This book is a
collection of anecdotes from the Home Front during World War Two. For
those unaware, the Home Front refers to the organisations and
activities devoted to protecting people in the UK itself (so, the
Home Guard, ARP Wardens, AA-gunners, and so on).
The little stories have
been collected over a prolonged period of time, but only published quite recently. This is helpful, as the war was quite some time ago
now, and if the book’s contents had been collected today the
stories would’ve been far fewer.
A few of the stories
I’d heard already online, but the vast majority (over 95%) were
completely new to me. All have a light-hearted or downright comedic
slant, so this is not a book for those after solemnity or poignant
memories.
The anecdotes, as you
might expect, vary a bit. Some are paragraphs, other last a couple of
pages. Some are hilarious, many are amusing and a few fell slightly
flat, but given the nature of the book a hit-and-miss result is to be
expected.
The book is divided
into various themed sections, including some from the perspective of
children or women. Each section is introduced by the author with a
rough outline that sketches out the situation for that particular
group, which is handy for those (like me) whose knowledge of WWII is
pretty limited.
Although modern history
really isn’t my thing, I did enjoy this book. It’s easy to either
read a slew of stories at once or just dip into it for a little
while.
Thaddeus
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