Lately I have been listening -during my 30min commute- to the audiobook 'Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945', by Max Hastings. 

"Inferno" offers an account of the war that concentrates on the lived experience of the men and women who took part in it.

...As military history in the round, conveying to a 21st-century readership the human experience of this greatest and most savage of human conflicts in history, “Inferno” is superb.

Reading -or in this case, listening to- 'Inferno' has further awakened my interest for World War II. I also started watching the six-part french documentary 'Apocalypse: The Second World War',  which is composed exclusively of actual footage of the war as filmed by correspondents, soldiers, resistance fighters and private citizens.

Part of 'Inferno' refers to the fighting in Burma, and to the Burma railway (between Bangkok, Thailand, and Burma), built by the Empire of Japan during World War II to support its forces.

The most famous portion of the railway was Bridge 277. This bridge was immortalised by Pierre Boulle in his book and the film based on it, 'The Bridge on the River Kwai'.

In one of the most famous scenes of the movie, prisoners of war march whistling the 'Colonel Bogey March', a popular tune written in 1914. 

Many humorous verses have been sung to this tune. The best known, originated in England -at the outset of World War II- and goes by the title 'Hitler Has Only Got One Ball'. 

Furthermore, the melody has been used numerous times in popular culture. As a matter of fact, one of my loved greek comedy series, 'Εκείνες κι εγώ' (where the main character is called Ζάχος Δόγκανος) opens with the Colonel Bogey March.

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Almost 1 month ago I started reading digital books and comics. 

I have been exclusively using Amazon's Kindle App and ComiXology's Comics App on the iPhone and on the iMac. 

• I do not have to carry any books with me (on my daily commute or during traveling). My whole library is available anytime and anywhere. 
• The books/comics I purchase are immediately ready for download. No need to wait days or weeks. 
• I can read lying on my bed without additional light (no one's sleep gets interrupted). 

Especially when it comes to book reading, the Kindle App offers additionally two great features: (i) highlighting, and (ii) embeeded dictionary. 

These give respectively the opportunity to very fast and efficiently browse through highlighted notes (which are synchronized across all platforms) and look-up new words in just seconds.

The Comics App works also great for reading digital comics.

However, in order to fully enjoy the graphics, I never read them on my iPhone (at least not for the first time). 

Despite the multi-sensional feeling (touch, look, smell) offered by printed books, the convenience of e-readers and e-books is hard to beat.

Most likely, the majority of my future literature purchases will be exclusively digital. 

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Taken from the book: 'The death of Marco Pantani' by Matt Rendell:

Sport above all means respect for yourself and others. It implies the capacity to recognize your own limits and to learn to go beyond them through work and commitment. It is an encounter with others, a way of relating to them that goes beyond differences or discrimination. It is friendship and solidarity. 

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The latest book I read on professional road cycling is called “Rough Ride” and it is written by former pro cyclist (and currently sports journalist), Paul Kimmage.

The book can be actually divided into two thematic sections. The first section is mainly an autobiography, focused on the author’s experiences as a pro cyclist. The second section addresses the extensively discussed topic of doping in the sport of cycling.

I genuinely liked the first part of the book. Following Kimmage’s steps from Ireland to France and his experiences as a domestique in the Tour de France and other major European bike races was really interesting. Cycling is a very tough sport and only a handful of athletes make it to the top. The rest (peloton) suffer in the mountains literally serving the selected few. This message comes across very clear in Kimmage’s book. He colorfully describes the harnesses he went through while competing four times in the TdF.

As mentioned above though, another large part of the book is devoted to the author’s experiences on doping and his strict objection to it. Despite the well-understood motives of Kimmage, I did not find his anti-doping crusade intriguing and left me quite indifferent. 

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