{"id":4429,"date":"2021-11-08T21:43:18","date_gmt":"2021-11-08T21:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=4429"},"modified":"2024-02-08T09:08:44","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T09:08:44","slug":"media-topping-books-talk-operation-pedestal-max-hastings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=4429","title":{"rendered":"MEDiA: Topping Books talk, Operation Pedestal, Max Hastings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I haven\u2019t read this book, so this isn\u2019t a book review. Indeed, successfully resisting the temptation to buy any<\/em> books at this Topping Books author talk was a major achievement!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have one or two Max Hastings books, such as Overlord<\/em> and Das Reich<\/em> (which I haven\u2019t read, as yet). I\u2019m interested enough to have been seriously tempted by Operation Pedestal<\/em>. But lack of fundage and beaucoup de books means I must resist<\/em>! Read not spend! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir Max Hastings (eugh, I\u2019m not a fan of such class-laden honorifics) being a very establishment journalist – former employer of Bojo the Clown! – raises some issues for me. But most big name military historians, e.g. Anthony Beevor, are cut from the same tweedy public-school cloth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, he proved to be an entertaining public speaker, mixing in some WWII documentary footage (from the IWM archives), and even voicing some of his quotes \u2018in character\u2019 (Cockney ratings and Churchill included!). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story he told tonight, and that he tells in far greater detail in his book was\/is fascinating. Basically bringing this particular re-supply of Malta off, and not losing the island, was more about a shot in the arm morale wise than strategic goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it was equally important to prove to the US and Russia that we weren\u2019t as pathetic as some of our misadventures up to that point, from the fate of the BEF to the failed Norway campaign, might make us appear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think I will get and read Pedestal<\/em> at some point. But I\u2019ll wait for a cheap used paperback. Simply \u2018cause needs must. I flew solo tonight, as well. Usually Teresa accompanies me that these talks. But not this time! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The talk itself was enjoyable. And the venue, the Lighthouse Auditorium, Ely, was new to me. I\u2019d estimate it was both full and that there must\u2019ve been about 200-250 attending. A fun little evening out. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I haven\u2019t read this book, so this isn\u2019t a book review. Indeed, successfully resisting the temptation to buy any books at this Topping Books author talk was a major achievement! I have one or two Max Hastings books, such as Overlord and Das Reich (which I haven\u2019t read, as yet). I\u2019m interested enough to have … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “MEDiA: Topping Books talk, Operation Pedestal, Max Hastings”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paGwUa-19r","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4429"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4429"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11458,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4429\/revisions\/11458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}