Devonshire April & May 16

Helen Jones reviews new releases from Devon based authors
by David Gilman
This book is the third in David’s of Master of War series. David Gilman
is also a successful screenwriter and for about nine years was the
principal writer on A Touch of Frost. He now lives in Devonshire with
his wife Suzy, three cats and
an old Landrover.
The central character of his
book is Thomas Blackstone,
a formidable mercenary in
exile who is recalled from
Italy to serve the crown
once more. Having fought
amid the ceaseless internecine
warring of Italy’s
city states, Blackstone is
recalled to England (travelling
through the High Alps
in winter) to face the Black
Prince in a Tournament at
Windsor. Along the way,
he’s shadowed by a notorious
assassin with the intention of
inflicting maximum pain on
his target.
If you enjoy the historically
placed ʻaction’ type genre of
book, then you will find Gate
of the Dead a thoroughly enjoyable and engaging read.
by George Budge
George Budge’s a Plymouth lad, educated at Efford Secondary Modern
School. George by his own admission said “my school days were
like going to a shop to buy
bread, and coming out of
the shop with an empty
bag’ - an honest admission
and subsequently George
worked as an HGV driver
for most of his working life,
later becoming a voluntary
driver for the International
Red Cross which ultimately
brought him into contact
with warzone conflict and
furnished George with
many real-life experiences.
The book relates to his
time driving as a volunteer
during the Balkans Conflict
and talks directly about
families devastated by the
conflict. Also featured are
letters that George received
from the Serbian Red Cross.
An interesting perspective
from this troubled time, many unique references to the ethnic conflicts
within the Balkans . An interesting personal account.
ISBN - B00ZC9TNPM ISBN 9781784554248
by Sophie Pierce
and Matt Newbury
An interesting concept in terms of walks books, combining an optional
swim en route. In this day and age of digital devices, it’s certainly a
great idea if you have young families,
and want to fully engage
them with the great outdoors. A
swim’s certainly something very
welcome on a hot summer walk.
The format’s attractive, with
lots of social/natural history
references, walk maps, and many
colour photos of swimming locations
including ones of people
actively enjoying their swim.
It’s obviously a summertime
book and I’d say that to ensure a
successful walk, the maps would
need to be referenced against an
OS map and actually, you could
leave the book in the car once
parked up and take the OS map
with you. Much work’s been done here in terms of research, allowing
you to access the countryside in a great way. The book contains 28
lake, river and beach days out and I’d say that although it’s not cheap
at £14.99, it’s well worth the money for the enjoyment and days out
you can gain from it.
by Mike Clement and Ted Gosling
A compilation of photos and accompanying mini-descriptions recounting
the great days of the railways in Devon. For many holiday-makers
it will bring back fond
memories of trips to the
seaside resorts and many
of the old pictures are of
steam trains. The lines were
operated by Great Western
and the London and South
Western railways. This book
comprises the work of both
amateur and professional
photographers and reveals
glimpses of stations and the
people who worked on the
lines. There are over 200
photographs charting the
changes in railway networks
before and after the Beeching
Report in 1963.
Compiled and written by Ted
Gosling and Mike Clement,
for the railway fans out
there, it’s a veritable treasure
trove of imagery and
information.
ISBN 9781910636077 ISBN 9780752452135
64