From the back:

History with the nasty bits left in!

Can you imagine life without a television, road signs and bananas? Or only having enough clothing coupons to buy a small pair of knickers? Not to mention the late-night bombing raids. These were just some of the hardships for the people who stayed at home in World War Two - the blitzed Brits.

Want to know:

• what really happened in Dad's Army?
• how to make a rude noise with a gas mask?
• why the blitzed Brits ate chicken-fruit, sinkers and nutty?

Read on for some spiffing slang, foul food facts about rotten rationing, awful evacuation tales, and the terrible truth about London's bloodthirsty blackout murderer.

History has never been so horrible!

It was alright and easy to understand. Although it's a kid's book it was a nice, quick read.

I'd read one of the other horrid-history books some time back and was tickled by it, so when I saw this one on the book buffet I couldn't resist. [The fact that it's smallish and lightish means it might even fit in my luggage, an important consideration at this point!] Thanks for sharing this one.

Given the often-frivolous tone of the book, it still managed to squeeze in quite a lot of history, including some of the more difficult aspects of life during the Blitz - not just the being-blown-to-bits aspects, but the evacuations of children (sometimes to less-than-friendly homes), shortages and the black market, and other things I hadn't even thought of. [Example of the latter: a suggestion to boil turnips, mash them up, sweeten them, and pretend that the result was bananas. I don't think so!]

RELEASE NOTES:

It's Memorial Day in the US, so I thought this would be a suitable release for the day. I left the book on a bench in Greeley Park at about 12:45; you should be able to see the commemorative artillery piece in the background. Hope the finder enjoys the book!