This book is a threesome consisting of a remarkably well-observed piece of social history, an erudite but easy-to-read travelogue and a personal-experience account of the second world war. For each of its components alone, it would be value for money but, as you can buy one and get the other two free, it is truly a gem.
No doubt it will be classified as ‘War’ and it is true this is the vehicle on which the rest travels. Even so, Hildyard is more interested in the social and sight-seeing aspects than in war, despite having fought in Crete, the Western Desert, Italy and north-west Europe.
In the beginning he is recruited to the Territorial Army by Gerald Grosvenor, the future Duke of Westminster. When his parents ask him what he has joined, he has to admit he doesn’t know. Later he discovers it is the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, a cavalry formation still mounted on horseback, which was rather bad luck as he is not particularly interested in horses or riding. Later, when the horses have been set aside and he comes across the beach at Salerno to fight in Italy, he hopes to visit the museum in Naples.
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