Appearance
Eastern approaches
I came to this book through a book I had just read called The Phantom Major. That was about the SAS in WWII Fitzroy Maclean was part of that unit. I had been looking to see if anyone else in that unit had written anything. I am glad I found this book. The first SAS guys were amazing people. Fitzroy Maclean happen to be one of the highest educated of those men. You take a guy who has the hardness and darning to be one of the first SAS guys. Then you add his education and diplomatic training to the mix and you have one heck of a combination. This book is really about a guy who is bigger then life living it to the fullest. Please read it.
Eastern approaches
The adventures that this man experienced comes to few people and could only happen during a period of history in which cataclysmic events occurred over a period of several years. His adventures are astounding and fill you with envy of McClean's ability to be in the right place at the right time.Few fictional adventures can match the true experiences related here. Inside history related from a first hand witness. It brings to life the reality of the times.
Eastern approaches
This is an exciting autobiography, which I have read and reread over the years. Of particular interest is the author's introduction into the SAS.This book will become a permanent fixture in your library.
Eastern approaches
Pre WWII, Maclean finagled trips through parts of the USSR where no westerner had previously been, even crossing into Afghanistan from the north at one point. He spent much of WWI aiding Marshal Tito's effort to drive the Germans out of the Balkans. Fascinating stuff, this, eloquently written and he's a damn good storyteller.
Eastern approaches
This book is of great historical value. The narration is witty and elegant. I would recomant it to everybody interested in European history.
Eastern approaches
The episodes described in this classic adventure are so outlandish, colorful, and gripping that one might almost mistake them for promotional material from a 1940's matinee poster: "Thrill as our hero journeys into remote Central Asia! Tremble as he observes Stalin's show trials! Cheer as he battles Nazis in North Africa and aids our brave allies in Yugoslavia!"However, Sir Fitzroy's integrity, understated compassion, and flinty humanity keep these accounts focused, precise, and grounded in reality. This book is valuable not only as a description of far-flung lands and critical battles, but as a testiment to all that was best in his generation of citizen-soldiers. MacLean restores dignity to the term "aristocrat". He is the man you'd want by your side as you marched into hell - odds are, he'd get you in and out again.