‘See here, first take a little polish on the finger and rub into the leather. Then spit...and rub...’—boasts one recruit of his boot polishing skills... sadly, the only reward this gets him is thirty pairs of shoes to shine...

This is only one of the hilarious episodes in Carl Muller’s continuation of the von Bloss family saga. Carloboy von Bloss is back, now a robust young man of eighteen, spending four eventful years in the one-ship Royal Ceylon Navy. Carloboy and his fellow recruits get up to the weirdest capers: painting their boots black; posing as Italian ghosts; planning to wink at Queen Elizabeth II who is to take the salute at the Royal Parade at Colombo; going on surreptitious trysts with the police inspector’s neice... of course with plenty of beer to keep them company.

Interspersed with these comic episodes are chapters which retell the forgotten events of World War II—the Pacific manoeuvres which at times seemed godsent, and Japan’s humiliating defeat at the hands of the Allied powers.

Spit and Polish is a fascinating and light-hearted account of Burgher life in Sri Lanka, poignantly written by an acclaimed author who is a Burgher himself. Sparkling with wit and written with an unerring sense of drama, this book is a veritable treat for Carl Muller fans as well as for those reading him for the first time.