Showing 1 - 9 of 9
A Druid victory
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 13/10/2017
» I didn't realise how many contemporary historians there are until I began reviewing their books. However, their interests don't vary greatly. Ancient Rome and the Tudor periods are predominant. Followed by World War II and the Templar knights. Then Ancient Egypt and the Napoleonic Wars.
A Cold War thriller
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 09/09/2016
» It's a fact of human nature that some wars stick to the mind more than others. World War I rings a faint bell, the Spanish-American War none at all. The Korean War sounds a tinkle. The Vietnam is receding from memory. The Gulf War came and went.
Reinventing oneself
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 20/06/2016
» It isn't uncommon for people to reinvent themselves when they move to another country. Doing so in their homeland is difficult, as they may well be recognised, even of they undergo cosmetic surgery. Yours truly had an interview column for a while, and more than a few subjects (farangs) made up lies about themselves as they went along.
An enduring spirit
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 18/01/2016
» With the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the world entered the atomic age. More devastating hydrogen bombs were tested, weapons of mass destruction indeed. The US and USSR rattled theirs at each other over the next 44 years, until the Soviets called it a day and the Cold War was over.
Crime and culture
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 04/01/2016
» As a New Yorker, my friends and neighbours sent me off to Asia, via Japan, to do my duty in the Korean "Police action". The continent got into my blood and I resolved to head back after receiving my honourable discharge from the military, which I did as a backpacker six years later.
No end in sight
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 01/09/2014
» While new authors keep appearing, older ones keep at it until they run out (Hemingway) or pass away (Clancy). Those who retire return (Rankin). Those staying on may no longer be in top form (le Carre). But several are (Rendell). Not that this reviewer rates Ruth Randell on a par with Agatha Christie.
Europe in chaos
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 29/07/2013
» Born and bred in the Big Apple, my first memory of war was of a photo of a near naked native standing with a spear on the front page of a newspaper. Upon enquiry I was told that he was a soldier of Ethiopia, of which I had never heard. It was at war with Italy, of which I had.
Not a farce?
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 01/07/2013
» Foaled in the Big Apple during the Great Depression, my earliest memories were of my father's ambition for me to be a doctor. Second best, a lawyer. The thing was that hospital smells turned my stomach. And I know my limitations. No Clarence Darrow, I.