The Junior Officers' Reading Club

Patrick Hennessey is a graduate in his 20s. He reads Graham Greene, listens to early-90s house on his iPod and watches Vietnam movies. He has also, as an officer in the Grenadier Guards, fought in some of the most violent combat the British army has seen in a generation. This is the story of how a modern soldier is made, from the testosterone-heavy breeding ground of Sandhurst to the nightmare of Iraq and Afghanistan. Showing war in all its terror, boredom and exhilaration, "The Junior Officers' Reading Club" is already being hailed as a modern classic.

ISBN 0141039264   Pages 368 ISBN13 9780141039268 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 274 Publisher Penguin Books Ltd   Published in London Imprint Penguin Books Ltd   Height (mm) 198 Format Paperback   Width (mm) 129 Publication date 27 May 2010   Spine width (mm) 21 DEWEY 355.0092   Academic level General, Professional / Scholarly, Tertiary education DEWEY edition DC22

Soldiers who can write are as rare as writers who can strip down a machinegun in 40 seconds, but Patrick Hennessey is one of the few Sunday Times High-tempo, full-on ... honest and revealing ... a memoir brimming with vinegar and testosterone Evening Standard The military memoir of the moment Times A very fine book, a powerful dispatch from the front line ... what impresses is the sheer candour and immediacy Spectator An extraordinary memoir ... Hennessey has a reporter's eye for detail and a soldier's nose for bullshit Guardian Outstanding ... A classic of its kind William Boyd, Sunday Herald, Books of the Year Harrowing and frequently funny ... sparkles with wit, wisdom and boyish glee ... His generation owns the war Times Must rank as the most accomplished work of military witness to emerge from British war-fighting since 1945 Independent Remarkable ... conveys vividly what it's like to experience combat Jeremy Paxman, Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year An engaging mix of war reporting, stream of consciousness and reflections on the nature of conflict in the twenty-first century Caroline Moorehead, Spectator, Books of the Year All politicians need to read honest accounts of war - at no time more than now - and Patrick Hennessey's The Junior Officers' Reading Club is one of the very best David Cameron, Observer, Books of the Year A vivid account of a rollercoaster tour of duty ... testosterone-charged, expletive-splattered Phil Jacobson, Daily Mail A compelling read ... Hennessey's book ought to be read by all officers that have yet to experience combat ... He has written an important portrait of contemporary warfare and the nature of battle - a portrait that can claim a line of descent from Sassoon's Memoirs of an Infantry Officer Will Pike, British Army Review An honest acknowledgment of the darkness within us, of the unwelcome emotions that combat can bring about ... Smart and funny ... The Junior Officers' Reading Club is a humdinger -- Jonathan Yardley Washington Post

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