Book Review - Phoenix Squadron

Phoenix Squadron: HMS Ark Royal, Britain s last Topguns and the untold story of their most dramatic mission by Rowland White

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
First of all, this introduces an era of British Naval (and colonial and military) history of which I was only vaguely aware. Of course, I knew we had a military presence in Belize post-independence, but this book sets this in its historical context.

As a book, I found this to be a bit unfulfilling. It came across more as an eulogy to the passing of the great Royal Navy aircraft carrier fleet, than just the flight to Belize and back. In that way, I found the book to be less satisfactory than Vulcan 607, which did have me on the edge of my seat.

Interesting though.

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Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun

oh wow!



"In this tightly cropped image, the NASA space shuttle Atlantis is seen in silhouette during solar transit, Tuesday, May 12, 2009, from Florida. This image was made before Atlantis and the crew of STS-125 had grappled the Hubble Space Telescope.

The photographer made this image using a solar-filtered Takahashi 5-inch refracting telescope and a Canon 5D Mark II digital camera.

Image Credit: NASA/Thierry Legault"

And yes, the music nerd in me was instantly reminded of this.....

Blowin in the wind

"How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind."

Bob Dylan

Manufactured Landscapes

Last night a documentary about Edward Burtynsky was shown on Sky Arts- especially his "Manufactured Landscapes" work. I've been catching up with it this evening (thanks Sky Plus...). I have to say that although the photos are very good, and often very thought provoking as well, they have made me think deeply about what we want out of modern society. Pollution in all its senses - environmental as well as individual - is very prevalent in his work.

But the documentary is far too long. It didn't really know what it was for - a social justice documentary or about the artist. In trying to serve both audiences, my feeling is that it failed to satisfy both.

Here is the trailer for the film....

Book Review - Vulcan 607

Vulcan 607 by Rowland White

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I've known of this raid for years, and also the other raids in the "Black Buck" series. This book brings it all home how such a close run thing it was to make the mission succeed. The book doesn't just concentrate on the Vulcan crew, but many of those involved in the planning of the mission, and also the intimate involvement of the Victor crews.



In a planning sense, the need to build in contingency after contingency is highlighted by the plan unravelling during the flight from Ascension to the Falklands, and the flexibility and bravery of those implementing it in enabling the mission to succeed.



One small point is that, personally, I would have liked to hear more about the subsequent raids, but I understand why the author decided to concentrate on the initial raid - the one that got all the headlines.



Finally, not many books have been for me "unputdownable" over the past few years. This was. Praise indeed!!!


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Reach Out

I'll be there....

Hanging Colours

Colours captured, hanging on a line
blowing in the wind
drifting past.......