Tag Archives: wartime

Multifaceted Australian crime fiction: The High Commissioner by Jon Cleary

The High Commissioner by Jon Cleary is the first in the Scobie Malone series. Malone, a police detective, is sent to London to bring back the Australian High Commissioner for the decade-old murder of his wife. Malone finds himself in … Continue reading

Posted in 20th Century, 20th Century Light Fiction, Australian, Crime fiction, Fiction, General adult audience, Novel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Radio plays that were The Mark Drama of the 1940s: The Man Born to Be King by Dorothy L. Sayers

As I read The Man Born to be King I found myself thinking, this was the Mark Drama of the 1940s! A series of twelve radio plays about the life of Jesus Christ, they were written by Dorothy L. Sayers … Continue reading

Posted in 20th Century, Biography/Autobiography, Christian, Christian Non-fiction, General adult audience, Nonfiction, Script/Play | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Goodnight, Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian

Goodnight, Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian is a historical novel and modern children’s classic set in World War II Britain. Billeting arrangements bring together Mister Tom, a gruff and grieving old man, and Willie Beech, a starved and abused child … Continue reading

Posted in 10 years and up, 20th Century Children's, Children's Classics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr is a semi-autobiographical account of her family’s flight from Germany in 1933 because of her father’s opposition to the Nazi party. They move to Switzerland, then Paris and finally England. The story … Continue reading

Posted in 20th Century Children's, 7 years and up, Children's Classics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Henrietta’s War and Henrietta Sees It Through by Joyce Dennys

Henrietta’s War by Joyce Dennys and its sequel, Henrietta Sees it Through, are a series of letters to a childhood friend during WWII. They document the small and amusing indignities and challenges of life in a “safe part of England” … Continue reading

Posted in 20th Century Light Fiction, British, Comedy, Episodic Novel, Epistolary Novel, General adult audience, Light Fiction, Novel, Social Novel, War Story | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a book that my parents read to each other while I was in utero and which has been a regular feature of my life ever since. I have enjoyed it in primary … Continue reading

Posted in 20th Century Children's, 7 years and up, Children's Classics, Fantasy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is one of my favourite books. It’s a book about the Christian life written in the form of letters from a senior to a junior devil, who is tasked with sabotaging the spiritual life … Continue reading

Posted in 20th Century Classics, British, Christian, Christian Living, Christian Non-fiction, Classic, Comedy, Epistolary Novel, Fantasy, Fiction, General adult audience, Novel, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hornblower by C. S. Forester

The Hornblower novels by C.S. Forester are a terrific blend of plot and characterisation. Set during the Napoleonic wars, they are action packed and fast moving but this action also serves to develop the complex character of Horatio Hornblower. Even … Continue reading

Posted in 20th Century Classics, British, Episodic Novel, Fiction, General adult audience, Historical Fiction, Novel, War Story, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a delightful book set just after WWII and featuring an unlikely group of people who learn to love reading under the Nazi occupation of the British Channel Isles. It is an … Continue reading

Posted in American, Contemporary, Epistolary Novel, Fiction, General adult audience, Historical Fiction, Light Fiction, Novel, War Story | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

All Quiet on the Western Front provides a great insightinto the human cost of World War I as it portrays a generation of men whose formative years are spent in the trenches. Remarque weaves narrative together with reflections on the … Continue reading

Posted in 20th Century Classics, Fiction, General adult audience, Novel, Realism, War Story | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment