Voices of the Second World War: A Child’s Perspective

by Sheila A Renshaw Pen & Sword, 176 pages, £12.99

I wish my mother was still here to share this book with, as she told me that she would spend her time sitting in an Anderson shelter during the bombings, wondering about the experiences of other children throughout war-torn Europe.

I wish I had paid greater attention to her stories. This book filled that gap. The author has interviewed all of the contributors personally, and has sensitively retained each individual voice as she documents the memories of those who were children (some as young as two years old) living across Europe during the Second World War.

Unlike the Great War, the Second World War directly affected civilians, leaving little of Europe and not one group of civil society untouched. However, the war experiences of children in Europe are seldom discussed and this book, in chronicling them, deserves to be heard.

These children’s accounts put real flesh on the bones of our ancestors. I found the book so compelling that I read it in one sitting. It’s essential for anybody researching this period – particularly those who didn’t pay enough attention to the stories of their grandparents.