Macker and Harpur, was to say the least, an unlikely association of authors. Macker was forward, provocative and a master orator, with razor sharp wit and timing while Harpur himself was laid back to the point of falling over. Never the less with the common denominator of art, Macker's witty narrative, with his killer punch lines, became a reality. Once a week at the art class in the Coolock Library a written couple of foolscap pages were presented without fail over fifty weeks and culminated in this hilarious informative slice of Irish army life in the sixties and seventies. None of the names of the people are genuine and some of the events have been changed to protect the guilty. Harpur's dogged determination collected the narratives, streamlined and dusted them off and the book finally saw daylight through the magic of the internet and balanced and astute wizardry of the publisher Mr. Barry Vickers.