EASTERN APPROACHES : The Memoirs of the Original British Action Hero by Fitzroy Maclean

 How to sort the men from the boys... that's what we are sort of lead to believe going to war does to people - boys to men. It would seem that every now and again someone misses the boy stage, war turning the man into a superman. We don't have any heroes in our current society, people with extraordinary makeups, resilience, focus, optimism, leadership skill, people who dazzle us, who inspire  us, make us want to do better. This is that person - Sir Fitzroy Maclean and this is his story in his own words. 500 odd pages only covers eight years from 1937 to 1945, but this is a lifetime when you think about everything that happened in those eight years. Living at the bottom of the world I don't feel too surprised that I have never heard of this man, but looking at online reviews of this autobiography it seems most of the readers hadn't heard of him either. His life, his exploits, his composure, his achievements, his understated and humble manner completely belie the brilliance of this man's mind and intellect. Apparently he was the inspiration for Ian Fleming's character of James Bond - fearless, strong, manly, handsome, charming, a survivor!

The title makes this sound a bit like a school boy romp,  a boy's own sort of thing, with a bit of a rake telling stories. It is not. Born into Scottish landed gentry, raised in a strong military family, well-educated, an action life was on the cards from birth. He became a diplomat, determined to get a posting to Moscow so he could fulfil a long lived dream of travelling through the lesser known parts of the USSR. Through various dubious means and sheer determination he does get to travel around - for once the journey is every bit as interesting and fascinating as the destination - and finds himself in Moscow during one of the worst purges of the Stalin regime. His account is terrifying and blinding in how it unfolds. 

He then decides he wants to go to war rather than sit in an office being diplomatic. Using his endless charm he wrangles his way into the army, and after basic training, becomes part of the newly formed SAS,  setting out on his next big adventure to Cairo and the desert war. Fantastic fly on the wall stuff, so much sand, Germans around every dune. It's riveting. His exploits catch the eye of PM Sir Winston Churchill, who appoints Fitzroy his personal envoy to work with General Tito and the communist partisans in order to oust the Germans. This section is also fantastic, his writing totally understating the terror, the hand to mouth existence they lived, the fight to the death courage of the partisans.

This is a big book, very detailed and vivid in its telling. Definitely not bed time reading as a bit of concentration is required to absorb all the brilliant detail. But so worth the time taken in reading it. What a man, what a life, amazing.