ARCTIC STAR
This novel for younger readers tells the fictional story of three young RN recruits who join an Arctic convoy sailing through the frozen northern seas to deliver supplies to Russian Soviets. These Allied convoys, famously hunted by German U boats, are sometimes described as “the worst journeys in the world”, not least because of the high stress su ered by the crews, as they waited, week after week, for a torpedo to slam into their ship and sink them. I’ve started to read this to my ten-year-old son at bedtime – so far, so good! It’s vivid, simple and e ective, and in bringing to life a vital, and sometimes overlooked, part of the British war e ort, it’s the perfect children’s counterpart to Nicholas Monsaratt’s classic (left).