I read this many years ago, when I was completely unfamiliar with its setting. Now the places and the language are second nature to be, and it's funny to read it and remember how accessible I found it originally, despite its strong sense of place and time. This is the kind of book that could be described as a "ripping-good adventure yarn", but I did enjoy it again this time round. A fair amount of mid twentieth century attitudes displayed, as you would expect, I laughed when the predominant girl in the story was the one who had to comfort a sobbing comrade, but it was an interesting read.