When… in the course of all these thousands of years has man ever acted in accordance with his own interests?

It isn't every morning that you see a [however small] warship parked out in the middle of the Derwent River!

On war - segue like a pro there - I am enjoying what has proven to be a challenging read at the moment: Heinrich Böll's Billiards at Half-past Nine. Like many German novels, conflict lays at it heart. The novel itself is structured beautifully (if a little obliquely). The plot itself emerges through the use of flashbacks by multiple characters, and there are a number of things going on. Being German, there's a central dialectic happening. Loaded with Catholicism, there's another dialectic happening. The tale of father, son, mother, son ensures that there's at least another couple of dialectics happening too.

I haven't finished yet, but if you're after a challenging, but rewarding read, I can heartily recommend it!