William Allison

Both a biography and history; a biography of Percy Topliss, con artist, womanizer, charmer, accused ringleader of the British Mutiny of 1917; an incident that the British Government did their best to bury and conceal for decades. Part of that concealment involved an ambush and assassination of Topliss in 1920 after his escape from jail to avoid conviction and execution for murder; a probably trumped-up charge. And the history of the mutiny, a mostly spontaneous event prior to the Passchendaele Offensive in 1917. (aka Third Battle of Ypres). Most affecting scene; the mutiny of soldiers receiving physical rehabilitation, who were subjected to psychological abuse in order to make them willing to return to the front. The soldiers simply collapsed on the parade ground and started laughing at the instructors, who couldn't figure out how to respond to this rebellion. Highly recommended, especially in the centennial year of the War to End All Wars.… (mais)