ARmy Rumour SErvice

Yeah, but you had Panorama twice - the OMLT doc in 2006 and Ben Anderson's one as well.

You also overlook the effect on viewing figures of Patrick Hennessey's heroic gaze & flowing locks, combined with shades and - on occasion - a bandana. 10 million young women and half the gay population of the UK weren't watching for an insight into a 21st Century COIN operation you know.

Your agent must be rolling in it.

I see Hennessey has a new book coming out, hopefully not a rehash of JORC:

KANDAK: Fighting with Afghans: Amazon.co.uk: Patrick Hennessey: Books

I just finished reading The Randlords: The Men Who Made South Africa by Geoffrey Wheatcroft. Not the most gripping read but a pretty good guide to the gold and diamond rushes and how modern South Africa came about.

Now starting on Jan Smuts's Memoirs of the Boer War, which unfortunately he never finished writing, so it doesn't include the most interesting bit of his war, the raids Smuts led into the Cape in 1901.

Originally Posted by Charlie_Cong

Given the number of TV crews following you Glamour Boys on Herrick 6 I reckon most of the country could recount the tour contact by contact.

on the plus side it means you dont have to bother with any of that war diary palaver, you just buy the DVD boxset and hardback 1st edition when you get off the plane home

on thread, i've just finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman which is my kind of thing and was a really really good read, even if i did spend quite a bit of time googling various obsure deities.

now re-reading Duma Key by Stephen King which is one of the best books he's written IMHO.

after that it'll be The Tale of Troy by Roger Lancelyn Green

Jon Stallworthy's excellent book:

Picked up recently in Ieper. I'm normally not so into poetry etc. but the mix is just right in this book.
Good background info on ten brave young men who, in most cases, gave their lives on that most horrid of places, The Western Front. Combined with a collection of their works, and some remarkable 'photo's, this does make a read for more than "just" poetry lovers.

Seelowe Norde...or how the Guards saved the world,They all get a mention but what a cracking book! Nasty German invaders hot foot it across the channel. The author certainly knows his infantry stuff and I enjoyed the air and sea bits too. It's not bogged down with two much technical details and the story flows along plus it has the added bonus of seeing Bridlington bombed (I suspect the author has been there). It's not often I read a book all the way through in two sittings but this was that good. You can get it on Amazon and if you get it through arrse the MODS can have a christmas drink!

Our Friends Beneath the Sands by Martin Windrow, a history of the Foreign Legion in North Africa, Indochina and Madagascar between 1870 and 1935. Excellent, as was his Last Valley on Dien Bien Phu.

Originally Posted by baboon6

Now starting on Jan Smuts's Memoirs of the Boer War, which unfortunately he never finished writing, so it doesn't include the most interesting bit of his war, the raids Smuts led into the Cape in 1901.

Byron Farwell's 'The Great Anglo-Boer War' goes into detail of Jan Smut's raid, if your interested.