Book Description
Unique written and pictorial record of King George V's garden party for VC winners from the Indian Mutiny to the 1919 intervention in Russia. ... Read more

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Victoria Cross
This is a very informative and user-friendly book.It gives a brief history of the Victoria Cross from it's inception, to the present day; in addition this book has many medal arrays and descriptions of the campaign and service awards, as well. ... Read more

Book Description
Neville Reginald Howse was the first soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross while serving in an Australian unit. A doctor in the Boer War and World War I, he was famous for his willingness to risk his own life to save others. He was also a gifted administrator who oversaw the complete
overhaul of Australia's medical services in the 1920s. Later that decade he was elected to federal Parliament where he eventually served in a number of key Cabinet posts. An influential legislator and fierce nationalist, he remains little known today. This biography is the first on this important
figure in Australian history. ... Read more

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Good Read
Reads well, Good collection of Stories of VC winners, Including Guy Gibson, David Wanklyn, Albert Ball, and others. Nice coverage, doesn't gloss over some of the less savory aspects of some of the hero's lives, or the politics or Bravery. ... Read more

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Hidden Chapter in Irish History Revealed
Only the English are represented more often in the roll of Victoria Cross winners, yet we Irish have managed to forget our contribution to the defense of the British Empire between 1840 and 1945.However this book makes a valuable contribution to the restoration of this aspect of Irish History. Meticulously researched and logically set out, it is an uncomplicated yet thorough summary of all the Irish winners of Britain's highest military award.Whatever the merits or otherwise of Irishmen fighting Russians, Boers Afghans and Zulus, the Irishmen who won their 'Gongs' after volunteering to fight against the rampant German aggressions of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 are above reproach.They are Ireland's forgotten heroes. ... Read more

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A Fable about War and Nature
During the Falklands Islands War in 1982 Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, warned the British Navy that whales often looked like submarines on radar. Pierre Boulle took this comment and created an imaginative story. Sonar affects whales like an electric shock, they immediately flee in panic (Chapter 5). Would they beach themselves? There is a description how killer whales will attack and devour great blue whales. To "save the whales" you must destroy the orcas. One of the destroyers gets a signal from radar. It turns out to be a great marine mammal. Actually it was two whales, a male and a female, swimming so close as to be of one flesh. They were attacked by a pack of killer whales (orcas). The LCDR of the destroyer ordered his guns to fire on the orcas, saving the remaining female. But the Admiral of the fleet became upset. Should he take disciplinary action? They decide on a cover-up, a story that sounds plausible. [Is this an example of "saving face"?]

The blue whale cow swam alongside the destroyer that saved her life. The sailors considered her a mascot. Whales are attacked by all sorts of parasites. They came up with a plan to remove them. Later the whale repays them by locating a hidden danger. The men at sea in ships write home about this whale. A surprise attack by Argentine planes led to the destruction of one transport ship. One of those in the sea was the whaler, his efforts called forth the blue whale in a rescue attempt. Will more be rescued by this cetacean? [There were old legends about dolphins aiding humans at sea, such as in Pliny the Elder's "Natural History".] The Admiral plans to give a citation to this whale. Then the blue whale gives another example of its devotion to the sailors. What is the moral to this fable?

The original title "La Baleine des Malouines" translates as the whale of the Falklands. This title seems designed to be sensational. Note those are forty millimeter antiaircraft guns (Chapter 9). The translation should be "animal-eating plants" (Part 2, Chapter 8).

A selfless cetacean raises issues of our own humanity
It is quite unfortunate that only two books by Pierre Boulle are generally available in the U.S.: Bridge on the River Kwai and Planet of the Apes. However, The Whale of The Victoria Cross shows how wonderfully fertile a writer's imagination can be.Boulle gives us a most unusual premise involving a naval battle and the critical involvement and influence of marine mammals. I also recommend Ears of the Jungle by the same author -- a Vietnam War story told from the main character's perspective, who just happens to be a high level North Vietnamese strategist. Fabulous! ... Read more

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