Eastern Approaches: Fitzroy Maclean (Penguin World War II Collection) - Softcover

MaClean, Fitzroy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141042842 ISBN 13: 9780141042848

Publisher: Penguin, 2009

Synopsis

70th Anniversary Edition with a New Foreword by Sunday Times Bestselling Author Simon Sebag Montefiore

'A classic' Observer | 'A legend' Washington Post | 'The best book you will read this year' Colonel Tim Collins

Posted to Moscow as a young diplomat before the Second World War, Fitzroy Maclean travelled widely, with or without permission, in some of the wildest and remotest parts of the Soviet Union, then virtually closed to foreigners. In 1942 he fought as a founder member of the SAS in North Africa. There Maclean specialised in hair-raising commando raids behind enemy lines, including the daring and outrageous kidnapping of the German Consul in Axis-controlled Iraq. In 1943 he parachuted into German-occupied Yugoslavia as Winston Churchill's personal representative to Josip Broz Tito and remained there until 1945, all enemy attempts to capture him proving unsuccessful.

Eastern Approaches is Maclean's classic, gripping account of the sybaritic delights of diplomatic life, the thrill of remote travel in the then-forbidden zones of Central Asia, and the violence and adventure of world-changing tours in North Africa and Yugoslavia. Maclean is the original British action hero and this is blistering reading.

'This book literally changed my life' Simon Sebag Montefiore

'A man of daring character' Winston Churchill

'An absorbing mixture of military adventure, political judgement, urbane wit, cool humour and surprising incident' Financial Times

'One of the bravest men in the British army, and one of the funniest' Ben Macintyre

'Entertaining, important, the model for James Bond' New York Times

About this title

About the Author

Fitzroy Maclean was a British diplomat who was one of the first Westerners to explore Soviet Russia. He was a founder member of the SAS, and later liaised on behalf of the allies with the Partisans in Yugoslavia. A Member of Parliament for over thirty years, he served as Under-Secretary for War in the Churchill and Eden governments. Among his best-known books are Eastern Approaches, Bonnie Prince Charlie, Portrait of the Soviet Union, All the Russias and Highlanders. Sir Fitzroy Maclean, Bt, died on 15 June 1996.

From the Back Cover

After adventures in Soviet Russia before the war, Fitztroy Maclean fought with the SAS in North Africa in 1942. This book presents his adventures in the Western Desert and later fighting alongside Tito's partisans in Yugoslavia.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0141042842
• ISBN 13: 9780141042848
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 576