For fans of Dry British Humour with some history

[Spock]

Over the years here-Tanstaafl and I have mentioned George MacDonald Fraser a few times. His memoir of the Second World War in Burma "Quartered Safe Out Here" is second to none. He is probably best known for his Flashman series-While I enjoy Flashman-I would hesitate to recommend to anyone because it can be on the vulgar side.

However, I could recommend his McAuslin collection of short stories to anyone. This is probably my favorite book of all time=originally published in 3 short books then combined into this collection. I reread it fairly often even though I basically have it memorized. I love the humour throughout the book. Not sure if Tan ever read these or not. Just throwing this out there in case it tickles anyones fancy.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-McAuslan ... e+mcauslan

It is based on the author's time in a Highland Regiment (mainly in North Africa-some in Scotland) after the War. The central character is Private McAuslin the dirtiest (and dumbest?) soldier in the British Army.

A couple tidbits to tickle your fancy-One of my favorite stories is about a spirited trivia quiz between 2 British regiments:

"There were even redcaps at the back of the hall; I found myself wondering whether there had ever been a general knowledge contest in history where they had called in the police even before the start."

Another story involves a mysterious intelligence officer (He calls him Captain Errol) posted to his battalion who had had a very interesting WW2. A lot of assasination stuff behind German Lines-etc. He closes that story with one of my favorite passages of all time:

"I lost sight of him when I was demobilised; he was still with the battalion then, going his careless way, raising hackles and causing trouble. Many years later, a wire-photo landed on my newspaper desk, and there he was among a group of Congo mercenaries; the moustache had gone and the hairline had receded, but there was no mistaking the cigarette holder and the relaxed, confident carriage; even with middle-aged spread beneath his flak-jacket, he still had style.

Yes, I thought, that’s where you would end up. You see, there’s no place for people like Errol in a normal, peace-time world; they just don’t belong. Their time lay between the years 1939 and 1945 – and even then they sometimes didn’t fit in too comfortably. But I wonder if we’d have won the war without them."

Fraser, George MacDonald (2009-08-01). The Complete McAuslan (p. 443). Skyhorse Publishing. Kindle Edition.