Title: Goodbye Soldier
Author: Spike Milligan
Type: Non-Fiction
Page Count: 278
Rating: 4/5
This is the sixth, and as far as I can tell, final, book in Milligan’s war memoir series, although I’m not convinced that this one really counts because it takes place after the war has ended. Still, there’s a ton of good stuff, and it’s also pretty interesting because Milligan was knocking around as a musician both when he was in the army and after the war had ended.
Sure, there are a few bits here and there that are kind of uncomfortable because if they weren’t racist, they were close to it. Still, he was a product of his times, and I’m not surprised to see that terms that we deem as racist today were in common usage amongst front line soldiers. And for the most part, this is offset by Milligan’s humour, which is honestly just delightful. He’s very playful, and he uses a lot of little puns and plays-on-words that made me chuckle.
It’s also pretty cool that you don’t necessarily need to read these war diaries through in order, although I’m sure that probably helps. As for me, I just picked them up as and when I saw them going spare in charity shops, and that was good enough for me. To be honest, that’s probably the best thing to do, because I’m not sure if I’d go out of my way for them.
Still, it was pretty good for what it was and I also appreciated the little drawings, photos and other addons that helped to bring his adventures to life. It was pretty cool.
