This is an entertaining read, and a plausible recreation of a very poorly documented period. The neighbouring English kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira were soon to merge to form Northumbria, and Denning has created a convincing version of that process involving ambitious kings and double dealing, all based around the few facts that we have.
Many books on this subject focus on a particular part of the Japanese Empire (with many published in Britain concentrating on British or Commonwealth prisoners in Burma, Malaya or Singapore). Felton has taken a different approach, and covers most of the Japanese Empire. This provides a much broader context for the individual stories, and amongst other things makes it clear that the Dutch were treated in an even worse manner than British or American internees. One of the most impressive features of this otherwise dark period is the amount of effort that the parents and other internees made to make sure that their children survived. In each camp the same story emerges - parents starving… Read more
An entertaining novel set in one of the darkest parts of the Dark Ages, when the Angles and the Britons were still fighting for control of the north of England while all around them the remains of Roman civilisation crumbled away. Has a nice feel for its brutal period and the nature of the shield wall as well as a sympathetic lead character and an interesting plot.
