General Sir David Fraser has had two careers: as a distinguished British soldier and as a leading military biographer. His childhood passed in grand houses in London and Scotland, but he was the son of anything but conventional parents, who Fraser sketches out in this book in all their bizarre and entertaining individuality. He then goes on to provide an account of becoming a soldier, the life of his regiment and his role as an officer in World War II. After the war he rose through the hierarchy (the acuteness of his mind earned him the nickname "Fraser the Razor") until he became GOC of the British Army of the Rhine and Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff.
Part one: a melancholy radiance; northern lights; figures in the
foreground; foreigners and others; a long summer afternoon. Part two: waiting
in an ante-room; uniform at last; time of preparation; the end of waiting;
Norman summer; "To the Last Breath of Man and Beast"; farewell to armour.
Part three: no war, no peace; times of turbulence; allies and reflections.
David Fraser's previous books include the authorised biography of ALANBROOKE, his best-selling KNIGHT'S CROSS: A LIFE OF FIELD MARSHAL ERWIN ROMMEL and most recently FREDERICK THE GREAT, now regarded as the standard life in English, as well as seven novels.
