Paul

Brilliant narration of a great story

Revisado: 04-20-21

Pip Torrens provide a magnificent performance with the narration of this diary. The editor provides excellent context for the diaries and the author is very clear in his refusal to judge or criticize his employers but to offer insights to his role as the secretary managing the relationship between the monarch and the government.

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Interesting individual tales, challenged narration

Revisado: 03-02-20

There are some interesting personal stories recounted, but the author does not give much context for the training of the crew ('other' air crew spent as many weeks in training as pilots) never mentioning the Commonwealth Air Training Program, though recounting a specific US training program. The narrator has some challenges with proper-name pronunciation and acronyms; air crew fly with the "raaf" (as opposed to the R-A-A-F, or Royal Australian Air Force).

Leo McKinstry's 'Lancaster: The Second World War's Greatest Bomber' does a better job recounting the air crew roles and the huge challenge faced by crews attempting to bail out (far worse survival than the Halifax).

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Great Story - Challenging Production

Revisado: 01-21-19

Stephen King's reading of his work brings a personal touch to the story. While not as polished as many professional performers, it is a fair trade-off for his representation of the tale with Maine accents. One insurmountable challenge for King is Reverend Rose - the Baptist minister sounds more like an Italian immigrant than fire-and-brimstone preacher. (The two characteristics are possible in one character, but I think is very unlikely, especially in Maine).

The awful elements of the production are the music and limited sound effects; they are truly a product of a different era. The music is a horrific distraction and the sound of "the bell" in Needful Things is represented by a tinkling of several bells. Argh!

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Personal connection to a book section

Revisado: 01-21-19

A solid story about the development and deployment of the great bomber. There was a section of the book that dealt with the repatriation of prisoners of war that had personal resonance.

My wife's uncle was a Canadian navigator in an RAF Lancaster squadron. He died at the end of the war in crash near Paris and he's buried in Clichy. The author details the decision to fly liberated prisoners to Britain due to the dangers of road and naval traffic. There was one crash in the entire massive air lift; a plane that suffered mechanical troubles at take off and failed in its attempt to get back to the airfield - he was on that plane. The detail around the airlift, the investigation and review at high levels of the RAF and Air Ministry give some context for the death of her uncle and the humanitarian work he was doing after all the painful duty required by Bomber Command.

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NATO story taking a regional command

Revisado: 09-28-18

The story of a Canadian brigadier general taking command of Kandahar Province for NATO and the challenges faced when the Taliban are on the verge of moving from an insurgency to a conventional force.

The general explains why a good police force was what he really needed and how Afghan forces evolved over time.

American 'readers' will be happy to hear that the Cdns are in awe of US troops' skill and resources. A few NATO allies are gently scorned for political decisions, not their military's skill or willingness.

Some interesting elements included in narrative, such as a Cdn finance officer moving contractor payments from bricks of US dollars to electronic payments into Afghan banks thereby reinforcing role of national currency and having Afghan government oversight to the economy. A brilliant measure in the attempt to rebuild a nation.

The chapter headings from 'Mother' are always interesting.

The narrator made promise of a pdf that detailed the geography of the region but this does not appear on my list of available downloads.

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Great Read, Great Story

Revisado: 11-17-06

A great book that develops personalities, adventure and drama. The author does a great job illuminating the "unknown" world of wreck diving and the narrator's performance makes it all come alive.

The author takes us on an adventure of people, places and things. He weaves engrossing tales of the divers' lives, motivations and seemingly endless frustrations that are finally overcome. A reader's curiousity is sustained for hours as the divers negotiate the wreck, administrators and archives. Lessons are learned about passionate lives, the hazards of wreck diving, as well as the belief that history is an opened and closed subject.

Pritchard the narrator is brilliant. A great, commanding voice that enjoys the opportunity to play among the dialog.

By the end of the book you will miss the narrator and the divers but an addendum interview with the author and prinicpals eases the withdrawl.

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