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Disappointing - and not exactly "Forgotten"

Customer Rating:

I wanted to like this one, but it has too many faults. The most basic is that so many of the voices in this one are far from forgotten, with many very familiar names appearing, retelling stories that have been seen in print and other media many times before. Sweep those aside and you are left with a remarkably small number of people, and remarkably little of any serious interest. There are numerous errors, some of which are the author's, some of which are from the people interviewed. Where these are obvious errors of recollection, it would be nice to have a note from the author stating this - as it is, it comes across as poorly researched. The most interesting aspect of the book for me was the author's own experiences, and his feelings regarding a particular incident - I'll leave it to other readers to find it and see if they agree.

Who knows what Hugh McManners did "down south"?

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I have no intention of rubbishing anybody's opinions of his book, but if any one has read any of his others,like I have, such as "The Scars of War", "Falklands Commando" etc, I think Hugh McManners writes a damn good book.He served as an Artillery Forward Observation Officer in the Campaign with 148 Battery of 29 Commando Regiment R.A,at times calling fire down on his own position,as enemy forces where that close to him and his comrades.He is a man who knows EXACTLY,what the war was like,he was there,at the extreme sharp end of it."The Scars of War",for example,is about the effects of PTSD on those that go into battle for their nation,something Hugh himself suffered from after the conflict. He is emminently qualified to comment on this war and the "ordinary" soldier,(though as a serving, regular soldier myself, I have no idea what that phrase,beloved of civilians NOT the military,actually means). I have yet to read this book but I think the author deserves great respect, for what he did 25 years ago alone.

Poor example of the Forgotten Voices series

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This is a classic example of how not to write a book in the Forgotten Voices series. When around half way through reading, I was puzzled why I thought this book didn't "feel" right. I then realised that there was not one comment from an ordinary UK soldier/sailor/airman. Flicking through the book I saw Major this, General that, Captain this, Colonel that. As a result, the difference between this and other books in the series is striking. It reads like a tactical overview of the conflict rather than an in the trenches one. Of all the thousands involved, it is the officer classes that are included, again and again. I am not interested in an officer sat behind the lines, I want to know how the ordinary serviceman fought and died on both sides of the conflict. Ironically it is left to an Argentine Private to decribe what life was like during the conflict, our own Privates appear to have been silenced in favour of the officers to present their version of the truth. Go and read other books in the Forgotten series, skip this one.

A Powerful Evocation of a War

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The Falklands War means many things to many people. For me, it was the first of the "modern" wars, which now seem to be diabolic chess games, with minimal casualties before one side or the other realises its weakness, and concedes. It, and subsequent "wars" bear little resemblance to the carnage of the Great War, World War Two, or even Korea. More servicemen and women have died in Northern Ireland than we lost in the Falklands. Hence, this book's blurb about "....all the very latest weaponry military technology had to offer" is nonsense. In any war, the protagonists are desperate to use the most modern kit they can get their hands on. Likewise the statement on the dust jacket that "Objective analysis on both sides took a back seat to the politics of expediency and crude appeals to nationalism" is blindingly obvious, is this not why wars happen? This book is so powerful because, over a series of chapters, participants (who are perhaps also victims) tell us what it feels like to be on a roller coaster. For most, this roller coaster is apparently out of control. A few of the "voices" seem to think they had some influence on events. Most did not. Compared to almost any other contemporary conflict, the Falklands was a very "clean" war, at least from the British perspective. The bad guys invaded some of our turf. We kicked them out. The enemy was brave, behaved honourably, but made more mistakes than we did (just). We beat them. We behaved well too. From the Argentine point of view, defeat rid them of a hideous military dictatorship. Secretly, we think they ought to be grateful. "Voices" is the voice of ordinary men and women caught up in extraordinary events. The great and the good have already written their apologias. The problem with transcribing oral history is that there are potentially thousands upon thousands of sources. The skill of the historian lies in selecting, distilling and presenting an objective representation of their memories, Hugn McManners has done an outstanding job.

A Worthy Tribute and a Thoroughly Enjoyable Read

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This is an excellent book. I agree with Sir Max Hastings when he states in the foreword that this is "a worthy tribute to those who died and to those who survived this freak of history and played their parts in creating a legend". As demonstrated in other books from the `Forgotten Voices' series, it is not possible to hear all of the voices from the Falklands Conflict. The Imperial War Museum's own vast archive provides innumerable sources to choose from, let alone the thousands of people who have already contributed or would be willing to do so. To include all these voices and the many different events, experiences, disciplines, ships, units, etc. would require many, many volumes. Yet this book gets it right because there is an underlying sense of scholarship that is required to write a book of this kind given the magnitude of the primary resources alone. The author has managed to weave a story which is readable, absorbing and most enjoyable. He has cleverly constructed and used a timeline narrative which follows individuals and events. Much thought must have gone into selecting material which tells the tales of a wide variety of people involved in the Falklands Conflict. One aspect I found especially pleasing was the excellent mix of views and the honesty, self criticism and modesty so apparent in many of the interviewees. In particular, I enjoyed the feeling of mixed emotions when reading extremely sad accounts alongside those which describe the humour of servicemen in combat. This affection was evidently absorbed by the Islanders themselves: it is their stories which add an essential ingredient to making this book such an enjoyable read. The skilful interweaving of the thoughts of Argentineans, from key players to the lowly conscript, also adds considerable quality to this work. There are bound to be some readers who will find the occasional historical inaccuracies distracting or annoying - I came across quite a few. But I think this is one of the strengths of this book, in that it is focused on the `facts' surrounding events using the recollections of those who were there. If a particular participant thought that the battle for Tumbledown occurred at the same time as Two Sisters and Mount Longdon, then that is how his or her particular `history' has been formed: and so be it. Amongst the many oral resources there will be any number of different accounts of the same event. Part of what oral history should do is to demonstrate is how it is impossible to write a book which could be considered a definitive work, let alone please everyone. I my opinion the author has got this balance as right as it ever can be: apart from anything else this is just a jolly good read.