JIM REEVE'S NEW BOOK

A SCHOOLBOY’S WAR IN CORNWALL BY Jim Reeve The History Press £12.99 ISBN 978-0-7524-5540-2

My writing colleague, Jim Reeve is enjoying great success with his third book A Schoolboy’s War in Cornwall and is still receiving excellent responses from readers.

Jim’s memories of the childhood are told movingly in this, his third book under the History Press impress. He draws on his own personal childhood experiences as an evacuee during World War Two.

Brought up in London’s East End, Jim, his little brother and mother were billeted in the Great Western Hotel, Newquay. He considers it an adventure and outlines his experiences in the book which runs to 50,000 words.

“This book depicts my experiences and those of others of our evacuation to Cornwall, a place chosen by the authorities as a place of safety,” says Jim. “One and a half million children were moved out to areas designated as safe. The government commandeered four thousand trains and three thousand buses to take the youngster to their destinations. The children’s parents never knew where their children were going to be billeted and the whole process was often disturbing.”

Jim’s book is both poignant and amusing at times and he shares vivid recollections of war-torn London contrasting with the beauty of St Ives, Newquay and Redruth which he knows so well. History aficionados, former evacuees and readers interested in this aspect of World War II will appreciate Jim’s memories which are told in his engaging narrative. I enjoyed this book very much. Jim is pictured with Valerie Dunmore, Vice President,when he recently won an award for his work as the first SWWJ Male Associate to receive such an award. And - he made front cover!