- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Little, Brown (18 Jan 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0316861367
- ISBN-13: 978-0316861366
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.4 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 402,580 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
His war-obsessed childhood is so warm and funny and true you might be tempted to hug yourself with delight (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
'Funny, perceptive ... Pearson has you laughing throughout with guilty recognition. You learn a lot of quirky facts and a fair bit of military history from this endearing memoir (SUNDAY TIMES )
He has a very good line in comedy (DAILY MAIL )
A funny, perceptive book about men and their ineradicable love of war ... Harry Pearson has you laughing throughout with guilty recognition (Christopher Hart, SUNDAY TIMES )
'Funny, perceptive ... Pearson has you laughing throughout with guilty recognition. You learn a lot of quirky facts and a fair bit of military history from this endearing memoir (SUNDAY TIMES )
He has a very good line in comedy (DAILY MAIL )
A funny, perceptive book about men and their ineradicable love of war ... Harry Pearson has you laughing throughout with guilty recognition (Christopher Hart, SUNDAY TIMES )
Observer
'He writes hilariously ... fascinating'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A very enjoyable voyage round everyman's psyche. This brought back many forgotten memories and almost prompted a nostalgic tear. I never kept a diary when I was a kid, but Harry Pearson has kept one for me. His book takes us through comics, Action Man, cap-guns, airfix modelling, an obsession with historical military uniforms, and much, much more. These are things that most men have long left behind, but they remain in the memory. And once "grown out of", they are things that cannot even be referred to without seeming uncool, unmanly or unhinged. This is because men have to be seen to be men, and cannot show that they are still boys at heart.
Pearson is excruciatingly embarrassed about his hobby (wargaming with miniature metal soldiers), but he bravely refuses to disown it. He delves into it, telling a history of "boys' toys" which shows that the love of all things military has long been a big part of boys' lives in Europe. Seen from this perspective, it is amazing that the hobby has been pushed into such a corner now, and it seems only freaks and geeks are doing it. If you feel you have these kinds of skeletons in the closet, Pearson will make you feel like a man again.
Pearson is excruciatingly embarrassed about his hobby (wargaming with miniature metal soldiers), but he bravely refuses to disown it. He delves into it, telling a history of "boys' toys" which shows that the love of all things military has long been a big part of boys' lives in Europe. Seen from this perspective, it is amazing that the hobby has been pushed into such a corner now, and it seems only freaks and geeks are doing it. If you feel you have these kinds of skeletons in the closet, Pearson will make you feel like a man again.
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is a combination of selective autobiography, brief introduction to wargaming as a hobby, sociological analysis of gender stereotypes in the post war period, and a condensed history of toy soldiers; except of course that, as the author is at pains to point out, they're not toys. It's also funny.
Worth reading for both wargamers (although some of his stories may prove to be a little close to home) and to non-wargamers (to whom a whole subculture will be revealed). It's best avoided if you're a re-enactor or an orc-fancier.
Anyway, I'm off for a game of Airfix Charades; the rules of which are in the book.
Worth reading for both wargamers (although some of his stories may prove to be a little close to home) and to non-wargamers (to whom a whole subculture will be revealed). It's best avoided if you're a re-enactor or an orc-fancier.
Anyway, I'm off for a game of Airfix Charades; the rules of which are in the book.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A delightful read, even for this Yank. The book is but loosely organized---chapter titles are apparently lifted from some generic wargame rules since they're things like "Rallying Broken Troops"---and the writing is essentially a series of anecdotes and pleasant meanderings. There's no index or table of contents. It's a quiet book, couched in gentle self-parody and a drifting reach that at times turns jarringly contemporary (such as when one of the author's wargaming correspondents, an active duty US military officer, is killed in Iraq).
At one point Pearson describes a cartoon that has a painter showing off some hoplite figures and the other guy says, "Very nice, but don't you think the dirt under the fingernails is a little dark for Corinth?" It's a great line that captures a lot about the hobby, but it also strikes me as Pearson taking out his insurance: the fluorescent world of club basements, model stores, convention halls, newsletters, and personalities he describes is surely going to be subject to idiosyncratic memory and interpretations, and there will be those who rush in to declare this or that all bollocksed and wrong. They shouldn't be allowed to spoil the fun.
At one point Pearson describes a cartoon that has a painter showing off some hoplite figures and the other guy says, "Very nice, but don't you think the dirt under the fingernails is a little dark for Corinth?" It's a great line that captures a lot about the hobby, but it also strikes me as Pearson taking out his insurance: the fluorescent world of club basements, model stores, convention halls, newsletters, and personalities he describes is surely going to be subject to idiosyncratic memory and interpretations, and there will be those who rush in to declare this or that all bollocksed and wrong. They shouldn't be allowed to spoil the fun.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Achtung Schweinhund
I liked the book for its novilty and could relate to parts of it, but it does feel more of a biography and one mans an indulgance into his own nostalgia which though interesting is... Read more
Published 4 months ago by 2.8iman
Achtung Schwienhund
Having read "A Tall Man in a Low Country"(all about Belgium)couldn't wait to see how he treated Germany. Read more
Published 5 months ago by M. L. Le Dune
Best suited to wargamers?
I bought this book because, like the author, warfare played a huge role in my childhood imagination. Read more
Published 20 months ago by ProgDave
Not what I expected
This book is well written, and Harry Pearson comes across as somebody I would like to meet for a pint. But. Read more
Published on 23 May 2010 by Woolgatherer
Not only a war-obsessed childhood...
While I enjoyed Achtung Schweinehund!, it was not really the book I expected it to be: it is much more about the author's adult obsession with wargaming than growing up in... Read more
Published on 11 April 2010 by Dobester
Amusing In Places But Not That Great
Harry Pearson's memoir of growing up with the military-themed toys of yesteryear and continuing into adulthood as a minatures wargamer has some moments that will make a lot of... Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2009 by Emilio Mestiga
Great read for baby boomers
Well- male ones at any rate. One or two minor factual errors (which Harry Pearson will understand, I just had to mention- you'll have to read the book). Read more
Published on 9 Oct 2009 by SteveJ.
Recognise the title phrase? Then you date from the right era!
The gentle, self-deprecating humour Of Mr. Pearson's autobiography has been described and appreciated by other reviewers, so I won't waste time echoing them. Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2009 by Alexa
Great fun!
I've just read "Achtung Schweinehund", and as I'm just a few years younger and have moved in similar circles, there was a lot of recognition. Read more
Published on 13 Sep 2009 by Björn Hellqvist
It all came back!
Having been a modeller/wargammer from the age of 8 through to 18, the book brought back the joy and naivety of those long lost days, when painting my soldiers seemed more important... Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2008 by M. French
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