{"product_id":"vintage-roger","title":"Vintage Roger","description":"\u003cb\u003e'I never usually know what to give the men \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ein my life but I've found the perfect book: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eVINTAGE ROGER by Roger Mortimer, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ea collection of letters from the author's war \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eyears. He manages to be hilariously funny, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eeven about the most gruesome encounters. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eI laughed and cried and enjoyed every word' Jilly Cooper (\u003ci\u003eGood Housekeeping\u003c\/i\u003e festive pick)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eI think prison has done me very little harm and some good. I am now far better read, far less smug and conceited, far more tolerant and considerably more capable of looking after myself.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 1930, twenty-one-year-old Roger Mortimer was commissioned into the 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards and spent the next eight years stationed at Chelsea Barracks. He lived a fairly leisurely existence, with his parents' house in Cadogan Square a stone's throw away, and pleasant afternoons were whiled away at the racecourse or a members' club. Admittedly things got a little tricky in Palestine in 1938, when Roger, now a captain, found himself amid the action in the Arab Revolt. The worst, however, was yet to come.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn May 1940, while fighting the Germans with the British Expeditionary Force in the Battle of Belgium, he was knocked unconscious by an exploding shell. When he came round he was less than delighted to find that he was a prisoner of war. Thus began a period of incarceration that would last five long years, and which for Roger there seemed no conceivable end in sight.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eVintage Roger\u003c\/i\u003e is Roger Mortimer at his witty, irreverent best, exuding the charm and good humour that captured the nation's hearts in \u003ci\u003eDear Lupin\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eDear Lumpy\u003c\/i\u003e. Steadfastly optimistic and utterly captivating, these letters, written to his good friend Peggy Dunne from May 1940 to late 1944, paint a vivid portrait of life as a POW.","brand":"Little, Brown Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54242952577368,"sku":"9781472132239","price":16.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781472132239_1bcc3324-2f5d-474a-826a-8453c3871a74.jpg?v=1765250135","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/vintage-roger","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}