The second in the trilogy, “The Battle Lost and Won,” follows seamlessly on from, “The Danger Tree,” and begins with Simon Boulderstone arriveng in Cairo on leave. Simon had been under the belief that his brother, Hugo’s, girl was Edwina, who has a room in Dobson’s apartment, as do the Pringles and Lady Angela Hooper. Edwina though, is a frivolous girl, currently obsessed with a titled beau, called Peter, and the minor embarrassment caused over Simon’s uncomfortable arrival, results in his later being promoted to a liaison officer.

On 18 April 1941 Guy and Harriet Pringle (like Manning and Smith) depart for Greece on the last civilian ship to leave Piraeus (the port of Athens). Manning neglects to mention that on board are: George Seferis (the poet who won the Nobel Prize in 1963). Lawrence Durrell who like Guy worked for the British Council departed from Athens on a small private craft the same week. Manning's own life was probably seems to have been more interesting that of her fictional heroine. Manning's Balkan Trilogy is a very interesting look at a side of World War Two that I don't often encounter, that fought in eastern Europe. It mirrors some of her life experiences and is followed by The Levant Trilogy which I definitely plan to read also. David Boyd, a part-time lecturer and an expert on Romanian history and politics employed by the British Embassy. He is a close friend and a Marxist political ally of Guy. The experience of exile scarred Olivia profoundly. In her trilogies it appears as a restless unease that is never far below the surface; as Deidre David observes in her book, this reflects the anxieties that preyed on her as she wrote the books during the cold war. Even more searing, though buried deeper, was the loss of her only child. In 1944, she and Reggie were delighted to find that she was pregnant. But the foetus died inside her, and she had to carry her dead baby to term. Because at first food is everywhere in Bucharest—and food and hunger (physical and emotional) are central motifs that run through the trilogy.Most of the characters here are unsympathetic if not downright unlikeable. Even Harriet, whom I did sympathise with because of her situation, can be quite irritating. Xenophobic prejudice -- no doubt true to life -- is on full display here, as the expats look down contemptuously on Romanians and Jews and live a sybaritic lifestyle based on their access to foreign currency. those who give too much are always expected to give more, and blamed when they reach the point of refusal" Yet, in the end, his very inattentiveness becomes a positive: "Could she, after all, have borne with some possessive, interfering, jealous fellow who would have wanted her to account for every breath she breathed? Not for long." As the Nazis come ever closer, an act of treachery puts the couple in terrible danger, and with Romania in enemy hands, they are forced to leave the country. Fleeing to Athens, and then Egypt, their marriage comes under increasing strain amidst the chaos and upheaval of war. With the future uncertain, can they find the strength and resilience to face it together?

Manning was the perfect person to write this book. Indifferent to the systems of thought that obsessed her husband, she was instead fascinated by people, their interactions, and circumstance. “If you were more interested in people,” Harriet snaps at Guy at one point, “you might not like them so much.” She was also blessed with a photographic memory for individuals, places, and things. “She never forgets a detail,” Reggie was to say proudly of her. “Even twenty years after we were in Cairo, she could remember every sepia photograph hanging on the walls of the first pension in which we stayed.” It is fair to say that Guy Pringle is one of the most frustrating characters in any novel and his arrival, as expected, does not improve Harriet’s life noticeably. Politically naïve, emotionally warm and gregarious; Guy spends his time thinking the best of everyone despite the reality of his situation and unwilling to face reality. Guy had worked in the English department of the University in Bucharest, but, once in Greece, he finds that Dubedat, Lush and Professor Pinkrose are unwilling to help Guy with work – as he once helped them. Harriet is constantly frustrated by her husband’s unwillingness to see anything but the best about everyone and begins to feel more and more neglected as these books continue. Indeed, this novel sees her attracted to Charles Warden, as she feels her marriage means little to Guy, who has time for everyone but her, in a life taken up by providing entertainment for the troops and pouring his attention on students and friends. Yes, we can do your car service on Friday. Do you want to leave your car or would you like to wait?" We can't leave the Russian/Irish prince behind, from the goodness of our hearts, even though he betrayed us to the Gestapo."

See also

She moved to London in 1934, in the depths of the Depression when work was very scarce. A series of badly paid jobs left her half-starved in chilly bedsits, but she used every spare moment to write. Her first novel, The Wind Changes, appeared in 1937. Set during the Irish rebellion of 1916, one of its themes is the heroine's exasperation at the way she is excluded from the political discussions and concerns of the two men in her life – and her frustration is manifested in an angry sexuality. So, I was anticipating something along those lines in "Fortunes of War." But, we don't get much of that. Instead we are taken along the "adventures" of a recently married English couple in their moves to three locations in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. They are civilians, associated with an institute that teaches English language and culture in other countries. The series/film is based on six novels of fiction by Olivia Manning, who used her travel and living experiences with her husband who worked for the BBC. I'm not familiar with Manning's works, so I don't know how true to the books the mini-series is.

Guy is oblivious to her needs and desires, seeming only to care about his job as a university lecturer, his friends, and the beautiful, voluptuous Sophie. Struggling to build a life in a strange city, in the face of imminent invasion, Harriet feels bereft - and increasingly isolated. There's just a middle section where it all bogs down a bit, and takes the trilogy from a five to a four, in my book. Manning is an excellent portraitist, but her characters don't grow or change much. As we move through books two and three, Guy is still obliviously gregarious and blind to Harriet's needs, Lush and Dubedat stay craven, Yaki still wants a drink, etc. etc. Perhaps the claustrophobia of that world is part of what Manning means to convey but the third book of the Balkan Trilogy (except, as noted, the dramatic very end) is a bit too faithful to reality for my tastes in depicting the neverending round of bars, bad wartime meals and boring conversations. You feel you've seen Mannning's set pieces before and I at least grew weary of her almost real-time depiction of the events leading up to the fall of Greece. The novels describe the experiences of a young married couple, Harriet and Guy Pringle, early in World War II. A lecturer and passionate Communist, Guy is attached to a British Council educational establishment in Bucharest ( Romania) when war breaks out, and the couple are forced to leave the country, passing through Athens and ending up in Cairo, Egypt. Harriet is persuaded to return home by ship, but changes her mind at the last minute and goes to Damascus with friends. Guy, hearing that the ship has been torpedoed, for a time believes her to be dead, but they are eventually reunited. The authenticity of Manning’s writing is beyond dispute, skilfully telling the story of these men at war, as richly evocative of the life in the desert in the sporadic skirmishes as she is at depicting life in the capital among the expatriates. Only towards the very end does it feels like she was over it, having written the two trilogies for a long period of time.Marry in haste, repent at leisure." I forget the origin of that quote, (was it Shakespeare?), but it's an apt description of the three books that make up "The Balkan Trilogy". I reviewed the first 2 books separately when I read them, so this is more of an overview of the three parts. These books are clearly among the very best fiction about the Second World War. They are written with the English poise and understatement that Jane Austen raised to its highest art form.”