Library Blog

Historical Fiction is a wonderful way to learn about the past while being entertained by a good story. This week I would like to recommend three historical fiction novels available in the Senior Library. 

KS3: Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo. In this modern classic Private Tommo Peaceful reminisces about his childhood and family over a 24-hour period on the front line of World War 1.  

KS4: Remembrance by Theresa Breslin. Another World War 1 historical novel, Remembrance begins in Scotland in 1915 where a group of teenagers meet for a picnic and are blissfully unaware of the horrors of the war to come...  

KS5: The pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. The story of a twelfth-century monk endeavouring to build a great Gothic cathedral, this novel gives a rich portrayal of life during medieval times and was voted by BBC viewers as one of Britain’s best-loved books. 

On The Beach by Neville Shute (1957)

A review by Tim Clark

Do not believe that the publication date of this deeply thought provoking book makes it irrelevant – this is a book for the now and probably, maybe hopefully, maybe not, for a very long time to come. This fiction is real life horror about the aftermath of nuclear conflict, not in terms of the instant devastation caused by detonation of the bombs, but rather the long-term impact of the fall-out from atomic war and the idea that the world might in fact end with a whimper, rather than a bang. The creeping, insidious radiation and the inescapable doom for humanity does not make this a light read, but it is a beautifully written and utterly compelling masterpiece.