Category Archives: Book review

Book review: Shadows in a Photograph

Posted on April 27, 2016 by secondbysecond

The novel Shadows in a Photograph by David McMichael (Austin Macauley Publishers, 2016) describes life from the viewpoint of Peter Waring. The story begins not too long after the Great War ends and focuses at first on Peter’s boyhood exile … Continue reading →

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Book review: Never Surrender

Posted on April 4, 2016 by secondbysecond

The novel Never Surrender by J.G. White (Austin Macauley Publishers, 2016) will delight anyone who saw service in Britain’s Royal Marines and will fascinate those who have never entered military life but are curious to experience second-hand the rigours, rituals … Continue reading →

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Book review: And Some Fell on Stony Ground

Posted on October 19, 2014 by secondbysecond

Their country was likely doomed and within the month, or several months at most, they would almost certainly be dead. And still they volunteered. In the early days of the Second World War, the young men of Britain’s RAF Bomber … Continue reading →

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Book review: Seducing Ingrid Bergman

Posted on July 9, 2013 by secondbysecond

‘Cast down, her lashes are so long, I notice, they almost touch her cheeks. When she looks up, her face lifts out of shadow. Her eyes are slices of paradise.’ Such is the evocative and wonderfully vivid prose that runs … Continue reading →

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Book review: Crete, and Consequences

Posted on May 23, 2013 by secondbysecond

If the span from pre-war to post-Thatcher Britain is a period of time and a setting that would interest you, then read Consequences—by Booker Prize-winner Penelope Lively. Penelope Lively’s literary gem is both love story and a story of a family … Continue reading →

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Book review: Fifty Shades of Grey, plus two more

Posted on July 15, 2012 by secondbysecond

Anastasia Steele is bright, witty, and beautiful—in the eyes of her boyfriend Christian Grey, who’s no dog himself as far as looks go. To boot, he’s not badly off. Think Daddy Warbucks and scale up by a few powers of … Continue reading →

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In the news/Book review: 6 June–Anniversary of D-Day

Posted on June 6, 2012 by secondbysecond

Today (6 June) is the day when veterans and dignitaries of the warring nations of WWII gather on the beaches of Normandy to give thanks, and to honour the fallen of 68 years ago. This week, tourists will fan out … Continue reading →

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Book review: Atonement by Ian McEwan

Posted on June 4, 2012 by secondbysecond

With summer on the way and time to spend at the beach (park? backyard?), you might take along Atonement—if you’ve not read the book already. Ian McEwan captures the pre-WWII life of the English gentry. His heroine, Briony, is a child … Continue reading →

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