This is an unusual memoir told in a chatty way by a 92 year old man. I found this very interesting in parts and full of facts about historical events that led me to make further research and investigation. Tim certainly had an unusual life which could only be called privileged. It was difficult in places to follow the train of thought as he jumped without warning as though he really was telling the story to a friend, but as I have a mother the same age I was able to accept the jumping and repetitive easier than maybe others.
The memoir is full of humour and incidents that still affect people today. Life was not always a piece of cake for Tim but he steadfastly overcame any issues. After relaying parts to my husband and skiing him for more details of situations - he is an e military war buff - he has purchased the ‘Umzindusi Letter’ and s enjoying reading it.

A gentle walk back through time remembering things in a personal quirky way but all the better for that. A lifetime covered in not that many pages but each one rich in humour.

Everyone has a story to tell. Unfortunately, not everyone can tell a good story. And even rarer is someone who can make their own life interesting even if they were not a movie star, a politician, or a general. Tim Topps (born Alan John Broad in 1920s England) is one of those rare folks. And Yes, Lad, But Byways is most of that tale.

Tim Topps opens his tale with him in his pram in Wimbledon Park, then follows his parents to Africa since his father was in the Civil Service. So he spent several formative years in Kenya and other postings, acquiring a love of stamp collecting and starting to do a bit of writing. In 1937, the Broad family returned to England in time for the Coronation of George VI, and Alan to go to Bedford School while his parents returned to Africa. World War II intervened before they could meet again. Alan stayed busy in school avoiding sports, doing some writing which included getting a radio drama done on the BBC (it involved a pub and several pickpockets). After the war and his graduation (he got the Essay Prize handed to him by Field Marshall Montgomery), he spent a stint in the Army, and then off to college. There he got an idea for selling insurance to students that turned into a national business and kept giving him headaches for most of the rest of his life. Well, that, and his wandering eye. In the end, he has managed to be satisfied and reasonably happy at the age of 92.

The charm of Yes, Lad, But Byways is Tim Topps deft way of writing as though he was in conversation with you. He wanders about the topic, returning to his main story line, but as he mentions in the opening, this is a book about his wanderings in life, not a straightforward biography. And it is the strange twists, the rants, the asides that really bring the book to life for the reader