How Cardiff and the surrounding valleys faced the dreaded might of the Nazis.

Today I got the first proof of my forthcoming book, Cardiff and the Valleys At War 1939 - 1945. It's due to be published this November from Pen and Sword Books.

 I love this stage of the book production - of course the indexing can be a bit of a slog, but I enjoy the polishing. It is at this stage that I get to see how the work is going to look as a finished book, and I get to tease out any edits that may have escaped the proofreading team. Though, believe me the proofreaders know the business, and without fail they kick my humble scribblings into shape.

The JPG left shows the PDF proof currently on my desktop - I'm reading through it at the moment, have taken a few minutes to bash out this blog post. I may also have a coffee and some chocolate chip cookies before getting back to the grindstone. Hey, that's the writing life!

My association with Pen and Sword Books is something I'm very proud of - my two previous titles for the company - Cardiff and the Valleys During the Great War and the true crime study, Dark Valleys are doing well for me, and only this week I signed a contract to write another title for 2019 publication; this one will be another true crime study - entitled, A Date with the Hangman it looks at the history of capital punishment in the UK.

Not bad for a snobby nosed kid with little if any formal education!

Check out Dark Valleys

Check out Cardiff and the Valleys in the Great War


Cardiff and the Valleys at War 1939 - 45, looks at the Home Front during the dark years of WWII,

and once again I was left feeling amazed at the way ordinary people faced up to the hardships of war, at the way they stood firm against everything the enemy threw at them - this was a time when death could and frequently did come without warning. The blitz was something that spread terror not just in Wales but across the UK - These ordinary people faced all that and in return stuck two fingers up to Adolf Hitler.

Of course the book also contains stories of incredible humour, of people pulling together - there are darker stories of the black market but even so there are heart warming tales within these pages. I was left feeling humbled and deeply proud to do my little bit to preserve these stories for future generations.

The people who lived through this war have often been called the greatest generation, and after researching this book I am inclined to agree with that assessment.

Cardiff and the Valleys at War will be available from December 2019
Find Pen and Sword Books HERE