John Verney (1913–1993)

Interesting account of a soldier's experience first in the Yeomanry, and then in the special forces, in World War II. Verney seems to have a great deal of humour regarding his service, since a great deal of it went wrong, including the only special forces mission he was on. In fact, that mission went spectacularly wrong in so many respects, it's a wonder he lived to tell the tale.

The Mad King of Chichiboo has the feeling of a folk tale that was told by Monty Python. A king is looking for a queen. What is most important to him is that the queen be able to fix him exactly the food he wants. He has many women come in and demonstrate their cooking abilities. They all make very fancy meals. Then one English woman fixes some unidentifiable slop but she grates a ton of cheese on top. The king loves it. "Everything is good if it is hot and has lots of grated cheese on top." show more He says and he makes her his queen. show less

This is a graceful book. Mr. Verney gained a living after the war as an illustrator. He signed up to fight Hitler, and he did that. The book details his military career, and has very amusing portraits of his co-workers. He does have to tell of his unsuccessful Commando raid in Sardinia, which resulted in a period in an Italian and then a German prison camp. He threw himself off a train in the winter of 1943, while being shipped north out of Italy, and walked south into the Eighth Army. I show more think his war, that of a man out of place, and deeply missing his wife and child, was far more typical of both sides in the war. "Inglorious Basterds" is a lame, by the numbers, gorefest, this is a humane book and worth the read. show less

Friday Callendar enjoys digging. He creates a tunnel deep into a hill on his family's property. An organization of foreign spies uses the tunnel to hide a dangerous element. Friday and his sister, February, stumble into this secret plot. There are many twists and turns in the story and you really don't know what's happening until the end.