Daniel

A fantastic memoir spread over some 30 different stories from David Cornwell's life. If you ever doubted the quality of Cornwell's prose, his ability to turn a phrase or illustrate a scene so well you imagine yourself there, this collection of stories will leave you with no disbelief in the fact that he was one of Britain's best 20c/21c writers.

At the close of this story Harffy gives thanks and acknowledgments to many including the moderator of a Bernard Cornwell fan club. While the thanks is no doubt deserved, it is a strong indicator of just whom will enjoy this novel and the coming series. If you have enjoyed Cornwell's stories of the adventures of Uhtred of Bebbanburg then there is little chance that you wouldn't also enjoy Harffy's story here. Wolf of Wessex is set in a similar period, though precedes the time of Alfred of Wessex, and is written with a similar ease, pacing, and sense of Anglo Saxons called to adventure.

An all too-short, or mayhap perfectly paced, journey through an ordinary life in a time now lost to us. Its age - published in 1934 - gives it a dated charm as it refers the “90s” while referring to the 1890s. But its social commentary on change, on how generations both leave each other behind while journeying forward together, remains as relevant as ever.

Instead of focussing solely on Philby and attempting to argue the traitor's psychology, Macintyre weaves a story of Philby and the ‘friends' (it seems unlikely that Philby's narcissism allowed him to view anyone as a friend) whom he cheated and betrayed in the name of the Soviet despots. Focussing thus makes the story all the more interesting. We'll never know the full extent of Philby's betrayal, but we do get to learn of some of the close relationships he ruined thus telling more of a story of the man than the countless numbers he sent to their deaths.