Two Brothers is now my fiction Book of the Year 2012!

This story is very loosely based on Ben Elton’s own family; it is fiction but his own family’s history is remarkably similar. His grandfather was a refugee from the Nazis and his uncle fought for the British while a cousin of his father fought with the Wehrmacht. Ben Elton has written a fantastic story of two boys growing up in Berlin, in Nazi Germany in the 1920/30s.

I don’t normally like books which have been written as flash-backs but in this one it works perfectly, each part segueing into the other neatly so there is little danger of losing the plot. The plot or rather plots, are very complicated and woven into each other. It starts off in 1956 with an interview with British Intelligence and a former soldier by the name of Stone, formerly Stengel about a letter received from a Stasi officer in East Berlin. Why did Stone get this letter, is he a Russian spy, is he thinking of going over to the other side? This letter is the plot that runs throughout the book. The second plot is about two bothers born on 24 February 1920. There were complications with the birth and the twins that were expected did not materialise as one died in childbirth. However, in the next ward is a baby boy born at the same time whose mother did not survive. The family expecting twins were asked and agreed to take the orphan boy in place of their stillborn. This they did. The family were Jewish, the other woman was pure German. A fact that had absolutely no place in the decisions made at the time. But which would come back to haunt them in later years!

On the same day as the boys were born another birth took place – that of the Nationalsocialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP) which came to be known as the Nazi Party.

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A BBC Publication to support the recent TV series, this is a paperback book in a nice clear font, with several useful diagrams and some lovely photos to support the text. The author presents a large amount of history in a clear, easy-to-read style.

The book tells the story of the Royal Navy from the time of the Armada to the Battle of Jutland, with nodding references to King Alfred’s fleet which fought the Vikings in 900AD and King John’s navy of fifty ships based at Portsmouth in the 1200s.

It covers a lot of history, politics, wars and battles as well as the rise and fall of the Royal Navy throughout the years, stories about various Naval characters famous and infamous, and the evolving design of warships as their roles changed. There are small sections about particular individuals from Admirals to Ship Designers, and others about techniques such as Sheathing and Coppering of wooden ships and the development of steam engines.

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The commander in question is the Cornishman Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, 1^st Viscount Exmouth, 1757-1833. A born seaman and a born fighter, he was written up by Edward Osler in 1835 and by C Northcote Parkinson in 1934. Taylor has had access to family corrections to Osler’s account, to Pellew’s son George’s unpublished notes (in a trunk in a Devon barn!) and has delved deep into primary sources to correct some glib assumptions by Parkinson, notably in connection with Pellew’s early career. Parkinson had credibility for he taught history at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth for many years and it was a bit naughty in him (and is in any historian) to paper over gaps in primary research with assumptions. That being said, records are much more accessible nowadays. Overall Taylor was absolutely correct to spot the need to revisit Pellew, who came to Taylor’s notice via his work on his previous book ‘Storm and Conquest’, (ed Reviewed on Rum Ration) and both research and narrative do him great credit; he is a natural storyteller.
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