Amazing Tales for Making Men Out of Boys, By Neil Oliver
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Oliver is the ardent Scottish archaeologist who punctuated the BBC series Coast with braw yarns of daring-do. Here he adopts the same approach on a worldwide canvas, ranging from Scott of the Antarctic to the Charge of the Light Brigate.
Following the current vogue for hero worship and gender differentiation, his gung-ho haul is wholly lacking in irony, unless you count the Spartan threatened by an arrow shower at Thermopylae: "At least we'll be fighting in the shade!"
Reading Oliver's dubious spouting - "Show me a man who says he never once dreamed of being an SAS man and I'll show you a man who's not being entirely honest, not least with himself" – one yearns for Lytton Strachey.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments