Daren

I thought this looked a quick read, but it wasn't particularly. Peregrine Hodson travelled in Afghanistan under the name of Abdul Baz, "my name, unabbreviated, was difficult to pronounce while in its shortened form it sounded like a word in Dari meaning 'fairy' or 'female angel': so I was given the name Abdul. I added the word 'baz', which means falcon."

He was there for just over three months in 1984 to provide the Sunday Times with a report on the 'People's War'. This book is not his report, but a record of his journey. He kept a detailed diary and used a tape recorder to capture many of his conversations. Hodson spoke fluent Farsi (the modern Persian language); and therefore could communicate well in Dari (one of two official Afghan languages) languages which are mutually intelligible, especially in written form, although they have some differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and usage.

The 'People's War' refers to the Soviet-Afghan War, where the Soviets moved massive numbers of troops into Afghanistan ostensibly to assist the Afghan Government (and therefore the Afghan Armed Forces) to put down the Islamic militants - the Mujahedin. And, of course, it is with the Mujahedin that Hodson travelled. From Pakistan he crossed the border by foot with a group of Mujahedin returning to their homes and to defend them against the Soviet forces - who by this time had resorted to bombing raids by their air force which was very successful given the Mujahadin had little capacity to shoot down fighter jets.

The journey is described in detail - it was a tough journey, Hodson was unwell for practically all of his time in Afghanistan - which which was inevitable really, with the water quality, the poor diet and limited sanitary conditions, mosquitos carrying Malaria and the high risk of hepatitis. Hodson followed a looping course through northern Afghanistan (the provinces of Lowgar, Wardak, Bamiyan, Takhar, Kunar and Nuristan). He moved from village to village, met with the Mujahedin leader in each, was provided with hospitality and accompanied by guides and assistance, although generally he joined groups of men moving from one area to the next. In reality he only had limited ability to determine his own route, and was regularly under threat of war, often being rushed from a village to lie in the relative safety of trenches while jets dropped bombs.

He spoke with many men, from all levels of society, on many topics. The narrative is wide ranging, but all comes back to the hardships of the Mujahedin, their resistance of the Soviets and the complexity of the power struggle of rival factions of the Mujahedin.

For me there were two major insights. The first was the authors ability to communicate directly with the Afghanis. This meant no reliance on interpreters who would notoriously tailor their translations to their perspective, to assist themselves or to tell the journalist what they think they want to hear. This gave Hodson a huge advantage in the presentation of his story.

The other insight was the Islamic responsibility for hospitality. In the absolute worst of circumstances, people with the least to offer provide food, shelter and assistance to the author and other foreign journalists who are basically coming to Afghanistan to gather stories to sell. It astounds me the lengths people go to in assisting the author and his companions (the last third of his journey he makes with two other journalists).

Worth seeking out.

4 stars.

Wing Leader is the biography of RAF Spitfire pilot JE Johnson, known as Johnnie Johnson during World War II.

Johnson has a way of writing that often takes you on his journey. Remarkably, when he describes flight after flight and explains events that are occurring around him in flight during flying maneuvers with his 'wing' or individual dogfights, it doesn't feel to the reader like constant repetition, although of course it is the same sequence of events almost every time.

Johnson's diaries must have been extensive because he describes the many pilots around him, the many flights and enemy engagements in great detail, often dropping out of the story of one polit to pick it up again later when he returns to the scene. He had kind words to all of those lost, their bravery and sacrifice, and manages to surprise when some of the pilots find their way back overland when considered lost.

He describes the evolution of the Spitfire, as the planes are constantly improved throughout he war, as are the enemy planes, and as the technology improves one side gains the upper hand and certain maneuvers and so tactics have to change accordingly.

While luck plays a large part in the successful career of a fighter pilot, and how well your colleagues protect you is a big factor, we know too few of these pilots survived the entire war, and Johnson has a plethora of post-nominals (CB, CBE, DSO & Two Bars, DFC & Bar, DL) indicating his efforts, dedication and luck.

Having read the diaries of a New Zealand Spitfire pilot in Spitfires & Spots translated from the handwritten remnants and edited by Jeff West's grandson Jameson Alex West it was nice to be reminded of that book, and for 15 or so pages the two flew together before West was deployed to Malta. Johnson's flying was over the Channel and into German occupied Europe (France, Belgium and later Germany). Throughout most of his time he was flying with Canadians as part of

Wikipedia did a better job of collecting statistics that I would, so I will quote it here: Johnson was credited with 34 individual victories over enemy aircraft, as well as seven shared victories, three shared probable, ten damaged, three shared damaged and one destroyed on the ground. Johnson flew 700 operational sorties and engaged enemy aircraft on 57 occasions. Included in his list of individual victories were 14 Messerschmitt Bf 109s and 20 Focke-Wulf Fw 190s destroyed making him the most successful RAF ace against the Fw 190. This score made him the highest scoring Western Allied fighter ace against the German Luftwaffe.

There are a number of black & white photos throughout the book, and a thorough index. Douglas Bader wrote a brief foreword, which he opens with the sentence: 'Dear Johnnie, I did not know that you could read and write!..."

4 stars

Despite a torturous opening page (upon reading I was ready to give up), once underway ACD has a tidy short story about three University students in rooms one above the other. At the top, Abercrombie Smith, below him Edward Bellingham and below him, William Monkhouse Lee.

While Smith our protagonist is a medical student, Bellingham is a languages scholar, who engages in Egyptology and a hobby. In fact he takes his hobby quite seriously, judging by the mummy kept within his room.

Short stories need no more plot outlining for fear of spoiling the whole story, but one can clearly imagine that the mummy, which was purchased at auction (lot 249), is at the centre of strange goings on on campus, and Smith becomes the vigilante to put this to an end.

I do believe I enjoyed this more than some of his Sherlock Holmes short stories.

4 stars.