• Title: Great Uncle Harry
• Author: Michael Palin
• Genre/Subject: Great War history
• Publisher: Random House Canada
• Publication Date: 2023
• Start date: 1/8/24
• Finish date: 1/13/24

Review:

This was excellent, a really engaging and enjoyable read. Imagine finding out about a great uncle that you had no idea really existed and then resolving to find out who this man was and what his life was like.

Michael Palin did exactly that with his Great Uncle Harry. Researched his life from his war diaries, employment records, accounts from his contemporaries and even by poring over old photographs. What emerged was the portrait of an ordinary man caught up in extraordinary times.

I couldn’t put this book down, and it reinforced my belief in the strangeness of war. Consider a diary entry like, “two pairs of socks rcvd from Margie, must send thank you note. Jenkins got blown up by a mine, rottten luck.”

I highly recommend this to anyone looking to expand their knowledge of what is a very tragic chapter of human history.