It’s been a while since I posted anything in my occasional “Bookshelf” series, spotlighting books I think are worth sharing. But in honor of the November 11 holiday, here’s a bit about a writer I just discovered a couple of years ago.

Derek Robinson is an English author with numerous books to his name. His most enduring works (or they should be if there’s any justice in the world, ha) are six novels about life in wartime, predominantly about the air war. Three are set in World War I, and the other three take place in World War II.

The novels are about how war is a massive meatgrinder that takes a heavy and indiscriminate toll on its participants. Robinson is reflexively compared to Joseph Heller, but that’s off target in some significant ways. “Cath-22” is a deeply cynical work that questions human nature and the entire project of war. Robinson doesn’t really question the necessity (or otherwise) of war; it’s simply a reality that has swallowed up all his characters, very few of whom survive the ordeal. I suspect that if you asked him, Robinson would say the Allies had no choice but to fight the two world wars. The consequences were terrible but unavoidable.

Continue reading →