Book Reviews
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Britain’s railways in the Second World War
By Michael Foley, Pen & Sword Transport, 2020, 235 pages, 232 x 156 mm hard back, 104 illustrations.
The title brings to mind a wide-ranging and absorbing subject well covered in the existing literature, so it would be interesting to have confirmed what one already knew and more importantly learn of anything fresh. Following an introduction and brief discussion of military railways and railways before the Second World War, the content of this book is presented year by year from 1939 to 1945 and concludes with reflections, appendices on Second War memorials and commemorative Second War locomotives and vehicles, glossary, bibliography and index.
By the start of the annual chapters, it becomes evident that much of the content consists of a series of facts, gleaned one suspects from contemporary press announcements or entries in the press of the day. These snippets are assembled in random fashion with sometimes the same aspect repeated a page or so later on, presumably from a different source, without any drawing together and assessment of each, let alone reaching a reasoned conclusion. Bearing in mind the manner in which the news was censored for security
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