by Harbinger,
Greetings to the Harbinger fan club, (of which I am the Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer.....and Member). Sorry I have not been around for a while, I had a resurgence of my wrist troubles (now thankfully abated) and was preoccupied with my application for a Masters. Which was accepted, that's right all bow down before the History King!!. *Ahem* apologies for that outburst.
Any one heard of Cold War? It was a big thing in the 20th Century. Well the book I am reviewing is a satire (and a fantastic one at that) of the Cold War. It is one of the funniest books I have ever read. Dare I say funnier than Terry Pratchett (who I adore by the way)?
The Duchy of Grand Fenwick, the world's smallest nation, nestled in the Alps is a throw back to pre-industrial medieval Europe. Their obscure claim to fame, is as the makers of a brilliant wine. However the Duchy suffers financial melt down when a Californian company makes a rip-off of their wine. Young Duchess Gloriana XII and her Prime Minister (Count Mountjoy) decide their only alternative is to declare war on the USA. Counting on the fact that they will be defeated resoundingly and receive, the post war rebuilding schemes that the US gave to Germany and Japan after WWII. Unfortunately the Americans are completely unaware of this declaration (the not was lost in the Bureaucracy), and the unthinkable happens. The Duchy's 20 Longbow men win, capturing the doomsday weapon, the Q (quadium) bomb and the scientist who built it.
This leads to hilarious repercussions as the US, USSR, UK, and France contend to 'protect' the Duchy and Q-Bomb from the other powers.
This was eventually made into a Film staring the late great Peter Sellers. However, I feel that as is often the case the book is far better than the film. As usual the few cosmetic alterations and reductions harm it a little. This book is special because it was published in 1959, really at a time when fear of the bomb was prevalent. Leonard Wibberly shows that the best way to conquer fear is to make light of what scares you. Even though bits of it may seem a bit dated now it is still riotously funny and I don't do this often, but I would recommend it, along with its sequels Beware of the Mouse, The Mouse on the Moon, The Mouse on Wall Street, The Mouse that Saved the West.
Hoped you enjoyed the review
TTFN
3 comments:
I do love the film, but it's a wonderfully comic little novel that will make you laugh out loud. Thanks for reminding of the fun Wibberly offers. Quite a prolific author -- under a few different names.
Well I've only read one or two of the 'Mouse' series. But it seemed like a set of books that no one was much intrested in any more. But I thought it was great.
cool, I may actually look into this. :)
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