Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of Peace work, written and read by Spike Milligan.

‘I had not informed my parents of my return, I wanted it to be a lovely surprise; it was, for me, they were away …’

The seventh and last volume of Spike Milligan’s memoirs sees our hero returning from war and Italy … but to what? Aside from shooting large, inaccurate guns at Germans, all he has done for five long years is blow a trumpet, tell rude jokes and write and perform sketches for the entertainment of bored and murderous soldiers – who on earth is going to pay a civilian to do more of that? From the giddy heights of Hackney Empire to a Zurich Freak Show and beyond, Spike makes his way through the backwaters of showbiz, first as band musician then as one-man wild-act and eventually in the company of a group of like-minded comedians called Harry Secombe, Michael Bentine and Peter Sellers. They decide to call themselves The Goons…