Tag Archives: 1910s

The Old Lion

Posted on October 21, 2024 by smellincoffee

Imagine if someone wrote a fictional biography of Chuck Norris, but they used the internet legend version of Norris as their inspiration rather than the actor himself. That’s what impression The Old Lion gives me, frankly, a worshipful depiction of … Continue reading →

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Precipice

Posted on October 8, 2024 by smellincoffee

Summer 1914: there’s a man dead in Sarajevo, and ominous rumors of war are drifting from eastern Europe. Across the Continent, war machines are slowly cranking up. At 10 Downing Street, though, the long-serving Prime Minister has more pressing issues: … Continue reading →

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Damned Un-English

Posted on August 6, 2024 by smellincoffee

Gilbert Maltravers, of His Majesty’s Ship Hindustan, has just been promoted to full lieutenant and has decided to jump ship. The Hindustan, anyway, not the Navy, though he has his doubts about his future there unless there’s a war. Gilbert … Continue reading →

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Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade

Posted on June 26, 2024 by smellincoffee

France, 1918: the Great War is almost over, but it doesn’t feel like it for civilians close to the lines, where the threat of a German resurgence hangs as close to the battered ground as the dust from the constant … Continue reading →

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The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club

Posted on June 5, 2024 by smellincoffee

Constance is a young woman who’s just arrived in Hazelbourne, there to take care of an older family friend who’s just had a bout with flu. She enters into a new social circle thanks to this connection, and despite the … Continue reading →

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The Dangerous Years

Posted on April 25, 2024 by smellincoffee

Hard to believe, but the bloody war’s over. Lieutenant Kelly McGuire distinguished himself as much as he was able, but it wasn’t much of a naval war, the Great One. But while the big war might be over, peace isn’t … Continue reading →

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Life Below Stairs

Posted on April 1, 2024 by smellincoffee

If, like me, you became interested in the goings-on of English servants via Downton Abbey, Alison Maloney opens with a word of caution. Many servants didn’t work in small armies at places like Highclere Castle. Instead, they were thoroughly leavened … Continue reading →

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Tales from the Deadball Era

Posted on May 17, 2023 by smellincoffee

Tales from the Deadball Era: Ty Cobb, Home Run Baker, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and the Wildest Times in Baseball History© 2014 Mark S. Halfon, narrated by Michael Butler Murray 240 pages | Audible 8 hrs 4 minutes George Carlin once … Continue reading →

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Falling into Battle

Posted on April 12, 2023 by smellincoffee

The War to End All Wars: Falling Into Battle© 2020 Andrew Wareham243 pages Christopher Sturton and Richard Baker are two young midshipmen who have come to the end of their day as mids: Christopher is moving on greater things as … Continue reading →

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Cold Sassy Tree

Posted on February 24, 2021 by smellincoffee

Cold Sassy Tree© 1984 Olive Ann Burns391 pages “I know now the difference between a writer and an author. A  writer writes, and an author speaks.”   Those words came from Leaving Cold Sassy, an unfinished sequel to this work … Continue reading →

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