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Small Boat, Big Sea: One Years Journey as a Parish Priest
Lion Publishing PLC (
19 October, 2001 )
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A thought provoking account of a year in the life of a vicar  |
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A deep look into the life and thoughts of a vicar in the Church of England in a year of his life - his joys and struggles with church and family life. The narrative is sometimes amusing and sometimes deeply moving. His opinions on the Church of England are thought provoking. His complete change from a high paid job to the ministry makes interesting reading. A great book for people who have friends ordained in the Church of England.
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A good story but it dragged a bit in the middle  |
Another story centred around the SAS and the Falklands War. I have read a number of Falklands based stories now, mainly autobiographical and biographical accounts. This one is presented in the form of a novel; but despite the disclaimer that its fiction, theres more to this than meets the eye Im sure. I dont mean the story here, since this is said to have been based on reality; but the personalities and feelings that come across very strongly.Overall a good story for those of us who like military tales of derring do. Theres warnings that even the best laid plans gang aft aglae: the very first thing that these lad s do starts off badly when their carefully laid plans are disrupted by an enemy soldier having to empty his bladder at an inopportune moment and directly onto one of our heros! Theres lots of swearing, theres lots of anti officer material: well, to be more direct, lots of anti "Rupert" material. A Rupert is a Public School/Oxbridge Officer. I have to say that despite having enjoyed reading this novel, I think there are many in the SAS, and in the military world generally, who might want this book to flop in terms of sales and availability. I thought many times throughout the book that what I was reading could be cut and pasted into a military manual: what to look out for if you think that the SAS might be somewhere around where you are if theres trouble brewing. I felt this stuff could compromise any Special force, to use the jargon. Finally, this book more than any other military story of its type may have driven me to read "Ruperts" version of events. I am beginning to be intrigued to start to compare two sides of the same story: Rupert and Trooper.
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A SpecFor war story deeply rooted in military history |
Johnny Howard as in the "Two Combs" I was briefly introduced to in Andy McNabs "Immediate Action" when the latter and Howard where preparing for their upcoming SAS selection course in the Brecon Beacons, has created a fascinating and thrilling Special Forces story taking place in the midst of enemy activity on the Falklands during the British campaign against the Argentinians. Through the character of Sgt. "Blue" Harding the reader is swept through intelligence-gathering patrols which comprises being static in a wet and miserable OP for longer periods of time, long tabs across extremely demanding and difficult terrain in horrendous weather, a tragic accident of the kind so difficult to both plan for and anticipate in a war and the build up-training for a proposed mission so bold and dangerous it threatens to wipe out the whole of B Squadron, SAS.Furthermore what makes this story so great and also so important is the authenticity of it. The reader is presented with a work of fiction which is based on real historical events and that only adds in a positive way to the reading experience. Howard has in a unique way created a story where the art of fictional creativity is fusioned with the elements of non-fiction and documentary. He depicts the ever ongoing mistrust between the troopers and their "superior" officers in a elegant and delicate way and lets the reader take part in the many frustrations experienced by some of the parties involved. Because he joined the Regiment in 1983 Howard missed out on the Falklands as an SAS operative but has through both good research and ten years of operational experience within the unit shown that he is more than capable of putting forth a exceptional debut novel, and this bloke mind you did not start off his writing career by publishing another "no holds barred" and "true story of superhuman endurance and personal sacrifice" no doubt so much easier to write than a captivating work of fiction. Through Boat Troop Howard laid the foundation for a further two fast paced and enthralling works of ficion with "Blue" Harding at the center of the action; "Blood Money" and "Direct Action".
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