This compendium edition of all three volumes of Martin Anderson's The Hoplite Journals evokes events and places largely in South East and South Asia as well as the West, exploring allegiances and identities within the troubled context of mostly colonial and ex-colonial possessions.
Comments on the first two parts of this work-
"Anderson ... (a Hoplite, mercenary of the dominant culture) ... has the ability to write prose rich in meaning ... I enjoyed the need to concentrate as I once enjoyed that requirement when I read Samuel Beckett ... When rereading passages of The Hoplite Journals I did so for the sheer pleasure of reading. For that I am most grateful." -Carolyn van Langenberg, Jacket
"Impressive ... The writing very fine and sustained. It stands alongside an array of writing done so superbly in the time of the Raj for the most part [and is] redolent of the 'Fall' of empire and the tragic consequences that brought about ... There is a disintegrating, sparagmatic atmosphere, but a strong sense of human sympathy nonetheless [and] many a meditation on the ultimate philosophical issues."-Nathaniel Tarn