Stoppage Drill Posted 13 September , 2013 Share Posted 13 September , 2013 Anybody remember his dad, reporting for Picture Post from Normandy ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 13 September , 2013 Share Posted 13 September , 2013 No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 13 September , 2013 Share Posted 13 September , 2013 Macdonald Hasting - a huntin, shootin' and fishin' kind of a chap. A stout fellow. He worked as a journo on the truly important magazine Picture Post during WW2 (edited by Stephan Lorenz a Hungarian I believe who an émigré from Hitler's Germany) and with great photographers like the late Hardy. He was also on television with the likes of Michelmore, Ffyfe Robertson et al and was involved in the Eagle Comic of blessed memory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blincodave Posted 13 September , 2013 Share Posted 13 September , 2013 Picked up a copy at Smith's in Cambridge for £7.59. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay dubaya Posted 13 September , 2013 Share Posted 13 September , 2013 Max Hastings cut price = Extracts punish magic Dave, I'll give you 3 ants, a half eaten packet of fig rolls and a go on my spud gun for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blincodave Posted 13 September , 2013 Share Posted 13 September , 2013 Thanks for your kind offer Jay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanCurragh Posted 13 September , 2013 Share Posted 13 September , 2013 Jay - do you actually have a point to make? Other than you've found a website that makes anagrams? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 13 September , 2013 Share Posted 13 September , 2013 I do love this forum - only here could we heatedly discuss a book none of us has yet read! I suggest that we all furnish ourselves with a copy first, read it completely, and then re-convene here for battle. William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay dubaya Posted 13 September , 2013 Share Posted 13 September , 2013 Jay - do you actually have a point to make? I think I've probably made it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithfazzani Posted 13 September , 2013 Share Posted 13 September , 2013 I do love this forum - only here could we heatedly discuss a book none of us has yet read! I suggest that we all furnish ourselves with a copy first, read it completely, and then re-convene here for battle. William I noticed this afternon that it is half price, £15, in Waterstones. I didn't buy it, my pile of "to be read books" is becoming ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cullbaggie Posted 13 September , 2013 Share Posted 13 September , 2013 I noticed this afternon that it is half price, £15, in Waterstones. I didn't buy it, my pile of "to be read books" is becoming ridiculous. likewise, my wife complains now that my bedside light hardly gives out any light with the to be read pile! all ww1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 13 September , 2013 Share Posted 13 September , 2013 I do love this forum - only here could we heatedly discuss a book none of us has yet read! I suggest that we all furnish ourselves with a copy first, read it completely, and then re-convene here for battle. William Now what on earth would be the fun in that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 13 September , 2013 Share Posted 13 September , 2013 I confess the words "Max Hastings" and "Catastrophe" always go well together. One of my heroes, Lord Conrad Black, (his boss at the Telegraph) gives this description of MH in "A Matter of Principle" (Biteback Publications 2012) . . . quote; " . . dashing and irrepressible but with a short concentration span and even shorter temper, at times an almost Monty Python-like awkwardness, and a hodgepodge of dissonant half-formed opinions . . . " unquote. Does that explain anything ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay dubaya Posted 13 September , 2013 Share Posted 13 September , 2013 Tempting as it is I'll refrain from any more anagrams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Tom Posted 14 September , 2013 Share Posted 14 September , 2013 I only read about it in today's newspaper. The Times quite liked it. Were it not for the forum I might have paid £ 23.95. Sir Max was once IIRC president of the CPRE; how's that for irrelevancy! Old Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Hastings Posted 14 September , 2013 Share Posted 14 September , 2013 Does anyone know if this is a first of a series of Max Hastings books on the Great War? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 14 September , 2013 Share Posted 14 September , 2013 I wouldn't be at all surprised. It's odd that an irrational dislike of an author should be such a surprise to others: I love Dickens but can't get on with Hardy; I've never read a novel by an American that I've finished but think that Dylan's lyrics are the greatest ever written. Why, then, should my lack of enthusiasm for the writing of Sir Max be so much of a shock? Authors are like every other taste: like/dislike/disinterest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanCurragh Posted 14 September , 2013 Share Posted 14 September , 2013 I think you do yourself a bit of a disservice, Steve - earlier in this thread, you explained perfectly your issues with Sir Max's books. Some contributors to the thread seem to object to his books without given any reason at all why - which is fine - I just think I'd prefer if they elaborated a little... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 14 September , 2013 Share Posted 14 September , 2013 Thanks, Alan. As I said, I will read it, but I suspect it will appeal to me as much as his other books Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithfazzani Posted 14 September , 2013 Share Posted 14 September , 2013 The Spectator review was also favourable. It did however head its review Donkeys led by Donkeys which may raise the blood pressure of some on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 14 September , 2013 Share Posted 14 September , 2013 I wouldn't be at all surprised. It's odd that an irrational dislike of an author should be such a surprise to others: Surely something which - by your own admission - is irrational will cause surprise, if you are generally thought to be well balanced, as I'm sure you are. I love Dickens but can't get on with Hardy; Well, that takes the biscuit ! Francoise is gorgeous. I've never read a novel by an American that I've finished but think that Dylan's lyrics are the greatest ever written. Ah yes . . Do not go gently into that good night . . . . . but of course, Herr Zimmerman chose his stage name in homage to the Bard of Llagerub . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 14 September , 2013 Share Posted 14 September , 2013 Nothing irrational ever surprises me. For example, have you ever surprised me?Incidentally, I have just read the review in today's Times - having already read those in the Standard and The Spectator. I still stand by what I said earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jscott Posted 17 September , 2013 Share Posted 17 September , 2013 I received my copy a few days ago and I am enjoying it to date (although so far its been more of an examination of the state of the main combatant nations immediately prior to the outbreak of the war). He definitely has a very distinctive style, but I find it very easy reading, and I'm enjoying my trips to and from work a lot more at the moment! One thing that struck me was a note explaining the scarcity of photos from the 1914 battles. Is this correct? Surely there must have been photographers documenting the war from the outset? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelcave Posted 17 September , 2013 Share Posted 17 September , 2013 No British official photographers until well into the war. What photographs there are tend to be by individuals (contrary to instructions) clutching their Box Brownie or equivalent; others more often than not are behind the lines. Certainly, compared to later years in the war, either when the line was static or when there were a fair number of official photographers, 1914 is poorly served - particularly with anything to do with battle photography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 17 September , 2013 Share Posted 17 September , 2013 T T Pitman (later GOC 2nd Cavalry Division) commanded the 11th Hussars in 1914 and in the archives we have a splendid album of photographs he took in 1914. Some have been reproduced quite widely, but some are absolute gems, particularly in and around Nery after the action there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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