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Review
`I found myself so moved by passages in the book that when I tried to read them out to my wife, I had to keep pausing and take deep breaths.' --Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday 20/3
`The story of the evacuees and their wartime experiences is the subject of a brilliant new book' --Daily Express 28/3
`The story of the evacuees and their wartime experiences is the subject of a brilliant new book' --Daily Express 28/3
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is about the mass evacuation of children and often their mothers from our Cities during WW2 and the long term effects on family life. It is a must read for anyone interested in what became of those children and their families after the war had ended. There were 4 mass evacuations and Julie Summers provides a detailed account of each of these and the monumental achievement of those involved. The facts and figures have been thoroughly researched, and this is an achievement in itself. The icing on the cake though are the real stories told by the evacuee children themselves. Now in their 60's and 70's they all say that their experiences profoundly affected them for the rest of their lives. Most of the stories are heart warming accounts of the war time spirit and the desperation of parents wanting to safeguard their children You will weep for those who suffered the sinking of the SS City of Benares and wonder at those who escaped from the invading Japanese in the Far East. Some stories give a shocking account of the abuse that some children experienced when placed with unsuitable foster parents, whilst for others it was the time of their lives. Highly recommended for its insight into the desperate years of WW2 and the profound effects that still ripple through our society today.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Based on interviews, archive material and memoirs, this delightful book tells the true stories of the 3 million British children evacuated during World War II from its bomb-ravaged cities to the safety of the countryside. For most, it saved their lives, but it changed them forever. Most poignant are those who, having struggled to cope with rural life, then found they could not readjust at home: the child who had come to love snowdrops, the boy who could no longer bear the noise of his overcrowded slum family, the many children who returned to a recognition of how dirty and limited their home lives really were. The foster parents varied from dire to people with hearts of gold, and they were changed too. I loved the story of the bachelor in Herts with an East End Jewish family who joined in their festivals, even doing the Yom Kippur fast, though the year he started off with bacon he suffered terrible thirst all day! Today it all seems so strange, almost callous: we would not so readily send our children away. But we have not faced the same dangers, which Julie Summers makes real. A lovely book and a great read.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A compelling story of the experiences of 2nd World War evacuees. The beauty of this telling is that the Author is able to empathise with the children, the parents, and the foster parents. Taking on a child for 4 years or even less was a huge emotional responsibility and left its mark in the lives of all who were part to it. The parents, missing so much of their child's life and having an adolescent stranger return to the house. The children, many of whom missed the foster homes dearly when they left to return to slums, and the foster parents themselves who formed very strong emotional bonds to the children. The thought of bringing someone into your life for 4 years and then having them snatched away forever without any notice is a truly haunting one.
Somehow the author manages to bring together all of these stories with an understanding that helps mould them together and allows the reader to come to terms with the hardships and happiness endured and felt by everyone in the book. Truly inspirational reading.
Somehow the author manages to bring together all of these stories with an understanding that helps mould them together and allows the reader to come to terms with the hardships and happiness endured and felt by everyone in the book. Truly inspirational reading.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
completing the journey
I belong to a group of World War II evacuees who keep in touch with each other by email. I recommended to them Julie's book and am glad that they responded positively. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. Michael Henderson
Thorough and Informative
Julie Summers' book "When the Children Came Home" is a well researched account of the large scale evacuations of Britain's children during World War II. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Helen
A page-turner
"When the Children Came Home", by Julie Summers.
This book, full of stories told by the grown versions of Britain's WWII child evacuees, was a fascinating... Read more
This book, full of stories told by the grown versions of Britain's WWII child evacuees, was a fascinating... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Gwen Southgate
Superb
I was a war baby and even now recall watching the bombers fly over the house on their way to bomb Germany. Read more
Published 11 months ago by P. Waller
Very real memories
I bought this for my mother who was a wartime evacuee and it was clear that it brought back many memories. When I read it I thought it brought that period in history to life. Read more
Published 12 months ago by bailey
Stories from the War
I appreciated this book very much. It deals with the period of history covering my early childhood. Read more
Published 12 months ago by K atie
A Timely Book
the postscipt at the end advising that 2 of the survivors of the City Of Benares have died since the book was written remind us that time is slipping away. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mb Davis
evacuation stories
The title of the book says it all, really. It is full of fascinating stories of when children came back from being evacuated. Read more
Published 13 months ago by R. Baxter
Learning the truth
As a 3 year old evacuee from Bexhill-on-Sea to the West Country, along with my mother, I have learnt a lot more from the book than my mother ever told me. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Featherstone
Please read
the stories in this book refect an era and event which many view as negative, but there is much more to the evacuee issue than we know. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Northumberland
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