David

Contender for worst ever autobiograpy, 15 Mar 2013

Anyone who has even a passing knowledge of the legendary band that was 'Cream' will no doubt come to this book, as I did, not expecting it to be a contender for any kind of literary award. Of the members of that great band, I think it's fair to say that apart from being the most unhinged of the three, Ginger Baker was never one to impress with his articulate disposition. I've seen and heard several interviews with all three band members over the years - and whilst bass player Jack Bruce and guitarist Eric Clapton were never less than engaging in their responses, Ginger always left me with a sense of being none the wiser after his interviews than I was before. He may be a great drummer, but… Read more

True life adventure doesn't come better than this, 14 Mar 2013

If you only ever read one, true life adventure story, then make it this one. I can give this book no higher accolade than that and it's one that it richly deserves.

So many accounts of this kind get bogged down in tedious detail which detracts from the central story, leaving the reader with a sense of having gone through an ordeal not too dissimilar to the characters being read about. But this certainly isn't one of them. On the very last page, in the 'acknowledgements' section, author Jennifer Niven gives thanks to someone called Joe Kaiser for teaching her 'pure economy of words'. And after reading it, I'd like to thank Joe, too - because the narrative of this extremely… Read more

Well researched but clunky plot progression and abysmal prose, 3 Mar 2013

Having read the first part of this trilogy, 'Fall of Giants', which dealt with the fortunes of five families experiencing events surrounding the First World War and the Russian Revolution from English, Welsh, American, German, and Russian perspectives, I came to this second instalment knowing what to expect - and, at least, in that respect I wasn't disappointed.

'Winter of the World' continues the story of the original cast, with their offspring now taking centre stage, as the fallacy of that grand proclamation 'the war to end all wars' is exposed after just a couple of decades for the fatuous hot air it proved to be - with everyone, once again, thrown into the utterly appalling… Read more