The Old Gang

Gathering at various racecourses and hostelries round the country, 'Captain' Raven and friends tell each other stories drawn from their respectively disreputable pasts. Along with the author himself, there's JBB (John Basil Budden) and son James, as complementary a pair of gamblers and ribald-storytellers any any; Beatty Belhampton, who seems to have murdered her second husband; the foul-mouthed Lucrezia Lippit, whose venomous behaviour at a game of Trivial Pursuit is matched only by the lewdness of the bet she lays on her certain victory; and Milesy Malbruges, who blackmails a bookie so mercilessly that even JBB starts to wonder about the morality of lucre. Enter Colonel O Parafit Pardore, master storyteller, prankster and latter keep-fit ('parafit') fanatic. One minute he can be driving the hapless young Raven round an assault course simply to curry favour with the General, the next orating on the lessons to be learnt about sportsmanship from the Greek poet Pindar. Indefatigable, a true soldier and forever attended to by his faithful retainer, Colour-Serjeant Lazarus Risen Plumb, he has many great moments, one concerning the most obscene piece of Swahili known to the British army... Simon Raven has written a spectacular memoir, full of verve and his usual dark wit, abounding in spicy, offbeat characters, and a lot of fun and games.