Fitzroy MacClean was an
adventuring, Eton educated, aristocratic Scotsman who wrote an autobiography in
1949 covering his adventures in Central Asia whilst working as a junior British diplomat in the Russian
Embassy
before the second World War and his wartime exploits with the SAS in North
Africa, the Middle East and Yugoslavia. This effectively splits the book into
uneven halves, the first third is a fascinating travelogue of Soviet Central
Asia, in the grand tradition of Alexander Burke, whilst the remainder is a swashbuckling boys own wartime adventure story.
This structure
presents a problem as the two parts of this book will appeal to different kinds
of people. The first part is a most read for anyone with a passing interest in
Central Asia and, or travelling. However for those with an interest in military
history, this may feel like a very long introduction indeed, perhaps too long
to retain interest.
Personally I fall
into the former category and found Maclean's depiction of Soviet Central Asia
as fascinating as his methods of getting there are riveting. Maclean, always
the adventurer, used his annual leave to explore parts of the Soviet Union which
in all likelihood no western European had been to for 20 odd years. Along the
way he sleeps in parks, outwits border guards and encounters the wonders of
Soviet bureaucracy. The writing throughout is fluid and the pacing is
fantastic. If you have an interest in travelling to off the beaten track places
definitely read the first third.
This is then
followed by a pace-killing, lengthy, but nevertheless fascinating first-hand
account of Bukharin's show trial back in Moscow. This section will appeal to
those who have an interest in Soviet political history, but again this may be a
long slog for those not familiar with the show trials and Stalin's internal
machinations.
Pretty soon after
when war breaks out MacClean resigns from the Foreign Office using the remarkable get out
clause of having himself elected as an MP so that he can enlist in the army.
The remainder of the book follows his time in the SAS. This is not a 'horrors of
war' kind of book, in fact quite the opposite, as we
follow MacClean on a series of adventures with the SAS buccaneering across
North Africa, Iran and Yugoslavia. These adventures include the remarkable kidnapping of
an Iranian general and his time spent with Tito and the Partizans in Yugoslavia. I suspect
MacClean's experiences were not atypical of the average British soldier and he
certainly plays up to the role of the jolly gentleman private school solider
perhaps a little too well at times. That
is not to undermine his undoubted heroism and remarkable capacity for ingenuity
at all, nor does it detract from what is overall a tremendous read.
It's just a shame he
didn't split these books into two, as by appealing to two different audiences
some who will find either half fascinating may unfairly pass this book over or
give up halfway through.
Comments