{"id":38,"date":"2025-02-05T10:34:55","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T10:34:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/victoriapb.co.uk\/?page_id=38"},"modified":"2026-03-20T16:21:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:21:07","slug":"books","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/victoriapb.co.uk\/?page_id=38","title":{"rendered":"Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

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THEIR SECOND WORLD WAR – OUT NOW<\/h2>\n

\u2013 Published by Key Publishing Ltd, 2025<\/h2>\n

Have you ever wondered, What it would be like to fly in a bombing raid involving more than l,000 aircrafts? If you would risk your own life to save the life of a horse following enemy attacks? What it felt like to parachute to the ground from more than 10,000 feet in the air? What might be some of the most unusual cargo transported by sailors in the Merchant Navy?<\/p>\n

Their Second World War contains the answers to these questions, and many more; revealed in true testimony given to me, by the veterans themselves, or using letters and diaries belonging to family members not wanting their loved one’s stories to be forgotten.<\/p>\n

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Remarkable Women of The Second World War<\/h2>\n

\u2013 Published by the History Press, 2023<\/h2>\n

Remarkable Women of the Second World War (<\/em>pub. by the History Press) is my most recently published book (watch this space for my next book, a collection of WWII stories written for children, preparing for publication in August).\u00a0 \u00a0Remarkable Women <\/em>contains\u00a0twelve stories\u00a0about the Second World War, given to me by women from around the world.\u00a0 These are poignant, touching, vital recollections of the war from women who nursed, navigated, plotted … most importantly survived, through grace and courage.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Anyone with an insatiable appetite for knowledge about World War Two must read this book. It does not have to be read in one go; it is, essentially, a collection of short stories that stand alone \u2013 but have three things in common: (i) they are all testimonial memories of the Second World War, (ii) they are all memories from women (either first-hand accounts or given to me by family members), (iii) they all tell the truth.<\/p>\n

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REMARKABLE JOURNEYS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR <\/h2>\n

\u2013 Published by the History Press, 2020<\/h2>\n

\u201cThose who lived through the Second World War have many stories of bravery, sadness, horror, doubt and longing. Inspired by conversations with a wide range of veterans following the publication of her grandfather\u2019s wartime memoir, this book is, I consider, a moving collection of their experiences. The recollections tell of a different time and reveal the courage, actions and sentiments of those whose wartime experiences changed the course of history; stories of ordinary people who lived under the long shadows cast by the war and whose young lives were changed irrevocably. Though many tales are sad, describing being sent into war and the loss of friends and family, there are also stories of joy and love found in the darkest of times. For them, war, the ultimate leveller, threw them into remarkable times, whether they were a merchant seaman, army officer, pilot, young Jewish girl, code breaker or Home Guard recruit. From one extraordinary story to the next, Remarkable Journeys of the Second World War I hope will immerse the reader in the lives of real people who lived through conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

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SIX WEEKS OF BLENHEIM SUMMER <\/h2>\n

\u2013 Published in hardback by Biteback in 2014, and in paperback by Penguin in 2018. <\/h2>\n

\t\tThis is my grandfather\u2019s (Alastair Panton) true story of flying in the British Expeditionary Force, during the Battle of France in 1940.\u00a0 The book is the write up (by me) of his diary, which I discovered in 2012.\u00a0 The following review (one of several equally warm endorsements) says it all:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis totally gripping account of the air war of May and June 1940 was written by one of the bravest of \u201cThe Few\u201d. It\u2019s short pages encompass all the timeless themes of war: comradeship, sacrifice, patriotism, fear, and sheer, raw courage. Panton\u2019s engaging and immediate prose style recalls the Battle of France in all its pity and tragedy, with his Mark IV Blenheim bomber as much a character in the story as any of his comrades. This deserves to join\u00a0Reach for the Sky<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Last Enemy<\/em>\u00a0as one the great RAF books of the Second World War.\u201d \u2013\u00a0review by historian\u00a0Andrew Roberts<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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ELIZABETH’S POETRY OF HOPE\u200b<\/h2>\n

This poetry anthology, published to help child amputees in developing countries, includes poems from many people, ordinary men and women, associated with\u00a0Elizabeth’s Legacy of Hope (<\/em>a charity which has now closed, but did wonderful work helping these vulnerable and very needy children.)\u00a0 What is most important, and sets this book apart, is that there are poems from the amputees themselves, children in Africa and India, who everyday experience the challenge of living as an amputee.”<\/p>\n

To buy this, please contact Victoria.<\/p>\n

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SHORT STORIES AND TINY TALES & ODE TO BUNGAY\u200b<\/h2>\n

Short Stories and Tiny Tales<\/strong> is a self-published book, printed under the imprint of \u2018Artistic Fields.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The collection of Stories and Tales has been written by a group of enthusiastic, previously unpublished, writers who came together at a creative-writing workshop organised by me, in the early months of 2024.\u00a0 Each piece of writing is inspired by a love of writing, imagination, a sense of humour \u2013 and each other.<\/p>\n

Ode to Bungay<\/strong> is another self-published book, also printed under the Artistic Fields imprint.\u00a0 It is a unique poetry collection, written by previously unpublished \u2018poets\u2019 who took part in a poetry workshop, in Bungay (Suffolk), run by Victoria.<\/p>\n

To buy these books, please contact Victoria.<\/p>\n

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THEIR SECOND WORLD WAR – OUT NOW \u2013 Published by Key Publishing Ltd, 2025 Have you ever wondered, What it would be like to fly in a bombing raid involving more than l,000 aircrafts? If you would risk your own life to save the life of a horse following enemy attacks? What it felt like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-38","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victoriapb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victoriapb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victoriapb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victoriapb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victoriapb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/victoriapb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victoriapb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}