Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice older book in good condition. Pages in good condition. Softcover. English. See images for condition.

About the book >.>.> Major Vladimir Peniakoff M.C. Russian-born ex-sugar manu- facturer of Cairo (code-name ‘Popski’) regarded me with pene- trating green-flecked eyes-commanding eyes accustomed to searching sun-baked desert horizons; aged about forty-five or six thick-set deeply tanned bald dynamic minus a finger taken by a German machine-gun bullet in the recent Barce raid Popski was a man to be reckoned with: an individualist a forceful personality to whom people gave way a man who having once decided upon a course of action never deviated. Cultured well-read a man of the world and the master of five languages Popski had volunteered the minute war broke out and had been commissioned to the General List in Cairo; unorthodox adventurous with a genuine flair for intelligence work fluent in Arabic and familiar with the Libyan Desert he had quickly established a reputation and was going from strength to strength. He had come from G.H.Q. Middle East where the proposal to form a sabotage unit of his own had just been sanctioned; he was telling me about it. ‘It was Shan Hackett’s idea’ he smiled reminiscently. ‘When the brigadier asked what I wanted to call the unit I hesitated and he suggested “Popski’s Private Army”. promised to fix it with the War Office.” I said I’d take it. Shan ‘Popski’s Private Army… Popski’s Private Army.’ I repeated the words slowly lovingly turning them round my tongue savouring their richness as one savours the bouquet of a good wine. What a perfect name for a sabotage unit to work behind the enemy lines! I regarded Popaki with admiration. ‘You’d get away with murder Popski I laughed. When do we move? (SP)