Tag Archives: Cold War

The Importance of the Incheon Landings: Korea 15th September- 15th October, 1950

Posted on July 16, 2020 by odeboyz

“I predict,” said general of the Army Omar Nelson Bradley, “that large scale amphibious operations will never occur again.”* Background Amphibious landings were critical in the Second World War. In the Pacific war, they were the strategically brilliant ‘Leapfrogging’ technique … Continue reading →

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Book Review: John le Carre ~ Agent Running in the Field (2019)

Posted on December 16, 2019 by odeboyz

Do octogenarians write as well as they did in their pomp? On the evidence of this book they don’t they write differently. This novel is almost a satire. La Carre rails against western ‘values’, which he traduces as a mass … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Len Deighton ~ Faith (1994)

Posted on August 26, 2019 by odeboyz

It was Deighton’s misfortune to be a brilliant author at the same time as John le Carre was also writing. Salieri had a similar problem with Mozart! So why read Deighton? I returned to Deighton after 25 years and was … Continue reading →

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Book Reviews: Jason Matthews~ Red Sparrow and Palace of Treason

Posted on April 10, 2018 by odeboyz

Fortunately I saw the film first. I rated the film as excellent but the book is far better. Matthews must have been paid an awful lot of money for film rights as there are significant U turns in both the … Continue reading →

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Film Review ~ Red Sparrow (Jennifer Lawrence)

Posted on March 27, 2018 by odeboyz

Red Sparrow is a tour de force for Jennifer Lawrence. Red Sparrow is set in a Russia which hasn’t acknowledged that the Cold War has ended. All the familiar tropes are hard at work. There are assassins (Yes- pre-Salisbury), and … Continue reading →

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Book Review: John le Carre ~ A Legacy of Spies

Posted on October 31, 2017 by odeboyz

With unhappy memories of dinosaur rock bands trading on their illustrious past, I wondered if this was a literary version. ‘Is it possible that Smiley et al can be successfully mined?’ was a nagging thought before I opened the book. … Continue reading →

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