THE MODEL OCCUPATION: THE CHANNEL ISLANDS UNDER GERMAN RULE, 1940-1945

ISLAND SONG

1940. Guernsey is first bombed, then occupied, by the Germans. A year earlier, recently married Helene waves good-bye to her husband, who has enlisted in the British army. Protected only by her father and Nanna, Helene must carve out a life on the island for the length of the war. Forty years later, her daughter Roz begins a search for the truth about her father and stumbles into the secret history of her mother's life.

THE PLOT

After the death of her father, commentator Madeleine Bunting began to explore his passionate, lifelong attachment to a small plot of land in North Yorkshire. Delving deep into the rich history of this acre, she uncovers traces of its Neolithic inhabitants; she learns of medieval battles and considers the changing face of agriculture and leisure.

THE SEASIDE: ENGLAND'S LOVE AFFAIR

England's seaside is made up of a striking variety of coastlines including cliffs, coves, pebbled shore, wide sandy beaches, salt marshes, and estuaries cutting deep inland. On these coastal edges England's great holiday resorts grew up, developed in the early eighteenth century originally as spas for medicinal bathing but soon morphing into places of pleasure, entertainment, fantasy and adventure. The author journeys clockwise around England from Scarborough to Blackpool to understand the enduring appeal of seaside towns.