Jules Stewart

This was a look at the life of Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. If you are looking for an introduction into Prince Albert's life, this is for you. However, I would take this book with a grain of salt. The author seemed only inclined to highlight the good works Albert did. He wasn't concerned at all with the relationships between Albert and his various family members. In fact, he wasn't concerned with faults at all. There is one sentence towards the end of the book that mentions that Albert had some faults, but that they should have no bearing on his good public works.

While this may be true to some extent, I see no merit in writing a book about someone unless it is going to be well-rounded. This book wasn't.… (more)

Book received from NetGalley.

While this book says it focuses on the 30's it does give some background on Jazz Age New York and finishes with a bit of information how things were at the beginning of World War II. It is a history separated into chapters discussing, the end of Prohibition, The New York Mob, how the Depression left its mark on the architecture of the city and the Big Bands that started in the city. My only issue is that it was too short and I wanted more. I really liked the book especially since I had recently read a book on Gilded Age New York. This is one I'm going to be buying for my shelves as soon as I get the chance.… (more)

World War 1 is invariably portrayed as the trench warfare of the Western front, however that was only part of the story. In order to stretch British Empire forces various intrigues were being played out across the globe and this book details one of them.

The demands for manpower meant that any diversion of troops to a secondary theatre could have catastrophic effects on the primary theatre, The Western Front.

With this in mind the Germans sent a mission to Afghanistan to foment an attack on India.

The author covers in great detail the German mission and the physical endurance the mission required just to reach Afghanistan via Allied controlled territories. The mission's exit from Afghanistan to Germany was similarly difficult and reads like a John Buchan novel. The book also covers further missions to Afghanistan in World War 2.

I did find the writing style somewhat dry and repetitive at times, but this is a valuable contribution to a little known arena of World War 2 where written accounts are either out of print or in very short supply.



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