BOTM: H. Trevor-Roper, The last days of Hitler (1947)
J. Barr, A line in the sand (2012)
J. Erdal, Ghosting (2004)
B. Feirstein, Real men don't eat quiche (1982)
S. Jones, Endless winter (1993)
C. Nichols and P. Hardman, Disrupted (2021)
H. Pearson, The Smith of Smiths (1934)
D. Richards, Outpost: a journey to the wild ends of the earth (2019)
P.G. Wodehouse, Uncle Dynamite (1948)
I am slightly disappointed that I couldn't make yet another book of the month for my favourite Wodehouse character. It was another classic. But I found a few others were outstanding. Surprisingly, Hesketh Pearson's biography of Canon Sydney Smith was not quite there. I loved the character and writings of Smith, but I felt the biography was a little drawn out for my tastes. On the other hand, I properly loved Ghosting. It's obviously an extreme situation, but I thought it trod the balance of substance and frippery very well. If you are at all interested in books and bookmen or 80s and 90s society, it's a fascinating read.
However, everyone should read The last days of Hitler and I cannot imagine why I wasn't made to at school. It's a masterclass in historical method: the issue is important; the available data is circumscribed, but incomplete; the writing is crisp and clear; and it's short. I'm baffled why my history teacher at school suggested Oxbridge candidates read War and Peace and not this.* It's also fascinating on both the absolutely fantastical world of the Nazis by the mid-40s and the precise nature and events of the final days. I don't particularly like the place that the Nazis occupy in our historiography - I feel they dominate our understanding in a deeply unhelpful way, but because of this, these details matter. Anyway, it turns out I didn't know that much about this bit or some of the protagonists and it was superb. Note also, it is worth reading a later edition (mine from the 1990s), as the introduction details with the resurfacing of parts of the story which the Russians had initially hidden.
* This is not a comment on W&P. I love W&P and I'm due another reread.
