The great thing about writing about the Somerset Freedom Fighters and the Anglican League is I can make most of it up!
So my 1938 bookshelf is a bit of a mix.
First off ‘A Very British Strike’ by Anne Perkins. This is a great read and well worth a second or third go. Not just for the politics but for what happens when a 1920/30s country comes to a stop. No national newspapers, no trains, the TUC in London had to use despatch riders to get information out to the country.
Also some good background to the dark side of Churchill.
3 Ospreys next all on Ireland, ‘The Irish Volunteer 1913-23‘, ‘The Anglo-Irish War’ and ‘The Irish Civil War‘. All good background stuff.
If you’re going to learn, then learn from the best. The Somerset Freedom Fighters are a guerrilla organisation so the best reads for this are ‘Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War’ and ‘Guerrilla Warfare’ both by Che Guevara.
For those outside the UK look out for books of photos by Francis Frith. His collection of pictures cover the British countryside from 1900 to about 1950 and are split up by county or region.
If you have any to add please do so.
A couple fiction suggestions. The first is set in 1937 Mosleyite England, just after the treaty with Hitler is signed (Churchill is in prison on the Isle of Wight). It is the tale of a WWI veteran resistance guy. Called, 'The Leader', by Guy Walters, published by Headland Press.
ReplyDeleteThe second suggestion is a classic Len Deighton thriller, 'SS-GB'. Post invasion. Title says it all.