The Snoring of a Thousand Men: Tales of Childhood in World War II

Seventy years after World Wat II, thirty people describe in this book what it was like to be a child in Britain during that war. Their vivid experiences are extraordinary, rich and moving. They faced bombing, rationing, evacuation, blackout, firestorms. Yet there was a freedom, comradeship and ingenuity in overcoming shortages and hazards which has endured long after these childhoods spent 'learning the meaning of war'. They gathered shrapnel for their collections, enjoyed the sweets American soldiers gave them, went to school on a troopship, wept over dolls spiked with glass, shared beds with strangers, were strafed by bombers, counted the planes returning from Europe, learnt what rural life was like, knitted socks and were thrilled by the small pleasures of seeing a lemon or making cream for a birthday party from margarine and milk. It was a world that today's children find it hard to imagine. But this book brings it vividly alive.