Undiplomatic Episodes

Wouldn't it be good to have an insider's view of the world of diplomacy?

To find out what it's really like?

Fortunately,  now we can, with Undiplomatic Episodes, the memoirs of retired diplomat Martin Berthoud.

After gaining a university degree and a spell in the army, Martin Berthoud decided that a career in the British Diplomatic Service was what he wanted to do.

He served in a wide variety and range of diplomatic missions in all sorts of places, some exotic and some not quite so exotic. Places like Ulan Bator, Iran, South Africa, Australia, Finland and the Philippines.

He became British High Commissioner in Trinidad and Tobago and received his Knighthood on the Royal Yacht in 1985.

After retirement he served for many years as director of the charity the Water Foundation, which he retired from in 2000.

In his first role he served in the embassy in Tehran as Third Secretary from 1956, taking the intriguing and fairly novel decision to drive the entire journey of 4,446 miles from his home in Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire all the way to Iran.

He points out the differences between life in Iran now and during the 1950s. Changes which seem not to have been a improvement for most people in that country.

After spending a two year term in Iran he returned to London where he was stationed for a time.

In 1961 he and his wife Marguerite arrived in the Philippines for what was to be their first married posting.

We follow Martin through postings in a variety of places in the world, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, to name a few.

In one of his latter postings he joined the EU monitoring team, members of which group were overseeing the ceasefire in the former Yugoslavia.

The book is a fascinating insight into the world of diplomacy as it existed in the recent past.

It is well illustrated with a range of images.

It is published by Matador at £8.99 and is available from good bookshops or online at https://goo.gl/WRfFc7.

A Life Lived Memories of the Famous and Infamous

A Life Lived Memories of the Famous and Infamous is one of those books that is always very popular.

It is written by Liz Parker. It begins, as all good books must do, at the very beginning, with Liz' childhood in  the India in which she was born.

When she was four years of age she was packed of to England where she had to attend a boarding school.

She always knew that acting was what she wanted to do and so she studied at RADA. Whilst she was learning her craft there, she fell in love with a well known actor, Ronald Fraser.

After seven years of marriage they divorced and Liz had the unenviable task of bringing up their two daughters as a single mother.

Eventually she remarried and had a son with her second husband. Tragically, her husband died and she was left to look after her son, this time as a widow.

Liz developed cancer but benefited from a course of treatment that was both unorthodox and alao successful.

She was then 59 years of age and decided that she needed a change so she decided to purchase a somewhat down on its luck yacht club and taverna on a rather small Green island, assisted by her middle daughter.  

However, tragedy befell Liz again and she was again, left alone. 

It is filled with humorous events and events of great tragedy. It is extremely readable and very well written. 

It's ruthlessly honest and utterly charming, giving glimpses of the lives and loves of a whole post war generation of  actors and actresses the likes of whom we will probably never see again.

Liz never namedrops, but the way she casually mentions famous people she met is truly delightful.

For example, she would often breakfast with Michael Foot eating sausages, baked beans and croissants at his favourite small restaurant in Curzon Street.

She also met a number of people who, although not actually famous when she met them, would become famous later in life. Names that crop up in that context include Peter O'Toole, Albert Finney and Timothy West.

The book is well illustrated with a range of photographs. 

It is published by The Book Guild at £9.99 and is available for purchase from good bookshops and online at  https://goo.gl/WRfFc7.

The Fair Maid of Kent

I have heard it said that there is a major story within the ancestry of one's own family (in the case of your reviewer it would be the fact that his grandfather was an MI6 agent during the First World War and in the following decades) and for author Caroline Newark, the family member is her seventeen times great-grandmother Joan, who was the first Princess of Wales.

We pick up the story in the year 1341, Joan is an amazingly beautiful young girl, who was the cousin of the King of England. 

She is on the brink of a very important marriage. However, all is not quite what it seems. For Joan holds a secret, a secret so disquieting that it would be capable of wrecking her marriage and also putting at risk the lives of her loved ones.

Her husband knows something, or he thinks he does, as his suspicions are aroused, so Joan must be very circumspect and take the utmost care. There is a fine line between the truth and sophism, a line Joan dare not cross too obviously.

Disaster strikes at the very heart of the English royal family and Joan becomes imprisoned in her own chambers. Her fate resides with the Pope's Avignon-based tribunal.

Although this is a fictionalised account of the story it is drawn from copious notes based on extensive research undertaken by Caroline Newark's father into the history of his family. 

It's a vibrant and interesting read and delves into a long distant time of the history of England and other European countries of that time.

It is published by Matador in paperback and costs £9.99, it's available through good bookshops and is also available online at https://goo.gl/WRfFc7.

The Frog Who Was Blue

The Frog Who Was Blue is an enchanting tale from published, prize winning author Faiz Kermani.

Biriwita is a frog. But he most certainly is not like other frogs. Frogs are, in general, coloured green.

Unfortunately for Biriwita, he was not green, he was of a blue hue! As were all the other frogs who lived in Lake Ticklewater, their ancestral home.

He is an ambitious young frog and he longs to be accepted at the highly prestigious Croak College, the most famous and the most elite schools for frogs in the whole of Malawi.

He passes the entry requirements and so he very proudly begins his studies at Croak College.

However, the other frog students just turn their backs on him! Who on earth had heard of a blue frog before? Certainly not them! And they did not intend to even associate with him at all!

In fact, they mocked and ridiculed him to the extent that he became so frightened of the other frogs that rather than sleeping in the school dormitory with them, he chose to hide in a tiny hole near the hill, and cover himself with grass to keep warm.

He couldn't understand why they were so mean to him.

However, their attitude toward him changed during one particularly horrifying evening, wen the green frogs came aware of exactly how helpful a blue frog could be!

The book is wonderfully written and the colourful, vibrant illustrations from Naomi Powell are a perfect compliment.

It's a good, fun read for younger children which also contains some important lessons about life, too.

It costs £6.99 and can be ordered through good book retailers oe bought online at https://goo.gl/WRfFc7.

The Catchpole Curse

The Catchpole Curse is a debut children's book from author Paul Knight.

Ben and Emma are twins and they have the unique bond and communication skills that are common amongst some twins.

Their family has been subjected to The Catchpole Curse for two centuries. The impact of the curse seems about to reach its evil apogee, when the family, once wealthy and now destitute Catchpole family would be forced to sell of their last and post prized possession, their Cornish home.

Whilst exploring, the twins tumble headlong down an ancient abandoned mine shaft on the clifftops not far from their ancestral home.

They find themselves facing the shades of their ancestral twins. Ben and Emma find themselves transported back in time to the early 19th century and become entangled with a gang of ruthless Cornish pirates who force the two children to assist them in their enterprise of smuggling a secret cargo ashore.

But the cargo, they discover, is more than mere barrels of brandy.

Before the gang can enjoy the riches of their enterprise they are ambushed by a force of soldiers who are determined to put an end to their smuggling.

As a result the leader, who believes members of the Catchpole family have betrayed him, brings down a terrible curse upon the family.

But when the twins return to their present time they find themselves involved in a media frenzy.

Faced by a journalist is is only interested in digging up dirt, no matter who gets hurt, by vengeful descendants of the leader of the smugglers, a dangerous armed robber and parents who remain wildly clueless about what is really going on, Ben and Emma are hard pushed to try to make sense the recent events.

All they need to do is to reestablish the family's good name, save their ancestral home and forge a reconciliation with the family that issued the curse that has blighted their family for 200 years.

Can they do it? Children aged 11 to 14 will love to read this book to find out.

It is published by Matador at £8.99 and is available for order from most good bookshops and also online at https://goo.gl/WRfFc7.

Omnipotence

Omnipotence is a debut science fiction novel from author Geoff Gaywood.

The novel is based in our future in about a century or so. Mankind has decided that, if it is to survive, that it must seek out a new home, or homes.

An interstellar mission is established, under the leadership of Arlette Piccard, which is intended to visit a planet on a distant star.

The planet, it is believed, should be capable of sustaining human life and it is the aim of the mission to establish a colony on the planet.

However, the mission is dogged with problems from a violent onboard conspiracy to the unexpected problems of aggressive aliens.

However, Arlette and her crew of settlers are confronted with evidence that all might not be what it seems.

Are events under their control? Or are they under the control and influence of some kind of hidden power which has plans all of its own?

It's a complex and deep novel that exits on several different levels, it's an old-fashioned space adventure, a story of human vanity, of human resourcefulness and of philosophy.

The characterisations of the proponents are all as near enough to perfection as one could hope for and it's quite easy to forget the fact that this is a debut novel. It will be interesting to follow the future career of Geoff Gaywood and see where he will take his readers next.

It's published by Matador at £9.99 in paperback and is available from all good bookshops and online at https://goo.gl/WRfFc7.

A Parcel of Pigs

A Parcel of Pigs is a debut book for children from new author Andrea Prior.

It's filled with quirky poems that are specially written for children aged from 5 to 8.

The poems are accompanied by bright and colourful illustrations which are also by the author.

The poems are great for children to share with adults and they will be able to help them with their reading skills.

The poems are proper poems (meaning that they rhyme!) and are humorous and are designed to provide children and parents (and grandparents, too!) with a highly pleasing and interactive experience that they will remember as a pleasant part of their childhood.

Each poem has a set of questions that are designed to help the children remember what they learn through the poems.

The book is ideal for all children but will, in the reviewer's opinion, be of great help for parents who have taken the decision to educate their own children at home.

It is published by Matador at £8.99 (e-book version £3.99) and can be ordered online at https://goo.gl/Ltov34.

It is to be hoped that this is the first of many such books from Andrea Prior.