I saw the Bayeux Tapestry – in the pretty little town of Bayeux – thirty five years ago. One of my friends was teaching at the university in nearby Caen, and the tapestry was one of the…

It’s hard for me to understand the real fear of invasion that existed in Britain in 1940. My parents, both of whom were born in the 1930s, were just too young to understand and my Dad, who wa…

I read Anna at War on Sunday afternoon and evening almost without pause. I started it so I could write this review but I continued with it because I could do nothing else. The plot drives along tak…

I’ve always liked Tom Palmer’s books, even when they were about football, a subject which interests me not at all. But it was when he started producing books set during and around the F…

Tom took as his inspiration for this book the life of Audrey Hepburn. He is at pains to point out that it is not a biography. Audrey Hepburn rarely spoke about her experiences in the Nazi-occupied …

Six years ago I sailed to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. I had chosen to be there and paid for the privilege. It was midsummer and I was on a small cruise ship. I had sailed the Norwegian Sea, the Arcti…

I only meant, last night, to read the first few pages of The Enigma Game to get a feel for it but I ended up reading all the way through the night, unable to stop. The publisher gave me access to a…

The time has come, as you surely knew it would, for me to share this one from my collection.  There’s nothing random about Nancy Calls the Tune by Dorita Fairlie Bruce.  It’s one of my …

My favourite of the late Mal Peet’s superlative novels without any shadow of a doubt is Tamar.  The review below has appeared elsewhere but I stand by it and encourage you to read the book. T…