Status
Available
Call number
Publication
London, J. Cape [1950]
Description
Fitztroy Maclean was one of the real-life inspirations for super-spy James Bond. After adventures in Soviet Russia before the war, Maclean fought with the SAS in North Africa in 1942. There he specialised in hair-raising commando raids behind enemy lines, including the daring and outrageous kidnapping of the German Consul in Axis-controlled Iraq. Maclean's extraordinary adventures in the Western Desert and later fighting alongside Tito's partisans in Yugoslavia are blistering reading and show what it took to be a British hero who broke the mould . . .
Media reviews
Seemingly a man oblivious to danger and with nine lives, Maclean had his only near brush with death after a car crash resulting from Stirling’s reckless style at the wheel. He was unconscious for four days after the crash and later remarked: “David Stirling’s driving was the most dangerous
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thing in World War Two!”
On recovery, Maclean took part in another raid on Benghazi and was then employed by General “Jumbo” Wilson in Persia (Iran) on a further mission, to arrest the pro-Nazi governor-general of Isfahan, General Zahidi. His rapid promotion, from lieutenant to brigadier in two years, provoked envy among his critics. But his success in these missions later led his friend Ian Fleming to base aspects of the character of James Bond on Maclean. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member jwhenderson
Eastern Approaches is not only close to the perfect travel book; it is a lively memoir of the quixotic adventures of a diplomat turned war hero who writes with style and wit. In the mid-thirties Fitzroy Maclean was a junior diplomat at the British embassy in Paris. Bored with the pleasant but
Maclean was in Moscow until late 1939, and so was present during the great Stalinist purges. One long chapter is devoted to one of the largest of these, in which Bukharin, Yagoda and other stalwarts of the Stalinist regime were accused (and of course convicted) of heinous crimes. The details of the trial, and the responses of the accused, are utterly fascinating; Maclean's analysis equally so.
When war broke out, Maclean was prevented from enlisting at first because of his position as a diplomat. He eventually managed to sign up by a subterfuge, and in North Africa Maclean distinguished himself in the early actions of the newly formed SAS. He rose from private to officer rank, and Churchill personally chose him to lead a liaison mission to central Yugoslavia, where Tito and his partisans were emerging as a major irritant to the German control of the Balkans. The last third of the book recounts how over eighteen months Maclean built Allied/Partisan cooperation from nothing to a key element in the last phases of the war. By the end, Maclean was a Major-General, and a friend of Tito's.
Maclean is a fine writer, with the British gift for understatement and wry humour. The book is filled with adventures that are spectacularly entertaining: if you have any taste for history, adventure, travel writing or war-time memoirs, you would enjoy reading this book.
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undemanding routine, he requested a posting to Moscow. Eastern Approaches opens with Maclean on a train, pulling out of Paris and much of the first section of the book covers his repeated attempts to explore Soviet central Asia. He reached Baku, Bokhara, Samarkand, Tashkent and many other places, and though there are few pictures, you do not need them for it is a riveting story -- fighting Soviet bureaucracy; being trailed by the NKVD; negotiating with locals for food and a place to sleep. At one point he manages with difficulty to persuade the Soviets to let him cross into Afghanistan: communicating primarily in sign language he manages to obtain an escort to Mazar-i-Sharif, through a lawless area with a cholera outbreak. Maclean was in Moscow until late 1939, and so was present during the great Stalinist purges. One long chapter is devoted to one of the largest of these, in which Bukharin, Yagoda and other stalwarts of the Stalinist regime were accused (and of course convicted) of heinous crimes. The details of the trial, and the responses of the accused, are utterly fascinating; Maclean's analysis equally so.
When war broke out, Maclean was prevented from enlisting at first because of his position as a diplomat. He eventually managed to sign up by a subterfuge, and in North Africa Maclean distinguished himself in the early actions of the newly formed SAS. He rose from private to officer rank, and Churchill personally chose him to lead a liaison mission to central Yugoslavia, where Tito and his partisans were emerging as a major irritant to the German control of the Balkans. The last third of the book recounts how over eighteen months Maclean built Allied/Partisan cooperation from nothing to a key element in the last phases of the war. By the end, Maclean was a Major-General, and a friend of Tito's.
Maclean is a fine writer, with the British gift for understatement and wry humour. The book is filled with adventures that are spectacularly entertaining: if you have any taste for history, adventure, travel writing or war-time memoirs, you would enjoy reading this book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member John_Vaughan
What an exciting read! Based, of course, on an equally exciting life. Sir Fitzroy was a founding member of Davis Stirling's SAS regiment who's motto is "Who Dares Wins". Maclean was a diplomat who dared. Based in glorious, cultured and comfortable Paris, he applied for transfer to Moscow. The
Once there - monitored and constrained - Maclean went wandering, to places - Samarkand, Bokura - where he was not allowed. Watched and followed by the NKVD, the forerunner to president Putin's old mob, the KGB, the rules designed to intimidate - no rooms without a special KGB pass - Maclean turned on their head. He developed an early "face' that led him to seek out the local offices of the dreaded secret police force to DEMAND their assistance in obtaining hotel rooms, local guides and transport in places he was not allowed to be! He even bullied them into booking his onward train journeys - first class of course. Having one of those magic black passports as a diplomat helped of course, but mainly it was his own personality.
In later careers and adventures as a soldier, commando,elected member of Parliament, 'Desert Rat' and SAS behind-enemy-lines raider this face served him well, allowing him, while dressed in full British Army uniform to order Nazi guards to give him access to to the port and docks of Benghazi.
Breathless and admiring, the reader applauds until his eventual, no doubt grudging and reluctant death at 85!
Wonderful.
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Foreign Office of course jumped at the chance to deploy and experienced and already valued diplomat to a posting that nobody else wanted.Once there - monitored and constrained - Maclean went wandering, to places - Samarkand, Bokura - where he was not allowed. Watched and followed by the NKVD, the forerunner to president Putin's old mob, the KGB, the rules designed to intimidate - no rooms without a special KGB pass - Maclean turned on their head. He developed an early "face' that led him to seek out the local offices of the dreaded secret police force to DEMAND their assistance in obtaining hotel rooms, local guides and transport in places he was not allowed to be! He even bullied them into booking his onward train journeys - first class of course. Having one of those magic black passports as a diplomat helped of course, but mainly it was his own personality.
In later careers and adventures as a soldier, commando,elected member of Parliament, 'Desert Rat' and SAS behind-enemy-lines raider this face served him well, allowing him, while dressed in full British Army uniform to order Nazi guards to give him access to to the port and docks of Benghazi.
Breathless and admiring, the reader applauds until his eventual, no doubt grudging and reluctant death at 85!
Wonderful.
Show Less
LibraryThing member thequestingvole
Eastern Approaches is autobiography of the best sort. A tale of high adventure that begins in Paris in the Thirties and ends in Yugoslavia at the end of the Second World War it is broken into three sections.
The first begins in Paris, where Foreign Office man about town, Fitzroy MacLean tires of
The second section concerns his time in the Western Desert with the SAS. Their operations end in a mixture of farce and failure, but are redeemed in the last chapter by the piratical kidnapping of a Persian general.
The last and longest section is about MacLean's time in Yugoslavia. MacLean was chosen to head a fact finding mission to Yugoslavia as there were two resistance movements, the Chetniks and the Partisans. The British were already committed to the Chetniks, but there were concerns that they were spending more time fighting the Partisans than the Germans. MacLean's job was to find out who was killing the most Germans and throw British support behind them.
This section is a fascinating melange of high level politics, boys own adventure and brutal endurance. The portraits of Churchill and Tito are particularly interesting, adding a human dimension to the grand strategy.
More honourable than Flashman, more human than Bond and funnier than Hannay, MacLean is well worth a read for those who like their escapism to combine all the virtues of fiction and fact.
The first begins in Paris, where Foreign Office man about town, Fitzroy MacLean tires of
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the diplomatic round and request a posting the Soviet Union. He arrives in Moscow to see the Stalin's society before and during the great purges. Not satisfied with a ringside seat at a witch hunt, he spends his holidays travelling in the near East, dodging NKVD minders and Intourist officials to see Samarkhand and Kabul. The second section concerns his time in the Western Desert with the SAS. Their operations end in a mixture of farce and failure, but are redeemed in the last chapter by the piratical kidnapping of a Persian general.
The last and longest section is about MacLean's time in Yugoslavia. MacLean was chosen to head a fact finding mission to Yugoslavia as there were two resistance movements, the Chetniks and the Partisans. The British were already committed to the Chetniks, but there were concerns that they were spending more time fighting the Partisans than the Germans. MacLean's job was to find out who was killing the most Germans and throw British support behind them.
This section is a fascinating melange of high level politics, boys own adventure and brutal endurance. The portraits of Churchill and Tito are particularly interesting, adding a human dimension to the grand strategy.
More honourable than Flashman, more human than Bond and funnier than Hannay, MacLean is well worth a read for those who like their escapism to combine all the virtues of fiction and fact.
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LibraryThing member lamour
It is difficult to believe that this an autobiography. It reads like a piece of fiction. Maclean led a very adventurous life. He opens with his diplomatic career as a British counselor who is in France but volunteers for a posting in Moscow in 1937. From his location in Moscow, he starts making
He follows that with his adventures in the North African desert fighting Rommel's forces as a member of the British Long Range Desert Group attacking the Germans from behind their own lines. He capture a Persian general who was conspiring with the Germans right from his own well guarded home.
He followed this with a posting to Yugoslavia to find out which underground movement was killing the most Germans and set up as liaison with them. He did and as a result became a friend of Marshall Tito and fought with Yugoslav Partisans for a couple of years until the Nazis were turfed from Yugoslavia. It is thought Ian Fleming used him in part as basis for James Bond.
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forays into the interior ending up in places such as Samarkand and Afghanistan. His descriptions of the latter are very interesting considering how much it has been in the news for the past 40 years.He follows that with his adventures in the North African desert fighting Rommel's forces as a member of the British Long Range Desert Group attacking the Germans from behind their own lines. He capture a Persian general who was conspiring with the Germans right from his own well guarded home.
He followed this with a posting to Yugoslavia to find out which underground movement was killing the most Germans and set up as liaison with them. He did and as a result became a friend of Marshall Tito and fought with Yugoslav Partisans for a couple of years until the Nazis were turfed from Yugoslavia. It is thought Ian Fleming used him in part as basis for James Bond.
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LibraryThing member nandadevi
This book deserves a far more detailed review than I'll provide here. Suffice to say that this stands comparison with Peter Flemings 'Tartary' or Harrer's 'Tibet'. Maclean was one of a very few great adventurers who was also a great writer. The account of Stalin's show trials is as devastating as
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Maclean's account of wandering in the Central Asian Soviet Republics is revealing. Where the account shines brightest is his story of fighting with the partisans of Yugoslavia against the Nazis. It is not an attractive story, or even heroic, but it is a true story that deserves (still) to be told and heard. Highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member Tendulkar01
An life of amazing exploits, beautifully written. The eyewitness acount of Bukharin's trial is worth the price of admission all by itself.
LibraryThing member jontseng
Boys own Edwardian spy story biography war memoir thingy. Heaven knows how much is true, but they certainly don't tell them like they used to...
LibraryThing member cestovatela
A diplomat in the UK's Russian Embassy, Fitzroy Maclean has a unique window into Communist Russia. In the first half of the book, he witnesses Stalin's show trials, escapes from the secret police and sneaks into closed areas Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. The second half of the book, chronicling his
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WWII missions in Yugoslavia and Libya, are slightly disconcerting. Though they are fabulous adventure stories, I couldn't get used to his "war is awesome!" attitude. Show Less
LibraryThing member Whiskey3pa
Amazing story, excellently written. Journey from the Stalinist show trials to remotest Central Asia. Follow that with the SAS in N Africa and fighting in Yugoslavia with all that was a part of that mess. Great reading.
LibraryThing member mbmackay
The experiences of a young UK diplomat in Moscow during Stalin's purges of the late 30's then his time in the SAS in North Africa & then behind the lines with Tito in WW2. Well written & fascinating.
Read Feb 2004
Read Feb 2004
LibraryThing member oparaxenos
An enjoyable read of one man's remarkable life. I expected more derring-do than was there, but the parts about life in 1930s Russia and in the Western Desert were interesting.
LibraryThing member hailelib
Eastern Approaches is MacLean's account of his exploits from about 1936 through the last days of World War II in Europe. Having joined the British Diplomatic Service after University he found himself in Paris which most young men would have found a perfect posting. However, having grown bored with
With the start of the War MacLean managed to resign from the Service and enlist in his home regiment (rising to Brigadier by the end of the war) by running for Parliament - even though he told everyone that if his regiment was sent to the front he would go with them he won. Assigned to a special force in North Africa he was part of several raids behind enemy lines and the second section of his book deals with this part of his life.
With the desert war winding down, Churchill's attention turned to the Balkans and MacLean was chosen to enter Yugoslavia (by parachute) and contact the Partisans. His orders were to find out who was killing Germans and help them kill more. So began his association with the group led by Tito and this forms the longest section of the book. The activities there and the explanation of some of the region's history helped me understand how the Balkans got to where they are today.
Eastern Approaches would be an excellent read for anyone interested in the Soviet Union in the 30's, in World War II, or the rise of Tito's government towards the end of the war.
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the social round and becoming convinced that more knowledge of the Soviet Union was essential, he applied for a posting to Moscow and was duly assigned there. The first section of the book concerns his observations of life there and particularly of the purges and the state trial of Bukharin and others of the Old Guard. But, in between events in Moscow, MacLean also travel extensively throughout the U.S.S.R. even though such travel was discouraged by the government. Rather than asking permission he just boarded trains and went. At various times he managed to get as far east as the border with China and, on another trip, across the border to Afganistan. Of course all these trips featured a couple of N.K.V.D. agents trailing behind.With the start of the War MacLean managed to resign from the Service and enlist in his home regiment (rising to Brigadier by the end of the war) by running for Parliament - even though he told everyone that if his regiment was sent to the front he would go with them he won. Assigned to a special force in North Africa he was part of several raids behind enemy lines and the second section of his book deals with this part of his life.
With the desert war winding down, Churchill's attention turned to the Balkans and MacLean was chosen to enter Yugoslavia (by parachute) and contact the Partisans. His orders were to find out who was killing Germans and help them kill more. So began his association with the group led by Tito and this forms the longest section of the book. The activities there and the explanation of some of the region's history helped me understand how the Balkans got to where they are today.
Eastern Approaches would be an excellent read for anyone interested in the Soviet Union in the 30's, in World War II, or the rise of Tito's government towards the end of the war.
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LibraryThing member DramMan
Memoir of travel in Russia in the late 1930s, while serving as a diplomat, followed by wartime adventures in Persia, North Africa and Yugoslavia, where he worked closely with Tito.
LibraryThing member RobertDay
A detailed and enjoyable account of the wartime exploits of one of Churchill's favourite "gentleman buccaneers", I was nonetheless initially disappointed in this book, mainly because (in the 2019 Penguin UK edition), Simon Sebag Montefiore's introduction bigs up the book as a life-changing great
As a young man, Maclean was posted to the British Embassy in Paris; but finding the round of diplomatic engagements and parties unfulfilling, he got himself posted to Moscow - then an unpopular posting - because he felt that to be the place where he could indulge his passion for finding things out. This he proceeded to do, going beyond the call of duty by setting out in his free time to explore Soviet Central Asia, inspired by the romance of places like Samarkand, Bukhara and Tashkent. In this, he was at first hindered, and later greatly assisted, by having two secret policemen on his tail. Having once extracted himself from a potentially unpleasant situation with a troop of NKVD cavalry by passing off a ticket for the Red Square May Day Parade as an "access all zones" diplomatic pass signed by someone very senior (made possible by his being the only person in the room who could actually read Russian), he became emboldened and started using the NKVD local offices and his minders as personal tour organisers, arranging rooms in official hostels here, a train compartment into a closed zone there (when such a thing was officially Not Possible), or transport with a lorry or even a car into sensitive areas somewhere else. This section of the book combines humour with some interesting travel writing in an area which is still little known to us even 25 years since the fall of Communism.
On his return to Moscow, Maclean attended the show trial of Bukharin and other Bolshevik leaders. His pen portrait of Bukharin in particular and his perceptive observations on the process, and of Stalin's underlying paranoia, makes for interesting reading.
At the outbreak of war, Maclean determined to join the Army, as was the family tradition. This required some considerable manoeuvring, as diplomats were not supposed to join up. Instead, he resigned from the Diplomatic Service in order to stand for Parliament; once he had won the by-election (in Lancaster) for the Conservatives, and despite making no bones about joining up if elected, he joined the Army as a private. This did not last long; he earned his first stripe, and then was quickly headhunted, probably on the strength of his reports on Soviet Central Asia, into David Stirling's new Special Air Service (SAS) and given a commission.
Maclean's account of his actions with the SAS is interesting, especially as so much has been written about them by others and much has passed into popular mythology. Maclean's account gives a rather downbeat account of SAS operations and their degree of success; but he also explores some of the thinking behind their operations, the extent of Axis intelligence operations directed against them, and some analysis of the SAS' role in the wider conflict, which in the eyes of the higher levels of command was to tie up Axis military assets in guarding their own installations behind the lines.
Diverted to the Middle East to replicate the SAS establishment in Iran and Iraq, in the anticipation of German efforts to penetrate these areas for their oil from the north, Maclean recounted some adventures there, including kidnapping a pro-German Persian general from his own fortified home under the noses of his own men.
Maclean was then tasked directly by Churchill with going into the then Yugoslavia and establishing contact with the Partisans. At the time, British support was concentrated on the Chetniks, remnants of the Royal Yugoslav Army which were supposedly continuing resistance to the Italians and Germans, but which seemed to be at best 'hands-off' and at worst actually collaborating with the invaders. Churchill wanted to find out about the partisans and their leader, the mysterious 'Tito', about whom we knew nothing. Some even speculated that Tito was not a single individual, but a committee.
Maclean was not just tasked with making contact with Tito; he was allocated resources to establish a liaison office with the Partisans. Accordingly, he set about recruiting soldiers to go into Yugoslavia with him and training them up to make parachute jumps and fight in difficult terrain. This involved some detachments to the School of Mountain Warfare, established in the Bekaa Valley in the Lebanon. (This was of interest to me as my father also went to the School of Mountain Warfare, and this is the first time I have seen it referenced in print. It is likely that my father was there at the same time as Maclean; but as Maclean was bridling at continued training and in any case was constantly being called back to Cairo for meetings and consultations, I doubt their paths crossed at all.)
Perhaps the major part of the book is devoted to Maclean and the war in Yugoslavia. He gives a short version of Yugoslav history which is probably the best and clearest account of that knotty subject. His account of his comings and goings with the Partisans has a lot of detail; he illustrates Napoleon's dictum that "an army marches on its stomach", especially in the account of the repasts conjured up out of nowhere by the Partisans and the villagers they meet with. Perhaps the other significant part of this book is Maclean's portrait of Tito. They appear to have become great friends; Maclean respects Tito and expresses hopes that he would not turn into an identikit puppet Soviet leader, such as those he had seen in the Soviet Union. In his description of Tito, he sees indications that this may not be so; having fought so hard for their freedom, Tito says, would Maclean expect the Yugoslavs to give it up so readily to anyone else, Communist doctrine notwithstanding?
The book ends with the liberation of Belgrade and Maclean being pulled out of the country, close to the war's end.
So: not the literary masterpiece I had been led to expect, but certainly a significant book because of Maclean's insights and love of travel. There are some other concerns; there is small-'r' racism throughout, as Maclean uses the language of racial stereotyping extensively. There is one tangential use of the 'n' word. But Maclean does not appear to be at all prejudiced in his personal dealings with people of all races and cultures, so I feel we should mark this down to the fashions of the time.
And there is one factual query; late in the account of his time in Yugoslavia, Maclean makes reference to a "Fiat mortar"; something I have never heard of. His description is somewhat ambiguous, which makes me wonder if the intention was to refer to a British weapon called a PIAT - in Army parlance, a 'Projectile, Infantry, Anti-Tank" - a single-use shoulder-mounted weapon which propelled a mortar-like round by means of a powerful spring. If that is so, then this is a typo which has been in place since the first edition of this book in 1949, and which no-one has ever challenged, possibly through a lack of military experience within the publishing industry! Sadly, we can't check this any longer, Maclean having died in 1996.
So: not a literary masterpiece, although well-written and with a fine ear for language and an eye for detail. But certainly a book of great value for understanding a lot of eastern European history of the 20th Century, written by someone who was there.
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work of literature. But Patrick Leigh Fermor it isn't. Rather, Maclean provides an eloquent, at times amusing and at other times stark account of his travels in Soviet Central Asia in the 1930s, and then his activities in the Western Desert and Yugoslavia during the Second World War.As a young man, Maclean was posted to the British Embassy in Paris; but finding the round of diplomatic engagements and parties unfulfilling, he got himself posted to Moscow - then an unpopular posting - because he felt that to be the place where he could indulge his passion for finding things out. This he proceeded to do, going beyond the call of duty by setting out in his free time to explore Soviet Central Asia, inspired by the romance of places like Samarkand, Bukhara and Tashkent. In this, he was at first hindered, and later greatly assisted, by having two secret policemen on his tail. Having once extracted himself from a potentially unpleasant situation with a troop of NKVD cavalry by passing off a ticket for the Red Square May Day Parade as an "access all zones" diplomatic pass signed by someone very senior (made possible by his being the only person in the room who could actually read Russian), he became emboldened and started using the NKVD local offices and his minders as personal tour organisers, arranging rooms in official hostels here, a train compartment into a closed zone there (when such a thing was officially Not Possible), or transport with a lorry or even a car into sensitive areas somewhere else. This section of the book combines humour with some interesting travel writing in an area which is still little known to us even 25 years since the fall of Communism.
On his return to Moscow, Maclean attended the show trial of Bukharin and other Bolshevik leaders. His pen portrait of Bukharin in particular and his perceptive observations on the process, and of Stalin's underlying paranoia, makes for interesting reading.
At the outbreak of war, Maclean determined to join the Army, as was the family tradition. This required some considerable manoeuvring, as diplomats were not supposed to join up. Instead, he resigned from the Diplomatic Service in order to stand for Parliament; once he had won the by-election (in Lancaster) for the Conservatives, and despite making no bones about joining up if elected, he joined the Army as a private. This did not last long; he earned his first stripe, and then was quickly headhunted, probably on the strength of his reports on Soviet Central Asia, into David Stirling's new Special Air Service (SAS) and given a commission.
Maclean's account of his actions with the SAS is interesting, especially as so much has been written about them by others and much has passed into popular mythology. Maclean's account gives a rather downbeat account of SAS operations and their degree of success; but he also explores some of the thinking behind their operations, the extent of Axis intelligence operations directed against them, and some analysis of the SAS' role in the wider conflict, which in the eyes of the higher levels of command was to tie up Axis military assets in guarding their own installations behind the lines.
Diverted to the Middle East to replicate the SAS establishment in Iran and Iraq, in the anticipation of German efforts to penetrate these areas for their oil from the north, Maclean recounted some adventures there, including kidnapping a pro-German Persian general from his own fortified home under the noses of his own men.
Maclean was then tasked directly by Churchill with going into the then Yugoslavia and establishing contact with the Partisans. At the time, British support was concentrated on the Chetniks, remnants of the Royal Yugoslav Army which were supposedly continuing resistance to the Italians and Germans, but which seemed to be at best 'hands-off' and at worst actually collaborating with the invaders. Churchill wanted to find out about the partisans and their leader, the mysterious 'Tito', about whom we knew nothing. Some even speculated that Tito was not a single individual, but a committee.
Maclean was not just tasked with making contact with Tito; he was allocated resources to establish a liaison office with the Partisans. Accordingly, he set about recruiting soldiers to go into Yugoslavia with him and training them up to make parachute jumps and fight in difficult terrain. This involved some detachments to the School of Mountain Warfare, established in the Bekaa Valley in the Lebanon. (This was of interest to me as my father also went to the School of Mountain Warfare, and this is the first time I have seen it referenced in print. It is likely that my father was there at the same time as Maclean; but as Maclean was bridling at continued training and in any case was constantly being called back to Cairo for meetings and consultations, I doubt their paths crossed at all.)
Perhaps the major part of the book is devoted to Maclean and the war in Yugoslavia. He gives a short version of Yugoslav history which is probably the best and clearest account of that knotty subject. His account of his comings and goings with the Partisans has a lot of detail; he illustrates Napoleon's dictum that "an army marches on its stomach", especially in the account of the repasts conjured up out of nowhere by the Partisans and the villagers they meet with. Perhaps the other significant part of this book is Maclean's portrait of Tito. They appear to have become great friends; Maclean respects Tito and expresses hopes that he would not turn into an identikit puppet Soviet leader, such as those he had seen in the Soviet Union. In his description of Tito, he sees indications that this may not be so; having fought so hard for their freedom, Tito says, would Maclean expect the Yugoslavs to give it up so readily to anyone else, Communist doctrine notwithstanding?
The book ends with the liberation of Belgrade and Maclean being pulled out of the country, close to the war's end.
So: not the literary masterpiece I had been led to expect, but certainly a significant book because of Maclean's insights and love of travel. There are some other concerns; there is small-'r' racism throughout, as Maclean uses the language of racial stereotyping extensively. There is one tangential use of the 'n' word. But Maclean does not appear to be at all prejudiced in his personal dealings with people of all races and cultures, so I feel we should mark this down to the fashions of the time.
And there is one factual query; late in the account of his time in Yugoslavia, Maclean makes reference to a "Fiat mortar"; something I have never heard of. His description is somewhat ambiguous, which makes me wonder if the intention was to refer to a British weapon called a PIAT - in Army parlance, a 'Projectile, Infantry, Anti-Tank" - a single-use shoulder-mounted weapon which propelled a mortar-like round by means of a powerful spring. If that is so, then this is a typo which has been in place since the first edition of this book in 1949, and which no-one has ever challenged, possibly through a lack of military experience within the publishing industry! Sadly, we can't check this any longer, Maclean having died in 1996.
So: not a literary masterpiece, although well-written and with a fine ear for language and an eye for detail. But certainly a book of great value for understanding a lot of eastern European history of the 20th Century, written by someone who was there.
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Subjects
Awards
Language
Original publication date
1949
2004-09-01 (Penguin Global New Ed.)
Physical description
543 p.; 21 cm