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Oh yes, Monash is much honored in these parts, particularly in Melbourne with Monash University and the Monash Medical Centre (not a GP surgery as it might sound but a 600+ bed teaching hospital) being just some examples.

A First World War General whose thinking was way ahead of his time ... but, above all, he continuously went into bat (often against the British General Staff) for his blokes - the Diggers.

Apparently, there have been a couple of books about Monash, plus at least one* he wrote himself, so I shall have to look out for them.

In passing, it may be worth recounting that in 1918 Monash was the first soldier to be knighted in the field by a British monarch in over 200 years.

* Australian Victories in France in 1918.

Out of interest I took a look at a couple of YouTube videos last night.

The acting was good (plenty of silences), as was the camera work and production in general (the street scenes, the Citroëns, architecture); but I found Atkinson's Maigret to be a little too brisk, and then worried ... morose*, even.

I also looked up an old Gambon episode (and although the story itself was abbreviated - but we can't blame the actors for that), I found that his Maigret showed more of the compassion (humanity?) - not to mention bulk - of the original character. Some nice pipe smoking, too!

But all in all, I still reckon that (of the British actors) the Maigret of Rupert Davies is (was) the one to beat. Although I'll admit that perhaps the Gambon series has the best Lucas character!

Interesting, though, just how long le patron and his loyal staff have survived; which confirms the genius of Simenon's original stories. And played by so many different actors.

But what's next ... another Morse? (hopefully not)

* Trois coups et vous êtes dehors?

My latest has been "Battlefield Afghanistan" by Mike Ryan (2007).

Of course, the conflict was still very much on-going when this book was published, so perhaps a revised edition is now in order. But it is unusual in that it gives a "potted history" of previous ill-fated military efforts in Afghanistan. The author also doesn't hold back any criticism of the way things were conducted at the "upper echelons", either (which is probably fair enough). Although written from a British perspective, the book also has many mentions of other allied forces - especially US, Canadian, Australian and New Zealanders.

I shall reserve comment on the politics involved (although, needless to say, I do have pretty clear opinions), but what I gained was a realisation that many actions by regular British formations amounted to what, not so long ago, would have been the preserve of Special Forces. There are some nice photographs, too - including one of Canadian Leopard tanks in action for the first time in over fifty years.

I came across quite a few errors in this book (although I suspect some may have been deliberate, in an attempt to disguise certain "sensitive" matters), but was left wondering if it had ever been proof-read! 6/10.

Just lately, in an effort to clear some of my back-log, I have been reading four books at once!

Yes; weird, I know (but really a chapter of one, then a chapter of another ... etc., etc.); but I find that it keeps things interesting late at night.

The first one finished off at the latest session was (being a slender tome):- "The Saint Steps In" (1944) by (of course) Leslie Charteris. The narrative was set at that time, too; that is, WWII was still underway, and it influences events in the story.

This was the first Saint story I have read in something like fifty years. This one finds the Saint in Washington D.C. (for reasons that are never explained). But to be honest I found some of the prose a bit irritating. For example:-

"He lighted another cigarette"* - OK, lighted is grammatically correct, but I would have used lit myself (keeping the clumsy lighted back as an adjective, if at all).

Actually both lighted and lit are the past tense and past participle of the verb light. So I guess you can just choose one or the other, and then stick with it throughout. Back in the mid '40's Charteris (or his editor) obviously chose lighted!

But, more to the point, I still haven't worked out what the Saint is actually supposed to be (and be doing). In the book he doesn't come across as the suave Roger Moore -type character from the once popular TV series. In the book Simon Templar is far darker; almost like good old Bulldog Drummond!

I may have to look out for another Saint story, and have another go at getting my head around the character.

* And he certainly got through a fair few packets!

I have caught up with finishing off a few books over recent weeks:-

I really enjoyed "Chieftain Main Battle Tank" (Haynes manual) (2016) by Lt.Col Dick Taylor RTR. An excellent read; especially for those of us who can still cherish fond memories of FVGCE, Boresights, Firewire (or later on, know their Stillbrew from their Boiling Vessels) ... and all the rest! 10/10.

"Bomber Boys" (2007) by Mel Rolfe. Recollections of WWII RAF bomber crews flying over Occupied Europe. Brave blokes heading out night after night in their Stirlings, Halifaxes and Lancasters. Bomber Command suffered a particularly high casualty rate; 44.4% (or 55,573 deaths). Humbling. 8/10.

"Valiant Boys" (2014) by Tony Blackman and Anthony Wright. A collection of true stories from the operators of Britain's first four-jet bomber. Britains's first air-dropped atomic bomb (Operation Buffalo) was released from a Valiant in 1956. An excellent and interesting book. 10/10.

"Vulcan Boys"(2014) by Tony Blackman. More tales about another famous aircraft. This time the famous delta-winged V-bomber that served from the Cold War to the Falklands conflict. Includes details of development and history. Interesting to note that the ground scanning radar used in the Vulcan was basically the same as that used in the Lancaster! Another 10/10.

Frederick Forsyth's "The Dogs of War" (1974). This one took a bit of wading through, but I got there in the end. There's actually very little "action", but due to its detail it remains a handbook for anyone thinking about having a go at armed revolution in a small "third-world" country. 7/10.

I also enjoyed "Wings Over North Africa" (1987) by Air Vice-Marshall Tony Dudgeon. This one was about a little known aspect of the Second World War - that of ferrying warplanes arriving from England at Rabat–Salé (near Casablanca) enroute to the Western Desert. Tony Dudgeon was the 26-year old Wing Commander in charge and he tells his stories in an easy-to-read, light-hearted style. 9/10.

Anyone else been reading anything besides service manuals?

I do enjoy reading about history - but not novels. I can't remember the last novel I read.

The only Second World War book I have is still unread. 'The Gestapo' by Frank McDonough.
It was £2 buy from 'The Works' - to read... one day.

I do have a number of historical 'battle' books on Agincourt, Bosworth etc. though.
'Bosworth 1485' by Michael Jones, I found particularly interesting, as it was from the perspective of Richard III - but, as they say, history is written by the winners...

Well, I've been rather boring on this website by just promoting my training but I'm off to Tenerife for two weeks and have just downloaded the 'Tattooist of Auschwitz' onto my Kindle. Only released last week - saw an article on the BBC website and it sounds to be gripping. I do like WW2 stuff.

I recently read John Buchan's 1915 classic "The Thirty-Nine Steps"; a ripping (if somewhat implausible) yarn. Or, as Buchan himself later wrote:- "a story that marches just within the bounds of the possible". A small book (that was originally serialised in a magazine), and obviously a bit dated now, it nevertheless set out a trail for other authors to follow. There are some nice "non-PC" phrases in there too, I might add. 7/10.

Next was "God Bless the NHS" (2013) by Roger Taylor. Sub-titled "The Truth Behind the Current Crisis" this book seems to have been sparked off by the Health and Social Care Act of 2012. I can't say that I much enjoyed wading through this less-than-jolly read. Apart from oft-repeated platitudes such as "we all love our NHS" (the national religion) I was disappointed that no firm conclusions were drawn. The only positive suggestion seemed to be that electronic patient records should be made available to patients. 4/10.

Last night I finished off "Heat" (2015) by Ranulph Fiennes. This one recalls not only (Sir) Ranulph's exploits in some of the warmer parts of the world but also those of certain other intrepid characters of renown as well. Quite a large chunk of the book tells of his days as an army officer in Oman. I had read about all that elsewhere but still enjoyed going through it again. Fiennes is amazing; literally a legend in his own lifetime. Consider, for example, prevailing on the Marathon de Sables (a 156 mile race in Morocco which saw a temperature of 53 °C) at the age of 71, not so long after undergoing double bypass surgery following a second heart attack. During the 91 km stage he ran for thirty hours with just one hour of sleep. What an inspiration! Recommended. 8/10.

Here's a good one:- "50 People Who Buggered Up Britain" (2008) by Quentin Letts. No doubt we could all agree straight away on at least thirty names to be included - and most of the "usual suspects" were indeed there - but he managed to total 55 "pen portraits" (I'm guessing that the problem was who not to include). Of course, considering what has happened in Blighty since the book was published, there would need to be a few more added in any future edition!

As most will be aware, Quentin Letts is a newspaper columnist, and he writes very well; each of his candidates (targets?) is afforded three or four pages of witty and perceptive prose. And, as a "Commons sketch writer", his portaits are pretty much on the ball.

I enjoyed this book so much that I romped through it in only two sittings. 9/10 (it would have been 10/10 had I not disagreed in detail with a couple of his character assassinations).