Monty: His Part in My Victory

Description

'It's all over, Von Arnheim has surrendered and he's very angry.' 'This could mean war . . . ' The third volume of Spike Milligan's laugh-a-line account of life as a gunner in World War Two resumes on the eve of victory in North Africa. Now Britain's looniest war hero must combat some of the direst threats a soldier has ever faced - boredom ('Christ, I just thought of Catford'), a cold ('In this weather?' 'Yed.'), moving camp ('It's a sort of Brighton with camels'), relaxing on the beach ('Life was golden, and we were the assayers'), moving camp again ('We're already somewhere else'), a visit to Carthage ('It's terrible, it's like Catford') and a perilous encounter with the gloriously endowed Mademoiselle Villion (''Help! massage,' I said weakly'). Against the odds, they survive and are sent at last to Italy to be killed . . .

Born in India in April 1918, Terence Alan 'Spike' Milligan was a comedy writer and performer who created The Goon Show which ran from 1951 to 1960. Milligan soon established his own fresh style of comedy. A poet and a campaigning humanitarian, Milligan was universally acclaimed for his published war memoirs. Amongst his radio series were The Omar Khayam Show and The Milligan Papers as well as his television series such as A Show Called Fred, The Idiot'sWeekly Price 2d and later the Q series from Q5 to Q9. He died in February 2002.

The most irreverent, hilarious book about the war that I have ever read * Sunday Express * Brilliant verbal pyrotechnics ... throwaway lines and marvelous anecdotes * Daily Mail * Desperately funny, vivid, vulgar * Sunday Times * Close in stature to Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear in his command of the profound art of nonsense * Guardian * Milligan is the Great God to all of us -- John Cleese The Godfather of Alternative Comedy -- Eddie Izzard That absolutely glorious way of looking at things differently. A great man -- Stephen Fry Manifestly a genius, a comic surrealist genius and had no equal -- Terry Wogan A totally original comedy writer -- Michael Palin