Rosie Amber's Reviews > Reading at War 1939–45

Reading At War 1939-45 is a non-fiction account of the Berkshire town of Reading and how the people of the town and the surrounding areas coped during World War Two.

David Bilton has collated much of the information from local history books and copies of The Standard, the town’s newspaper. My grandparents and parents all lived in Reading, so this book had particular interest to me. As I read the book I was eager to find details about familiar place names and establishments. Street names from my past constantly popped off the pages as I placed them against my childhood memories.

I was fascinated by the quantity of money-raising campaigns and collections of goods which continued throughout the war years. Of particular note was raising money for Spitfire aircraft, boats and tanks as well as funds for prisoners of war, hospitals and many more.

This is definitely worth reading if you have an interest in the town and it will give me much to talk about with my parents, who I am sure will also be interested in this book.