Churchill's Hellraisers: The Secret Mission to Storm a Forbidden Nazi Fortress
By: Damien Lewis / Narrated By: Matt Bates
Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
Is it just me, or did the Publisher’s Summary get this AWEsome story entirely wrong?!
I just saw “Damien Lewis” and knew I had to get Churchill’s Hellraisers cuz man, the guy can write old(ish) history and make it fierce and immediate! Stellar author of military history. Plus? Churchill, despite his PLETHora o’ faults, and despite “Losing the Peace” most certainly Won The BeJESus Outta The War. Bold, relentless, did what it took in a time of war war carnage war and grand and beyond brilliant orator and lifter of men’s (And women’s!) spirits!
Just don’t expect too much o’ Churchill and for gosh sakes, do NOT expect ANY of the Publisher’s Summary to be on target. Go ahead, read it now, I’ll wait, but I don’t wanna take the time here to bullet point each and every line that was soooo not how this audiobook goes.
Except to say that FAR from this being an Allied plan, the entirety of the heroism of the story belongs to Michael Lees and Roy Farran. Nope, as things happened, Mike Lees was already on the ground, and he just kinda sorta stumbled upon there being a mountain fortress that housed a major Nazi headquarters. As he and the Italian partisans he fought with were skulking around and doing damage north-ish thereabouts of the Gothic Line, he heard a casual reference to the place and was smitten, thinking of just how catastrophic a blow to the Nazis could be to strike there. His brain is all GO GO GO!!! and the Allied command?
NO NO NO
Their reactions are entirely shameful throughout most of this story. And about the only one also taken by just how ridiculously awesome an operation against the fortress could possibly be is one Roy Farran. AGAIN: NO NO NO to the point where Farran kinda sorta just casually joins the SAS commandos who ARE allowed to drop into the zone, kinda sorta casually straps a parachute to his back, and then kinda sorta casually trips over his feet and kinda sorta accidentally falls from the plane. Such is his belief in Mike Lees, in the operation that despite a bad back and expressly forbidden to take part, well, Farran has other plans.
Two absolute heroes, and it’s all written so magnificently and with such urgency that despite knowing how it all turns out (I couldn’t help it! Lewis writes a few ominous statements about Lees that I had to hit Wikipedia to see if it was true… and we all know Wikipedia is without flaws… uhm, sorta…), I was on the edge of my seat and jacking up my Listening speed because it’s all so breathtaking.
Matt Bates does a stellar job, excellent pacing, so it wasn’t his fault I had to crank up the speed. I beg your tolerance when I say that, no practicer of moderation or delayed gratification, I just HAD to get through the MANY escapades, had to see how each snafu worked out, had to find out the fates of the many men I’d grown to love. The only sliiiight thing that had me scratching my head about the performance of Bates woulda been a few of the Italian accents for the partisans are sooo slowly drawled out that every nuance stands out, making one feel: Oh, is that a caricature of an Italian accent? -But- man oh man, Churchill’s Hellraisers is jam-packed with practically every nationality on Earth, from German through-and-through Nazi true-believers, to everyday German soldiers newly cynical about the point of the war; from Italian farmers who might not know which side to root for, to Italian women on the tramp and toting guns with the partisans; from SAS commandos, to “the Mad Piper” a Scottish Highlander who pipes the groups’ way through battles. Oh, and let’s not forget escaped Russian POWs who reeeeally are out for revenge. Lewis writes this ragtag band of players in a larger scheme unfolding, to where we care about them, or we booooo them soundly. And Bates delivers them all in a manner that adds to the sympathy/empathy we feel for them.
But ya know? The more I study and listen to military history, the more I’ve come to realize that it’s the individuals on the ground and doing the living and dying that would win wars. The Chair Pushers, however, are NOT behind them and sell them out left and right. Here, Allied leaders are sooo afraid of Communist elements within the Italian partisans, that they give then rapidly withdraw support, aid then undermine.
Set them up, then betray.
And it’s wholly and disgustingly atrocious and shameful what they did to Mike Lees, especially re: his horrific wounding. Well, how they left his body to rot was only the first of it; what they did to his reputation and career compounded already unforgivable deeds.
Do hit Wikipedia if you’ve not the time to give this audiobook a go, but I’m tellin’ ya!
AWESOME! Just when you think it’s all been covered before? Damien Lewis finds a new angle and brings it to Technicolor Life and Death…
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