I'm amazed nobody has reviewed this book yet. I strongly recommend it as a well written account by a man's man who led very adventurous life. It's a classic in the tradition of "Lives of a Bengal Lancer" ( though better written in my opinion), an account of a full life in an era now long past, that an officer of the British Army serving in the far reaches of the Empire, before, during, and after the second World War. If the thought of fishing the Nile, hunting lion in the Sudan and tigers and pigsticking (hunting wild boar on horse-back) in India makes your heart beat faster, this is the book for you. Likewise, if this turns you off, it is obviously not. Hook is not one to lay his private life on the line, so we learn little of such matters as his marriage and subsequent divorce, but he is a most perceptive observer and an accomplished raconteur and we learn a good deal about the people and animals of the countries he serves in. Hook tells us of his experiences in the hunt and on the field of battle in a simple, direct manner, not without a touch of humour. Refreshingly, as one would expect from an officer and gentleman of his time, there is no gratuitious sex, violence or obscene language, though I have no doubt he was exposed to a great deal of the above. A good reminder that you don't have to talk tough to be the real thing.
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