The Battle of Britain on the Big Screen

The Battle of Britain on the Big Screen written by Dilip Sarkar MBE and published by Air World Books - £22 - Hardback - Pages 272

During the Second World War, the British movie industry produced a number of films

concerning the war, all of which were, by necessity, heavily myth-laden and

propagandised. Foremost among these productions was The First of the Few, which

was the biggest-grossing film of 1942.

In the immediate post-war period, to start with there were no British aviation war films. The first to be released was Angels One Five in 1952. It was well-received, confirming that the Battle of Britain was a commercial commodity.

Over the next few years, many famous war heroes published their memoirs, or had books written about them, including the legless Group Captain Douglas Bader, whose story, Reach for the Sky, told by Paul Brickhill, became a best-seller in 1956. It was followed a year later by the film of the same name, which, starring Kenneth More, dominated that year’s box office.

The early Battle of Britain films had tended to focus upon the story of individuals, not the bigger picture. That changed with the release of the star-studded epic Battle of Britain in 1969. Using real aircraft, the film, produced in colour and on a far larger scale than had been seen on film before, was notable for its spectacular flying sequences.

Between the release of Reach for the Sky and Battle of Britain, however, much had changed for modern Britain. For a variety of reasons many felt that the story of the nation’s pivotal moment in the Second World War was something best buried and forgotten. Indeed, the overall box office reaction to Battle of Britain reinforced this view – all of which might explain why it was the last big screen treatment of this topic for many years.

It was during the Battle of Britain’s seventieth anniversary year that the subject returned to the nation's screens when Matthew Whiteman’s docudrama First Light was first broadcast. Essentially a serialisation of Spitfire pilot Geoffrey Wellum’s best-selling memoir of the same title, Whiteman cleverly combined clips of Wellum as an old man talking about the past with his new drama footage. The series is, in the opinion of the author, the best portrayal of an individual’s Battle of Britain experience to have been made.

In this fascinating exploration of the Battle of Britain on the big screen, renowned historian and author Dilip Sarkar examines the popular memory and myths of each of these productions and delves into the arguments between historians and the filmmakers. Just how true to the events of the summer of 1940 are they, and how much have they added to the historical record of ‘The Finest Hour’?

This was a fascinating and fantastic book looking at world war two films and the Battle of Britain in particular. Now as a young boy I feel like I grew up watching these old war films and westerns, a Sunday wouldn’t go by without watching a film about the country at war. The Battle of Britain & The Dambusters were a couple of my favourites. What Sarkar does with this book is look at a number of films made just after the war and a number in the decades after the forties. He looks at the myth surrounding the subjects and how the subject would fare, and he also looks at why, how and the standards of what films were made and how they were received by the public. We learn a lot from Mr Sarkar about the different ways films were filmed or portrayed and how that evolved, we also learn more about the background of certain films and how they were made and the evolution of the films into later films on almost the same subjects. As a premier writer on this subject in many forms, Dilip Sarkar has written another excellent book, showing there is still a lot to learn on the subject. A book I would happily recommend to others.

The Blackout Murders - Homicide in WW2

The Blackout Murders - Homicide in WW2 written by Neil R. Storey and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 224

Nostalgic recollections of wartime Britain often forget that when the blackout was

enforced at night in an attempt to foil Nazi bombers a crime wave, cloaked by the

inky black darkness, ensued on many of our streets. There were petty crimes,

robberies, sexual assaults and, as The Blackout Murders reveals, some horrific

murders took place on our home front during the Second World War. Some of

them still rank among the most shocking crimes in modern British history.

Some of the murders recounted within the pages of this book remain infamous, others are almost forgotten and some remain unsolved to this day. Several cases have new light shed on them from recently released archives and records uncovered by the author. Every case has been carefully selected for its reflection of wartime conditions and each one has a powerful, poignant and tragic story to tell.

Readers will gain insights into the darker narrative of our home front and learn about some of the men and women who strove to maintain law and order under the most challenging circumstances. Others innovated and developed ground-breaking forensic techniques to identify bodies, recognise if foul play had occurred and as a direct result brought murderers to justice who may otherwise have gone undetected and unpunished.

Anyone reading The Blackout Murders will never look at Britain's Home Front during the Second World War in the same way again.

The Blockout Murders looks at serious crimes that occurred during WW2 in Britain, in a bit of a nostalgic look at Britain during this period the book lifts the lid on crime and shows that death wasn’t only around on the battlefront. The book looks at 10 murders in a number of circumstances and places, and really very interesting. You can also tell that there has been a lot of research and writing put into this book and this shows through to produce an easy read. An excellent little book and certainly a good one to read for any fans of true crime. 

A History of Insanity and the Asylum

The History of Insanity and the Asylum written by Julianna Cummings and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 232

The iconic image of the lunatic asylum is one that often leaves us wondering

what went on inside these imposing buildings.

In this new book, Juliana Cummings first questions what behaviours and characteristics define insanity and leads us through a comprehensive history of insanity and the asylum from the early treatment and care of mental illness in the Middle Ages and early modern period through to the closure of mental institutions in the twentieth century.

Throughout the years, we learn of how the treatments and institutional structures for caring for the mentally ill-developedand changed. The Age of Enlightenment and the rise of humanitarian reform was followed by the emergence of the insane asylum in the 1800s, which saw the beginning of the widespread construction of asylums.

We explore the different reasons for admittance, as well as the vast array of treatments. It shows that your treatment as an inmate of an asylum could vary depending on your gender and your social class.

Although once thought of as criminals, the mentally ill were gradually treated with care. Juliana discusses the different treatments used over time as attitudes towards the mentally ill changed, such as drug use, psychosurgery and insulin therapy. We learn of the regulations and reforms that led to the closure of asylums, how their closure affected society and consider how the mentally ill are treated today.

This insightful new history helps us to better understand the haunting past of the asylum and leads us down a fascinating road to where we come to an understanding of a time in history that is often mistaken.

This was a fascinating book in which we look at the history of the asylum system, looking at the buildings, the treatments of insanity and reasons for putting people in asylums. Also the book goes back in time to the early Middle Ages time in history, and the book goes right through to the late 20th century when thankfully society has decided to leave the days of the asylum go by.

What emerges from the book is the number of reasons for going into an asylum, often without choice for the person deemed mad. Plus some of the reasons why they were in there are so lose if not criminal, the book also covers the subject of treatment, and along with the introduction of drugs some treatments could vary from being completely spaced out to more sinister things like electric shock treatment or cases where humans were just experimented on. Luckily, society has a more grown up attitude to mental health these days and we have moved on from such draconian ways. This was a really fascinating book, in which there was lots of research and the book was well written and easy to understand, so compliments to the author Julianna Cummings. An ideal book if your are interested in mental health, and might be a bit surprising for those who know little about this subject.

Transforming Hitler's Germany

Transforming Hitler’s Germany written by Tim Heath & Annmarie Vickers and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 272

As the last flames of the Second World War flickered and died, Germany emerged into

an apocalyptic wasteland, where the Hitler Youth generation would be cursed with the

running sore of National Socialism. With the uncaged bear of the Soviet Union flexing

its muscles and the escalating tensions between East and West providing some

distraction from the funeral pyre of the Third Reich, those living in West Germany soon

understood that they were the geological bulkhead, a component in the prevention of

communism spreading throughout the infantile peace of post-Second World War Europe.

Despite all the destruction and political tensions which surrounded them, the young men and women of Germany were keen to experience the world beyond their own precarious borders. In August 1945, Tia Schuster and Lisa Kraus were two fourteen-year-old Berliners, and - like many - they found themselves shoehorned into what was to be the second ‘new era’ of their young lives. The first had brought about only death and destruction, yet this second had a cold unfamiliarity about it.

As the late 1940s gave way to the 1950s and ‘60s, a series of new decadent eras - of rock-n-roll, fashion, flower power and sexual revolution - was on the horizon, which posed a threat to the traditional German way of life championed by the Nazi regime and post-Second World War German government. With this heady mixture of new-found freedom, the youth of Germany unwittingly became a feature of everything that both fascism and communism despised.

This unique work tells the story of the tentative steps taken by young men and women into the ‘afterlife of Nazi Germany’. Encompassing memoirs along the way, it presents a quirky portrayal of charm, humour, mischief and personal accomplishment along with a vitally important slice of (West) Germany’s social history, which has remained hidden from the literary world for decades. 

Transforming Hitler’s Germany is a book that follows the lives of a number of young people but particularly  Tia Schuster, Lisa Kraus and friends. The book follows how they saw life whilst living under the Nazi party, but then life in Germany after WW2 in Berlin. The book through notes and letters, looks at their beliefs about life post-war ranging on a number of subjects such as music, love, relationships, sexuality, education, work, growing up and also social influences that were filtering through from the west. I believe that this is an important book that looks at the social history of young people in Germany, which I know from reading I think, five previous Tim Heath books, and I personally think that the addition of Annmarie Vickers, gives an extra balance and maybe a little more female influence to the book. I always enjoy a Tim Heath book as he often concentrates on the social side or the lives and views of women and children living through WW2 Germany, something we don’t hear much about.

I would like to say finally, that being a Dad to teenage boys 18 & 19, they could learn a lot from this book, as I got a lot out of reading this first-class book. A fine book I would highly recommend to anyone interested in social history or the lives and thoughts of young people. An early contender for one of my top ten books of the year already.

A History & Guide to Scottish History

A History & Guide to Scottish Castles written by Jenna Maxwell and published by Pen & Sword Books - £22.00 - Hardback - Pages 220

At one time, Scotland was home to more than 4,000 castles. It’s an extraordinary

number for such a small country and today, around 3,000 still stand.

Some are world famous, others have inspired great works of literature, while others have lit up the silver screen.

There are grand, ticketed visitor attractions but there are others which are unassuming structures so tucked away that only the locals seem to know about them.

From the triangular-shaped Caerlaverock Castle in Dumfries and Galloway to the imposing New Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire, and from the magnificent fortress that dominates the Edinburgh skyline to the haunting battlements that stand on the banks of Loch Ness, each tower tells a story, every turret holds a secret and, together, they span centuries of fascinating Scottish history.

A History and Guide to Scottish Castles explores the history, architecture, and legends of some of these fascinating fortresses and looks at why they are so appealing to visitors today.

A History & Guide to Scottish is a fantastic little book that explores all the castles in Scotland, from the forgotten and neglected to the immaculate and well-known. Having spent 10 years of my childhood living in the fair Scottish land, I have visited a few of these castles. An excellent book that separates the castles into regions and then supplies great local history connected to the castles and provided with the excellent little stories of history and suspense. Visiting Crathes Castle as a child always amused me with the story of the ghost in the window, and finding it in this book, only for the ghost to move to the fireplace in the book. An excellent book with lots of information contained within, a really interesting read and ideal as a guide.

Railways of Southern California

Railways of Southern California written by Colin J. Marsden and published

by Key Publishing - £30.00 - Hardback - Pages 160

Passing through some of the most picturesque scenery in the world, several main

routes traverse Southern California. Most are freight corridors, but there are a handful

of long-distance passenger services, primarily worked by Amtrak. Some of the long-

distance and heavy freight services can be powered by up to ten locomotives, equating

to around 50,000hp. One of the most scenic routes is on the Union Pacific-owned track

between Mojave and Bakersfield, which climbs over the Tehachapi Mountains, reaching

a height of over 4,000ft above sea level, requiring locos to work hard on the climb either

side of the line’s summit. The route over Cajon, one of the busiest freight routes in the

world, is also covered, as well as the routes between Barstow and Needles, the central

California line, and the highly photogenic Pacific “Surfliner” route between Los Angeles

and San Diego. Lavishly illustrated with 200 images, this book is divided into the main

routes in the area, showing the diversity in scenery and train types found. With informative

captions explaining the locos, their routes, and the best places for rail enthusiasts to

see these trains for themselves, this is the ultimate guide to the railways of Southern

California.

I jumped at the chance of reading and reviewing this book mainly because I love anything American, trains and landscape photography and this book combines all of those. The sight of American trains moving along against the back drop of the American wilderness just in my opinion looks glorious and picturesque. This book look at all different kinds of rail transport from freight to Amtrak passenger train transport to industrial rail transport working in industry. So the book has around 200 photos with an image of a train in movement with the backdrop of the train going through a town, landscape or working in an industrial scene. So you have the beautiful picture but there is a couple of paragraphs accompanying each picture usually setting the scene or a few details about the locomotive in the picture. But what I enjoy is the fact that there isn’t too much info, the balance has been struck with picture and info, so it doesn’t get too technical. A thoroughly good, interesting and beautiful book, most definitely a book to recommend to others, ideal for the model maker, photographer or train fan.

100 Greatest Battles

100 Greatest Battles written by Angus Konstam and published by

Osprey Publishing - Hardback - £14.99 - Pages 223

A highly illustrated introduction to some of the greatest battles in world history, from

the iconic encounters of the Ancient World such as Thermopylae and Cannae,

through to the major clashes of the 20th century epitomized by Stalingrad and Khe

Sanh.

This concise study by renowned military historian Angus Konstam examines one hundred of the most famous battles from world history. It includes great naval engagements such as Salamis, Trafalgar, Jutland and Midway; pivotal land battles that decided the fate of nations, such as Hastings, Yorktown, Gettysburg and the Somme; and the impact of the new dimension of aerial warfare in the 20th century at Pearl Harbor, in the Battle of Britain and in the skies over Hiroshima.

This highly illustrated book features 100 full-colour battle scene artworks from Osprey's comprehensive archive and is the ideal introduction to the battles that changed the course of history.

To pinch an advertising slogan from television, this book does exactly what it says on the tin, its 100 Greatest Battles from history. The battles range from the Ancient World with the battle at Marathon all the way up to Desert Storm in 1991. With everything in between such as the Thermopylae, Bannockburn, Hastings, Trafalgar, Medway and Stalingrad. The book chooses 100 battles from history and each double page explains about the battle accompanied by some nice artwork of each battle. The book feels informative and a good little book, although it aimed at those wanting to learn about military history or maybe a student looking to get into history. Which is all perfectly fine and there is a market out there for it but if you wanted lots of detail and information it might not be the book for you. A really good book that serves its purpose.