businesses. The book concludes with a discussion of the various trials of personnel after World War II. There's also a brief discussion of the neo-Nazi attempt to discredit the history of the camp. Book contains a bibliography as well as a list of primary sources. Surprisingly no endnotes.
is a history of the Chinese invasion and occupation of Tibet for the first 20 years or so. The author a French anthropologist spent time there meeting with the warlike tribes who were attacking the Chinese. The Dalai Lama comes off quite badly particularly for his attempts to deal with the Chinese prior to leaving for India. There are no citations but there is a bibliography.
is a history of the Anglo-Irish War 1919-1921. The British strategy such as it was is criticized particularly the use of the Black and Tans who basically terrorized the population. The IRA is also criticized for its use of terror. Unfortunately there are no citations the bibliography is very short. Bennett's style such as it is has similarities to newspaper writing. There's a lot of hyperbole here fired off at both sides.
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