A good read and a pleasing love story, 20 Dec 2007
The novel, set in the last year of WW2, tells of the love affair between two soldiers - Davy Hopkins and Kate Medhurst. The brutality of war is nicely juxtaposed with the sweet relationship which develops en route to Italy. A year afterwards, Hopkins tries to piece together the events of one fateful day.

The author crafts the central characters of Hopkins and Kate extremely well and there's enough period detail to please even the most patriotic of readers. Although I'm not personally a fan of war stories, I found myself immersed in this readable book.

Soldiers and Lovers, 12 Dec 2007
I was a bit disappointed in this book not one of his best. I felt as though I was waiting for something to happen - in the end the book got a lot better - then it made interesting reading and would have a lot of memories for those men who were in the Army and who went to Italy Dont be put of with my comments - I look forward to hearing yours.

A good read and a pleasing love story, 20 Dec 2007
The novel, set in the last year of WW2, tells of the love affair between two soldiers - Davy Hopkins and Kate Medhurst. The brutality of war is nicely juxtaposed with the sweet relationship which develops en route to Italy. A year afterwards, Hopkins tries to piece together the events of one fateful day.

The author crafts the central characters of Hopkins and Kate extremely well and there's enough period detail to please even the most patriotic of readers. Although I'm not personally a fan of war stories, I found myself immersed in this readable book.

Soldiers and Lovers, 12 Dec 2007
I was a bit disappointed in this book not one of his best. I felt as though I was waiting for something to happen - in the end the book got a lot better - then it made interesting reading and would have a lot of memories for those men who were in the Army and who went to Italy Dont be put of with my comments - I look forward to hearing yours.

Beware some graphic images not suitable for young or sensitive children, 18 Aug 2008
I bought this book for my first born four year old child who naturally ends up fighting occasionally with our younger two year old child. I wanted to use a book to explain that it is ok to get mad sometimes, but that there are other ways of solving arguments. This book actually goes beyone verbal fighting (which is what I thought this book was about, arguing, not physical violence). This book shows young children punching, shoving and kicking each other, children bullying and teasing others, scenes of distressed children crying, adults fighting (one of which is of two adults who have poured paint all over each other during a fight), children with bruises, frightened children, worried children and children being coaxed to physically fight with other children. The most distressing 2 pages I witnessed are about half way through the book and the illustrations teach children that sometimes adults fight wars with one another; I quickly stopped reading to my child when I saw the two pages of illustrations of children running for cover from war planes, with people trapped under rubble, with bombs exploding and fire everywhere; there were also scenes of children crying over gravestones, with devastated, broken homes nearby. As a parent, I was shocked to see these images, and unhappy that I had bought a book that depicts physical violence, including cartoon scenes of war, devestation and death within a book that I mistakenly purchased thinking it would teach verbal negotiation and kindness skills for youngsters. This book should have a PG rating, if there is such a thing for books, and there should have been a warning within the synopsis of this book. With my child starting school for the first time in a few weeks, I feel that showing cartoon scenes of physical violence, bullying and intimidation, war and death to her or any child could cause unnecessary distress.

Great book, 13 Aug 2008
I am the mother of two high functioning autistic boys. It is hard to teach children with ASD social rules and this leads to a stressful existance for both parents and children alike.

This book was simple and clear with lovely pictures and my 9 year old son enjoyed listening to it and seemed to pick up the messages it was relaying in a much more effective way than being "told".

The reason I have given only 4 stars and not 5 is because some american terminology is used which is confusing to the narrator and the child especially when they have ASD. I also didn't like the "help" boxes featured on a couple of the pages which my son picked up on. I would like to think that parents who purchase/loan these types of books have the capability to do these "things" without prompting.

This really is a great book and I will be showing it to my support group "Talk 4 Talk" to possibly add to their library of books for parents/carers/children with speech, language and communication disorders.

A good read and a pleasing love story, 20 Dec 2007
The novel, set in the last year of WW2, tells of the love affair between two soldiers - Davy Hopkins and Kate Medhurst. The brutality of war is nicely juxtaposed with the sweet relationship which develops en route to Italy. A year afterwards, Hopkins tries to piece together the events of one fateful day.

The author crafts the central characters of Hopkins and Kate extremely well and there's enough period detail to please even the most patriotic of readers. Although I'm not personally a fan of war stories, I found myself immersed in this readable book.

Soldiers and Lovers, 12 Dec 2007
I was a bit disappointed in this book not one of his best. I felt as though I was waiting for something to happen - in the end the book got a lot better - then it made interesting reading and would have a lot of memories for those men who were in the Army and who went to Italy Dont be put of with my comments - I look forward to hearing yours.

Beware some graphic images not suitable for young or sensitive children, 18 Aug 2008
I bought this book for my first born four year old child who naturally ends up fighting occasionally with our younger two year old child. I wanted to use a book to explain that it is ok to get mad sometimes, but that there are other ways of solving arguments. This book actually goes beyone verbal fighting (which is what I thought this book was about, arguing, not physical violence). This book shows young children punching, shoving and kicking each other, children bullying and teasing others, scenes of distressed children crying, adults fighting (one of which is of two adults who have poured paint all over each other during a fight), children with bruises, frightened children, worried children and children being coaxed to physically fight with other children. The most distressing 2 pages I witnessed are about half way through the book and the illustrations teach children that sometimes adults fight wars with one another; I quickly stopped reading to my child when I saw the two pages of illustrations of children running for cover from war planes, with people trapped under rubble, with bombs exploding and fire everywhere; there were also scenes of children crying over gravestones, with devastated, broken homes nearby. As a parent, I was shocked to see these images, and unhappy that I had bought a book that depicts physical violence, including cartoon scenes of war, devestation and death within a book that I mistakenly purchased thinking it would teach verbal negotiation and kindness skills for youngsters. This book should have a PG rating, if there is such a thing for books, and there should have been a warning within the synopsis of this book. With my child starting school for the first time in a few weeks, I feel that showing cartoon scenes of physical violence, bullying and intimidation, war and death to her or any child could cause unnecessary distress.

Great book, 13 Aug 2008
I am the mother of two high functioning autistic boys. It is hard to teach children with ASD social rules and this leads to a stressful existance for both parents and children alike.

This book was simple and clear with lovely pictures and my 9 year old son enjoyed listening to it and seemed to pick up the messages it was relaying in a much more effective way than being "told".

The reason I have given only 4 stars and not 5 is because some american terminology is used which is confusing to the narrator and the child especially when they have ASD. I also didn't like the "help" boxes featured on a couple of the pages which my son picked up on. I would like to think that parents who purchase/loan these types of books have the capability to do these "things" without prompting.

This really is a great book and I will be showing it to my support group "Talk 4 Talk" to possibly add to their library of books for parents/carers/children with speech, language and communication disorders.

Funny, moving and beautifully crafted, 16 Jul 2008
Ok, I'm biased. Leslie Thomas is probably my favourite British writer of any generation, bar none.But I'm not a fan of autobiographies as I find them often to be shrines to the author's ego and sense of their own importance.

Not so this one. Of course Thomas can't help but refer (and rightly so) to his many accomplishments against considerable adversity, but there's never a sense of him pushing out his chest and 'crowing'.

It's a beautifully written tale, as finely crafted as any of his fictional works and penned in Thomas' own inimitable style (which can have tears of laughter rolling down your cheeks in one paragraph whilst having you emotionally choked in the next).

Whatever price you pay, it's worth every single penny!

A good read and a pleasing love story, 20 Dec 2007
The novel, set in the last year of WW2, tells of the love affair between two soldiers - Davy Hopkins and Kate Medhurst. The brutality of war is nicely juxtaposed with the sweet relationship which develops en route to Italy. A year afterwards, Hopkins tries to piece together the events of one fateful day.

The author crafts the central characters of Hopkins and Kate extremely well and there's enough period detail to please even the most patriotic of readers. Although I'm not personally a fan of war stories, I found myself immersed in this readable book.

Soldiers and Lovers, 12 Dec 2007
I was a bit disappointed in this book not one of his best. I felt as though I was waiting for something to happen - in the end the book got a lot better - then it made interesting reading and would have a lot of memories for those men who were in the Army and who went to Italy Dont be put of with my comments - I look forward to hearing yours.

Beware some graphic images not suitable for young or sensitive children, 18 Aug 2008
I bought this book for my first born four year old child who naturally ends up fighting occasionally with our younger two year old child. I wanted to use a book to explain that it is ok to get mad sometimes, but that there are other ways of solving arguments. This book actually goes beyone verbal fighting (which is what I thought this book was about, arguing, not physical violence). This book shows young children punching, shoving and kicking each other, children bullying and teasing others, scenes of distressed children crying, adults fighting (one of which is of two adults who have poured paint all over each other during a fight), children with bruises, frightened children, worried children and children being coaxed to physically fight with other children. The most distressing 2 pages I witnessed are about half way through the book and the illustrations teach children that sometimes adults fight wars with one another; I quickly stopped reading to my child when I saw the two pages of illustrations of children running for cover from war planes, with people trapped under rubble, with bombs exploding and fire everywhere; there were also scenes of children crying over gravestones, with devastated, broken homes nearby. As a parent, I was shocked to see these images, and unhappy that I had bought a book that depicts physical violence, including cartoon scenes of war, devestation and death within a book that I mistakenly purchased thinking it would teach verbal negotiation and kindness skills for youngsters. This book should have a PG rating, if there is such a thing for books, and there should have been a warning within the synopsis of this book. With my child starting school for the first time in a few weeks, I feel that showing cartoon scenes of physical violence, bullying and intimidation, war and death to her or any child could cause unnecessary distress.

Great book, 13 Aug 2008
I am the mother of two high functioning autistic boys. It is hard to teach children with ASD social rules and this leads to a stressful existance for both parents and children alike.

This book was simple and clear with lovely pictures and my 9 year old son enjoyed listening to it and seemed to pick up the messages it was relaying in a much more effective way than being "told".

The reason I have given only 4 stars and not 5 is because some american terminology is used which is confusing to the narrator and the child especially when they have ASD. I also didn't like the "help" boxes featured on a couple of the pages which my son picked up on. I would like to think that parents who purchase/loan these types of books have the capability to do these "things" without prompting.

This really is a great book and I will be showing it to my support group "Talk 4 Talk" to possibly add to their library of books for parents/carers/children with speech, language and communication disorders.

Funny, moving and beautifully crafted, 16 Jul 2008
Ok, I'm biased. Leslie Thomas is probably my favourite British writer of any generation, bar none.But I'm not a fan of autobiographies as I find them often to be shrines to the author's ego and sense of their own importance.

Not so this one. Of course Thomas can't help but refer (and rightly so) to his many accomplishments against considerable adversity, but there's never a sense of him pushing out his chest and 'crowing'.

It's a beautifully written tale, as finely crafted as any of his fictional works and penned in Thomas' own inimitable style (which can have tears of laughter rolling down your cheeks in one paragraph whilst having you emotionally choked in the next).

Whatever price you pay, it's worth every single penny!



One of his best books, 20 Oct 2006
This book is brilliant, just brilliant. It is a novel against the background of a true event and provides the reader with a believable glimpse of what life would have been like during WWII. It is not a book about the war, but a story about people getting lost in the mahlstream of war - Americans and British, civilians and soldiers alike. The cuelty of WWII only emerges occasionally, but the war's bitter taste can be felt throughout the book. It is both a funny and sad story.

If you are interested in Leslie Thomas books: skip the "Virgin Soldiers", and join "The magic army" first.

A masterpiece, 24 Jan 2006
This book deserves to be better known. Set in a small village on the SW coast of England during WW2, it's based on a true story. Raw American marines really did evacuate villagers from their homes in order to use the area for training with live ammunition for the D Day landings. The story is comic and tragic and romantic. It's well researched, and written with such sympathy that you'll come to care deeply about the characters, and begin to understand the mutual astonishment and the complications that Devon villagers, and British and American forces experienced as their cultures first collided, then converged in the war effort.

Hilarious and moving account of the lighter side of WWII, 28 Jun 1999
Mr. Thomas illustrates the famous British complaint that the American soldiers were "Overpaid, oversexed, and over here," with a novel about the chaos which erupts in a small town when the GIs arrive in late 1943, to train for some major but unidentified event. Written with great warmth, a marvelous, down to earth story about two groups of people who can't quite believe that they are fighting on the same side. Mr. Thomas's rollicking humor makes the bittersweet ending all the more poignant. Excellent reading!

A good read and a pleasing love story, 20 Dec 2007
The novel, set in the last year of WW2, tells of the love affair between two soldiers - Davy Hopkins and Kate Medhurst. The brutality of war is nicely juxtaposed with the sweet relationship which develops en route to Italy. A year afterwards, Hopkins tries to piece together the events of one fateful day.

The author crafts the central characters of Hopkins and Kate extremely well and there's enough period detail to please even the most patriotic of readers. Although I'm not personally a fan of war stories, I found myself immersed in this readable book.

Soldiers and Lovers, 12 Dec 2007
I was a bit disappointed in this book not one of his best. I felt as though I was waiting for something to happen - in the end the book got a lot better - then it made interesting reading and would have a lot of memories for those men who were in the Army and who went to Italy Dont be put of with my comments - I look forward to hearing yours.

Beware some graphic images not suitable for young or sensitive children, 18 Aug 2008
I bought this book for my first born four year old child who naturally ends up fighting occasionally with our younger two year old child. I wanted to use a book to explain that it is ok to get mad sometimes, but that there are other ways of solving arguments. This book actually goes beyone verbal fighting (which is what I thought this book was about, arguing, not physical violence). This book shows young children punching, shoving and kicking each other, children bullying and teasing others, scenes of distressed children crying, adults fighting (one of which is of two adults who have poured paint all over each other during a fight), children with bruises, frightened children, worried children and children being coaxed to physically fight with other children. The most distressing 2 pages I witnessed are about half way through the book and the illustrations teach children that sometimes adults fight wars with one another; I quickly stopped reading to my child when I saw the two pages of illustrations of children running for cover from war planes, with people trapped under rubble, with bombs exploding and fire everywhere; there were also scenes of children crying over gravestones, with devastated, broken homes nearby. As a parent, I was shocked to see these images, and unhappy that I had bought a book that depicts physical violence, including cartoon scenes of war, devestation and death within a book that I mistakenly purchased thinking it would teach verbal negotiation and kindness skills for youngsters. This book should have a PG rating, if there is such a thing for books, and there should have been a warning within the synopsis of this book. With my child starting school for the first time in a few weeks, I feel that showing cartoon scenes of physical violence, bullying and intimidation, war and death to her or any child could cause unnecessary distress.

Great book, 13 Aug 2008
I am the mother of two high functioning autistic boys. It is hard to teach children with ASD social rules and this leads to a stressful existance for both parents and children alike.

This book was simple and clear with lovely pictures and my 9 year old son enjoyed listening to it and seemed to pick up the messages it was relaying in a much more effective way than being "told".

The reason I have given only 4 stars and not 5 is because some american terminology is used which is confusing to the narrator and the child especially when they have ASD. I also didn't like the "help" boxes featured on a couple of the pages which my son picked up on. I would like to think that parents who purchase/loan these types of books have the capability to do these "things" without prompting.

This really is a great book and I will be showing it to my support group "Talk 4 Talk" to possibly add to their library of books for parents/carers/children with speech, language and communication disorders.

Funny, moving and beautifully crafted, 16 Jul 2008
Ok, I'm biased. Leslie Thomas is probably my favourite British writer of any generation, bar none.But I'm not a fan of autobiographies as I find them often to be shrines to the author's ego and sense of their own importance.

Not so this one. Of course Thomas can't help but refer (and rightly so) to his many accomplishments against considerable adversity, but there's never a sense of him pushing out his chest and 'crowing'.

It's a beautifully written tale, as finely crafted as any of his fictional works and penned in Thomas' own inimitable style (which can have tears of laughter rolling down your cheeks in one paragraph whilst having you emotionally choked in the next).

Whatever price you pay, it's worth every single penny!



One of his best books, 20 Oct 2006
This book is brilliant, just brilliant. It is a novel against the background of a true event and provides the reader with a believable glimpse of what life would have been like during WWII. It is not a book about the war, but a story about people getting lost in the mahlstream of war - Americans and British, civilians and soldiers alike. The cuelty of WWII only emerges occasionally, but the war's bitter taste can be felt throughout the book. It is both a funny and sad story.

If you are interested in Leslie Thomas books: skip the "Virgin Soldiers", and join "The magic army" first.

A masterpiece, 24 Jan 2006
This book deserves to be better known. Set in a small village on the SW coast of England during WW2, it's based on a true story. Raw American marines really did evacuate villagers from their homes in order to use the area for training with live ammunition for the D Day landings. The story is comic and tragic and romantic. It's well researched, and written with such sympathy that you'll come to care deeply about the characters, and begin to understand the mutual astonishment and the complications that Devon villagers, and British and American forces experienced as their cultures first collided, then converged in the war effort.

Hilarious and moving account of the lighter side of WWII, 28 Jun 1999
Mr. Thomas illustrates the famous British complaint that the American soldiers were "Overpaid, oversexed, and over here," with a novel about the chaos which erupts in a small town when the GIs arrive in late 1943, to train for some major but unidentified event. Written with great warmth, a marvelous, down to earth story about two groups of people who can't quite believe that they are fighting on the same side. Mr. Thomas's rollicking humor makes the bittersweet ending all the more poignant. Excellent reading!

Suburbia unwrapped, 26 Jul 2004
A wonderfully observed portrait of middle class suburban angst, set in Plummers Park (based on Carpenders Park in Hertfordshire where Leslie Thomas once lived).
Andrew Maiby, decent but underachieving local newspaper reporter who is terrified of approaching middle age, has affair with teenage girl from "the other side of the tracks". Needless to say it all ends in tears, and almost in his death, but what really makes the novel memorable is the secondary plots and the acute depictions of all the characters - Polly Blossom Smith the local sculptress, Mauler Mason the Chairman of the Golf Club, the Plummers Park Flasher etc.

Thomas's bitter sweet comedy observes suburbia so well, 26 Mar 2001
Leslie Thomas tends to write a particular style of wry comedy that has a bitter sweet edge. Only very occasionally do you split your sides laughing! However his writing tends to amuse.

In this book Thomas observes the meanderings of a man approaching middle age in the synthetic surroundings of a newish estate in suburbia. He chooses an area just outside London (probably Carpenders Park just south of Watford) where London is an influence not a lifestyle.

He gives his hero (the right word or not ?) an affair with a much younger girl (wishful thinking?) which removes him for a brief while from his humdrum existence but the real plot is the observance of so much human life which seems to be the same but very different. The keenly observed characters could be any of ones neighbours or even ourselves. Thomas also highlights one of the great problems of life, inertia. People in his book could have such a good life if only they pushed!

A lot of people's hypocrisy is exposed but in such a way that you couldn't really condemn for it.

In the end the central character proves himself a hero but even then his wife questions his motives.

Not a book for all, some people will not get it, but one of his best. That is high praise given his standard of work.

A good read and a pleasing love story, 20 Dec 2007
The novel, set in the last year of WW2, tells of the love affair between two soldiers - Davy Hopkins and Kate Medhurst. The brutality of war is nicely juxtaposed with the sweet relationship which develops en route to Italy. A year afterwards, Hopkins tries to piece together the events of one fateful day.

The author crafts the central characters of Hopkins and Kate extremely well and there's enough period detail to please even the most patriotic of readers. Although I'm not personally a fan of war stories, I found myself immersed in this readable book.

Soldiers and Lovers, 12 Dec 2007
I was a bit disappointed in this book not one of his best. I felt as though I was waiting for something to happen - in the end the book got a lot better - then it made interesting reading and would have a lot of memories for those men who were in the Army and who went to Italy Dont be put of with my comments - I look forward to hearing yours.

Beware some graphic images not suitable for young or sensitive children, 18 Aug 2008
I bought this book for my first born four year old child who naturally ends up fighting occasionally with our younger two year old child. I wanted to use a book to explain that it is ok to get mad sometimes, but that there are other ways of solving arguments. This book actually goes beyone verbal fighting (which is what I thought this book was about, arguing, not physical violence). This book shows young children punching, shoving and kicking each other, children bullying and teasing others, scenes of distressed children crying, adults fighting (one of which is of two adults who have poured paint all over each other during a fight), children with bruises, frightened children, worried children and children being coaxed to physically fight with other children. The most distressing 2 pages I witnessed are about half way through the book and the illustrations teach children that sometimes adults fight wars with one another; I quickly stopped reading to my child when I saw the two pages of illustrations of children running for cover from war planes, with people trapped under rubble, with bombs exploding and fire everywhere; there were also scenes of children crying over gravestones, with devastated, broken homes nearby. As a parent, I was shocked to see these images, and unhappy that I had bought a book that depicts physical violence, including cartoon scenes of war, devestation and death within a book that I mistakenly purchased thinking it would teach verbal negotiation and kindness skills for youngsters. This book should have a PG rating, if there is such a thing for books, and there should have been a warning within the synopsis of this book. With my child starting school for the first time in a few weeks, I feel that showing cartoon scenes of physical violence, bullying and intimidation, war and death to her or any child could cause unnecessary distress.

Great book, 13 Aug 2008
I am the mother of two high functioning autistic boys. It is hard to teach children with ASD social rules and this leads to a stressful existance for both parents and children alike.

This book was simple and clear with lovely pictures and my 9 year old son enjoyed listening to it and seemed to pick up the messages it was relaying in a much more effective way than being "told".

The reason I have given only 4 stars and not 5 is because some american terminology is used which is confusing to the narrator and the child especially when they have ASD. I also didn't like the "help" boxes featured on a couple of the pages which my son picked up on. I would like to think that parents who purchase/loan these types of books have the capability to do these "things" without prompting.

This really is a great book and I will be showing it to my support group "Talk 4 Talk" to possibly add to their library of books for parents/carers/children with speech, language and communication disorders.

Funny, moving and beautifully crafted, 16 Jul 2008
Ok, I'm biased. Leslie Thomas is probably my favourite British writer of any generation, bar none.But I'm not a fan of autobiographies as I find them often to be shrines to the author's ego and sense of their own importance.

Not so this one. Of course Thomas can't help but refer (and rightly so) to his many accomplishments against considerable adversity, but there's never a sense of him pushing out his chest and 'crowing'.

It's a beautifully written tale, as finely crafted as any of his fictional works and penned in Thomas' own inimitable style (which can have tears of laughter rolling down your cheeks in one paragraph whilst having you emotionally choked in the next).

Whatever price you pay, it's worth every single penny!



One of his best books, 20 Oct 2006
This book is brilliant, just brilliant. It is a novel against the background of a true event and provides the reader with a believable glimpse of what life would have been like during WWII. It is not a book about the war, but a story about people getting lost in the mahlstream of war - Americans and British, civilians and soldiers alike. The cuelty of WWII only emerges occasionally, but the war's bitter taste can be felt throughout the book. It is both a funny and sad story.

If you are interested in Leslie Thomas books: skip the "Virgin Soldiers", and join "The magic army" first.

A masterpiece, 24 Jan 2006
This book deserves to be better known. Set in a small village on the SW coast of England during WW2, it's based on a true story. Raw American marines really did evacuate villagers from their homes in order to use the area for training with live ammunition for the D Day landings. The story is comic and tragic and romantic. It's well researched, and written with such sympathy that you'll come to care deeply about the characters, and begin to understand the mutual astonishment and the complications that Devon villagers, and British and American forces experienced as their cultures first collided, then converged in the war effort.

Hilarious and moving account of the lighter side of WWII, 28 Jun 1999
Mr. Thomas illustrates the famous British complaint that the American soldiers were "Overpaid, oversexed, and over here," with a novel about the chaos which erupts in a small town when the GIs arrive in late 1943, to train for some major but unidentified event. Written with great warmth, a marvelous, down to earth story about two groups of people who can't quite believe that they are fighting on the same side. Mr. Thomas's rollicking humor makes the bittersweet ending all the more poignant. Excellent reading!

Suburbia unwrapped, 26 Jul 2004
A wonderfully observed portrait of middle class suburban angst, set in Plummers Park (based on Carpenders Park in Hertfordshire where Leslie Thomas once lived).
Andrew Maiby, decent but underachieving local newspaper reporter who is terrified of approaching middle age, has affair with teenage girl from "the other side of the tracks". Needless to say it all ends in tears, and almost in his death, but what really makes the novel memorable is the secondary plots and the acute depictions of all the characters - Polly Blossom Smith the local sculptress, Mauler Mason the Chairman of the Golf Club, the Plummers Park Flasher etc.

Thomas's bitter sweet comedy observes suburbia so well, 26 Mar 2001
Leslie Thomas tends to write a particular style of wry comedy that has a bitter sweet edge. Only very occasionally do you split your sides laughing! However his writing tends to amuse.

In this book Thomas observes the meanderings of a man approaching middle age in the synthetic surroundings of a newish estate in suburbia. He chooses an area just outside London (probably Carpenders Park just south of Watford) where London is an influence not a lifestyle.

He gives his hero (the right word or not ?) an affair with a much younger girl (wishful thinking?) which removes him for a brief while from his humdrum existence but the real plot is the observance of so much human life which seems to be the same but very different. The keenly observed characters could be any of ones neighbours or even ourselves. Thomas also highlights one of the great problems of life, inertia. People in his book could have such a good life if only they pushed!

A lot of people's hypocrisy is exposed but in such a way that you couldn't really condemn for it.

In the end the central character proves himself a hero but even then his wife questions his motives.

Not a book for all, some people will not get it, but one of his best. That is high praise given his standard of work.

A good holiday read, 24 Jan 2006
I read this book in one sitting. It's a wonderful, well written combination of crime and comedy. If you want something abosorbing but light to read on a train or plane or by a pool, try this!

Last Detective - but still a great read, 22 Mar 2004
I first read this book many years ago, shortly after seeing the Bernard Cribbins version of the film on TV. I recently purchased and read the book again, after seeing the exceptionally good for a remake Peter Davison version, and if anything it has improved with age.

The story of the "Last Detective" (Dangerous is the final choice for any case) is both funny and, if somewhat sentimentally, moving.

All the main characters are well rounded and colourful and the story moves at a steady pace picking up speed as it goes along. This book has every thing, there are humorous sub stories, an unlikely romance , colourful supporting characters, and a twist in the tail. This is Lesley Thomas at his very best, up there with Virgin Soldiers.

A good read and a pleasing love story, 20 Dec 2007
The novel, set in the last year of WW2, tells of the love affair between two soldiers - Davy Hopkins and Kate Medhurst. The brutality of war is nicely juxtaposed with the sweet relationship which develops en route to Italy. A year afterwards, Hopkins tries to piece together the events of one fateful day.

The author crafts the central characters of Hopkins and Kate extremely well and there's enough period detail to please even the most patriotic of readers. Although I'm not personally a fan of war stories, I found myself immersed in this readable book.

Soldiers and Lovers, 12 Dec 2007
I was a bit disappointed in this book not one of his best. I felt as though I was waiting for something to happen - in the end the book got a lot better - then it made interesting reading and would have a lot of memories for those men who were in the Army and who went to Italy Dont be put of with my comments - I look forward to hearing yours.

Beware some graphic images not suitable for young or sensitive children, 18 Aug 2008
I bought this book for my first born four year old child who naturally ends up fighting occasionally with our younger two year old child. I wanted to use a book to explain that it is ok to get mad sometimes, but that there are other ways of solving arguments. This book actually goes beyone verbal fighting (which is what I thought this book was about, arguing, not physical violence). This book shows young children punching, shoving and kicking each other, children bullying and teasing others, scenes of distressed children crying, adults fighting (one of which is of two adults who have poured paint all over each other during a fight), children with bruises, frightened children, worried children and children being coaxed to physically fight with other children. The most distressing 2 pages I witnessed are about half way through the book and the illustrations teach children that sometimes adults fight wars with one another; I quickly stopped reading to my child when I saw the two pages of illustrations of children running for cover from war planes, with people trapped under rubble, with bombs exploding and fire everywhere; there were also scenes of children crying over gravestones, with devastated, broken homes nearby. As a parent, I was shocked to see these images, and unhappy that I had bought a book that depicts physical violence, including cartoon scenes of war, devestation and death within a book that I mistakenly purchased thinking it would teach verbal negotiation and kindness skills for youngsters. This book should have a PG rating, if there is such a thing for books, and there should have been a warning within the synopsis of this book. With my child starting school for the first time in a few weeks, I feel that showing cartoon scenes of physical violence, bullying and intimidation, war and death to her or any child could cause unnecessary distress.

Great book, 13 Aug 2008
I am the mother of two high functioning autistic boys. It is hard to teach children with ASD social rules and this leads to a stressful existance for both parents and children alike.

This book was simple and clear with lovely pictures and my 9 year old son enjoyed listening to it and seemed to pick up the messages it was relaying in a much more effective way than being "told".

The reason I have given only 4 stars and not 5 is because some american terminology is used which is confusing to the narrator and the child especially when they have ASD. I also didn't like the "help" boxes featured on a couple of the pages which my son picked up on. I would like to think that parents who purchase/loan these types of books have the capability to do these "things" without prompting.

This really is a great book and I will be showing it to my support group "Talk 4 Talk" to possibly add to their library of books for parents/carers/children with speech, language and communication disorders.

Funny, moving and beautifully crafted, 16 Jul 2008
Ok, I'm biased. Leslie Thomas is probably my favourite British writer of any generation, bar none.But I'm not a fan of autobiographies as I find them often to be shrines to the author's ego and sense of their own importance.

Not so this one. Of course Thomas can't help but refer (and rightly so) to his many accomplishments against considerable adversity, but there's never a sense of him pushing out his chest and 'crowing'.

It's a beautifully written tale, as finely crafted as any of his fictional works and penned in Thomas' own inimitable style (which can have tears of laughter rolling down your cheeks in one paragraph whilst having you emotionally choked in the next).

Whatever price you pay, it's worth every single penny!



One of his best books, 20 Oct 2006
This book is brilliant, just brilliant. It is a novel against the background of a true event and provides the reader with a believable glimpse of what life would have been like during WWII. It is not a book about the war, but a story about people getting lost in the mahlstream of war - Americans and British, civilians and soldiers alike. The cuelty of WWII only emerges occasionally, but the war's bitter taste can be felt throughout the book. It is both a funny and sad story.

If you are interested in Leslie Thomas books: skip the "Virgin Soldiers", and join "The magic army" first.

A masterpiece, 24 Jan 2006
This book deserves to be better known. Set in a small village on the SW coast of England during WW2, it's based on a true story. Raw American marines really did evacuate villagers from their homes in order to use the area for training with live ammunition for the D Day landings. The story is comic and tragic and romantic. It's well researched, and written with such sympathy that you'll come to care deeply about the characters, and begin to understand the mutual astonishment and the complications that Devon villagers, and British and American forces experienced as their cultures first collided, then converged in the war effort.

Hilarious and moving account of the lighter side of WWII, 28 Jun 1999
Mr. Thomas illustrates the famous British complaint that the American soldiers were "Overpaid, oversexed, and over here," with a novel about the chaos which erupts in a small town when the GIs arrive in late 1943, to train for some major but unidentified event. Written with great warmth, a marvelous, down to earth story about two groups of people who can't quite believe that they are fighting on the same side. Mr. Thomas's rollicking humor makes the bittersweet ending all the more poignant. Excellent reading!

Suburbia unwrapped, 26 Jul 2004
A wonderfully observed portrait of middle class suburban angst, set in Plummers Park (based on Carpenders Park in Hertfordshire where Leslie Thomas once lived).
Andrew Maiby, decent but underachieving local newspaper reporter who is terrified of approaching middle age, has affair with teenage girl from "the other side of the tracks". Needless to say it all ends in tears, and almost in his death, but what really makes the novel memorable is the secondary plots and the acute depictions of all the characters - Polly Blossom Smith the local sculptress, Mauler Mason the Chairman of the Golf Club, the Plummers Park Flasher etc.

Thomas's bitter sweet comedy observes suburbia so well, 26 Mar 2001
Leslie Thomas tends to write a particular style of wry comedy that has a bitter sweet edge. Only very occasionally do you split your sides laughing! However his writing tends to amuse.

In this book Thomas observes the meanderings of a man approaching middle age in the synthetic surroundings of a newish estate in suburbia. He chooses an area just outside London (probably Carpenders Park just south of Watford) where London is an influence not a lifestyle.

He gives his hero (the right word or not ?) an affair with a much younger girl (wishful thinking?) which removes him for a brief while from his humdrum existence but the real plot is the observance of so much human life which seems to be the same but very different. The keenly observed characters could be any of ones neighbours or even ourselves. Thomas also highlights one of the great problems of life, inertia. People in his book could have such a good life if only they pushed!

A lot of people's hypocrisy is exposed but in such a way that you couldn't really condemn for it.

In the end the central character proves himself a hero but even then his wife questions his motives.

Not a book for all, some people will not get it, but one of his best. That is high praise given his standard of work.

A good holiday read, 24 Jan 2006
I read this book in one sitting. It's a wonderful, well written combination of crime and comedy. If you want something abosorbing but light to read on a train or plane or by a pool, try this!

Last Detective - but still a great read, 22 Mar 2004
I first read this book many years ago, shortly after seeing the Bernard Cribbins version of the film on TV. I recently purchased and read the book again, after seeing the exceptionally good for a remake Peter Davison version, and if anything it has improved with age.

The story of the "Last Detective" (Dangerous is the final choice for any case) is both funny and, if somewhat sentimentally, moving.

All the main characters are well rounded and colourful and the story moves at a steady pace picking up speed as it goes along. This book has every thing, there are humorous sub stories, an unlikely romance , colourful supporting characters, and a twist in the tail. This is Lesley Thomas at his very best, up there with Virgin Soldiers.

Not one of his best, 03 Dec 2005
As a long-time Leslie Thomas fan I was a little disappointed with his latest. Typical of his later war novels but not as good as 'Waiting For The Day', with characters and incidents not as well drawn. Like the latter, though, it evokes a poignant sense of place and time. He's such a good writer, I wish he'd get back to writing 'main character' novels of the standard of 'The Adventures of Goodnight and Loving' and 'Running Away'.

A Wonderful Book, 09 Nov 2005
A new title by Leslie Thomas is always an event for me. "Dover Beach" lived up to all expectations, as good a novel as he has ever written, the kind that makes reading a great experience and finishing it a regret. The author is at the top of the tree in writing on England in World War II, capturing the humour, the spirit, the highs and lows of the time through the eyes and activities of characters so well drawn that you believe you know them and feel that this is how it was as the phoney war moved into real war and those effected adjusted to it and in many cases became unlikely heroes.

A good read and a pleasing love story, 20 Dec 2007
The novel, set in the last year of WW2, tells of the love affair between two soldiers - Davy Hopkins and Kate Medhurst. The brutality of war is nicely juxtaposed with the sweet relationship which develops en route to Italy. A year afterwards, Hopkins tries to piece together the events of one fateful day.

The author crafts the central characters of Hopkins and Kate extremely well and there's enough period detail to please even the most patriotic of readers. Although I'm not personally a fan of war stories, I found myself immersed in this readable book.

Soldiers and Lovers, 12 Dec 2007
I was a bit disappointed in this book not one of his best. I felt as though I was waiting for something to happen - in the end the book got a lot better - then it made interesting reading and would have a lot of memories for those men who were in the Army and who went to Italy Dont be put of with my comments - I look forward to hearing yours.

Beware some graphic images not suitable for young or sensitive children, 18 Aug 2008
I bought this book for my first born four year old child who naturally ends up fighting occasionally with our younger two year old child. I wanted to use a book to explain that it is ok to get mad sometimes, but that there are other ways of solving arguments. This book actually goes beyone verbal fighting (which is what I thought this book was about, arguing, not physical violence). This book shows young children punching, shoving and kicking each other, children bullying and teasing others, scenes of distressed children crying, adults fighting (one of which is of two adults who have poured paint all over each other during a fight), children with bruises, frightened children, worried children and children being coaxed to physically fight with other children. The most distressing 2 pages I witnessed are about half way through the book and the illustrations teach children that sometimes adults fight wars with one another; I quickly stopped reading to my child when I saw the two pages of illustrations of children running for cover from war planes, with people trapped under rubble, with bombs exploding and fire everywhere; there were also scenes of children crying over gravestones, with devastated, broken homes nearby. As a parent, I was shocked to see these images, and unhappy that I had bought a book that depicts physical violence, including cartoon scenes of war, devestation and death within a book that I mistakenly purchased thinking it would teach verbal negotiation and kindness skills for youngsters. This book should have a PG rating, if there is such a thing for books, and there should have been a warning within the synopsis of this book. With my child starting school for the first time in a few weeks, I feel that showing cartoon scenes of physical violence, bullying and intimidation, war and death to her or any child could cause unnecessary distress.

Great book, 13 Aug 2008
I am the mother of two high functioning autistic boys. It is hard to teach children with ASD social rules and this leads to a stressful existance for both parents and children alike.

This book was simple and clear with lovely pictures and my 9 year old son enjoyed listening to it and seemed to pick up the messages it was relaying in a much more effective way than being "told".

The reason I have given only 4 stars and not 5 is because some american terminology is used which is confusing to the narrator and the child especially when they have ASD. I also didn't like the "help" boxes featured on a couple of the pages which my son picked up on. I would like to think that parents who purchase/loan these types of books have the capability to do these "things" without prompting.

This really is a great book and I will be showing it to my support group "Talk 4 Talk" to possibly add to their library of books for parents/carers/children with speech, language and communication disorders.

Funny, moving and beautifully crafted, 16 Jul 2008
Ok, I'm biased. Leslie Thomas is probably my favourite British writer of any generation, bar none.But I'm not a fan of autobiographies as I find them often to be shrines to the author's ego and sense of their own importance.

Not so this one. Of course Thomas can't help but refer (and rightly so) to his many accomplishments against considerable adversity, but there's never a sense of him pushing out his chest and 'crowing'.

It's a beautifully written tale, as finely crafted as any of his fictional works and penned in Thomas' own inimitable style (which can have tears of laughter rolling down your cheeks in one paragraph whilst having you emotionally choked in the next).

Whatever price you pay, it's worth every single penny!



One of his best books, 20 Oct 2006
This book is brilliant, just brilliant. It is a novel against the background of a true event and provides the reader with a believable glimpse of what life would have been like during WWII. It is not a book about the war, but a story about people getting lost in the mahlstream of war - Americans and British, civilians and soldiers alike. The cuelty of WWII only emerges occasionally, but the war's bitter taste can be felt throughout the book. It is both a funny and sad story.

If you are interested in Leslie Thomas books: skip the "Virgin Soldiers", and join "The magic army" first.

A masterpiece, 24 Jan 2006
This book deserves to be better known. Set in a small village on the SW coast of England during WW2, it's based on a true story. Raw American marines really did evacuate villagers from their homes in order to use the area for training with live ammunition for the D Day landings. The story is comic and tragic and romantic. It's well researched, and written with such sympathy that you'll come to care deeply about the characters, and begin to understand the mutual astonishment and the complications that Devon villagers, and British and American forces experienced as their cultures first collided, then converged in the war effort.

Hilarious and moving account of the lighter side of WWII, 28 Jun 1999
Mr. Thomas illustrates the famous British complaint that the American soldiers were "Overpaid, oversexed, and over here," with a novel about the chaos which erupts in a small town when the GIs arrive in late 1943, to train for some major but unidentified event. Written with great warmth, a marvelous, down to earth story about two groups of people who can't quite believe that they are fighting on the same side. Mr. Thomas's rollicking humor makes the bittersweet ending all the more poignant. Excellent reading!

Suburbia unwrapped, 26 Jul 2004
A wonderfully observed portrait of middle class suburban angst, set in Plummers Park (based on Carpenders Park in Hertfordshire where Leslie Thomas once lived).
Andrew Maiby, decent but underachieving local newspaper reporter who is terrified of approaching middle age, has affair with teenage girl from "the other side of the tracks". Needless to say it all ends in tears, and almost in his death, but what really makes the novel memorable is the secondary plots and the acute depictions of all the characters - Polly Blossom Smith the local sculptress, Mauler Mason the Chairman of the Golf Club, the Plummers Park Flasher etc.

Thomas's bitter sweet comedy observes suburbia so well, 26 Mar 2001
Leslie Thomas tends to write a particular style of wry comedy that has a bitter sweet edge. Only very occasionally do you split your sides laughing! However his writing tends to amuse.

In this book Thomas observes the meanderings of a man approaching middle age in the synthetic surroundings of a newish estate in suburbia. He chooses an area just outside London (probably Carpenders Park just south of Watford) where London is an influence not a lifestyle.

He gives his hero (the right word or not ?) an affair with a much younger girl (wishful thinking?) which removes him for a brief while from his humdrum existence but the real plot is the observance of so much human life which seems to be the same but very different. The keenly observed characters could be any of ones neighbours or even ourselves. Thomas also highlights one of the great problems of life, inertia. People in his book could have such a good life if only they pushed!

A lot of people's hypocrisy is exposed but in such a way that you couldn't really condemn for it.

In the end the central character proves himself a hero but even then his wife questions his motives.

Not a book for all, some people will not get it, but one of his best. That is high praise given his standard of work.

A good holiday read, 24 Jan 2006
I read this book in one sitting. It's a wonderful, well written combination of crime and comedy. If you want something abosorbing but light to read on a train or plane or by a pool, try this!

Last Detective - but still a great read, 22 Mar 2004
I first read this book many years ago, shortly after seeing the Bernard Cribbins version of the film on TV. I recently purchased and read the book again, after seeing the exceptionally good for a remake Peter Davison version, and if anything it has improved with age.

The story of the "Last Detective" (Dangerous is the final choice for any case) is both funny and, if somewhat sentimentally, moving.

All the main characters are well rounded and colourful and the story moves at a steady pace picking up speed as it goes along. This book has every thing, there are humorous sub stories, an unlikely romance , colourful supporting characters, and a twist in the tail. This is Lesley Thomas at his very best, up there with Virgin Soldiers.

Not one of his best, 03 Dec 2005
As a long-time Leslie Thomas fan I was a little disappointed with his latest. Typical of his later war novels but not as good as 'Waiting For The Day', with characters and incidents not as well drawn. Like the latter, though, it evokes a poignant sense of place and time. He's such a good writer, I wish he'd get back to writing 'main character' novels of the standard of 'The Adventures of Goodnight and Loving' and 'Running Away'.

A Wonderful Book, 09 Nov 2005
A new title by Leslie Thomas is always an event for me. "Dover Beach" lived up to all expectations, as good a novel as he has ever written, the kind that makes reading a great experience and finishing it a regret. The author is at the top of the tree in writing on England in World War II, capturing the humour, the spirit, the highs and lows of the time through the eyes and activities of characters so well drawn that you believe you know them and feel that this is how it was as the phoney war moved into real war and those effected adjusted to it and in many cases became unlikely heroes.

A delightful read, 24 Jan 2006
Pick this up and you won't put it down until you've chuckled your way to its wonderfully satisfying end. Dangerous Davies and his philosophising sidekick Mod birl their way through this story, meeting characters as rich and warm and unlikely as themselves, as they hare down unlikely avenues in pursuit of the truth about the death of a local tramp. All this and a deliciously wistful romance too!

A good read and a pleasing love story, 20 Dec 2007
The novel, set in the last year of WW2, tells of the love affair between two soldiers - Davy Hopkins and Kate Medhurst. The brutality of war is nicely juxtaposed with the sweet relationship which develops en route to Italy. A year afterwards, Hopkins tries to piece together the events of one fateful day.

The author crafts the central characters of Hopkins and Kate extremely well and there's enough period detail to please even the most patriotic of readers. Although I'm not personally a fan of war stories, I found myself immersed in this readable book.

Soldiers and Lovers, 12 Dec 2007
I was a bit disappointed in this book not one of his best. I felt as though I was waiting for something to happen - in the end the book got a lot better - then it made interesting reading and would have a lot of memories for those men who were in the Army and who went to Italy Dont be put of with my comments - I look forward to hearing yours.

Beware some graphic images not suitable for young or sensitive children, 18 Aug 2008
I bought this book for my first born four year old child who naturally ends up fighting occasionally with our younger two year old child. I wanted to use a book to explain that it is ok to get mad sometimes, but that there are other ways of solving arguments. This book actually goes beyone verbal fighting (which is what I thought this book was about, arguing, not physical violence). This book shows young children punching, shoving and kicking each other, children bullying and teasing others, scenes of distressed children crying, adults fighting (one of which is of two adults who have poured paint all over each other during a fight), children with bruises, frightened children, worried children and children being coaxed to physically fight with other children. The most distressing 2 pages I witnessed are about half way through the book and the illustrations teach children that sometimes adults fight wars with one another; I quickly stopped reading to my child when I saw the two pages of illustrations of children running for cover from war planes, with people trapped under rubble, with bombs exploding and fire everywhere; there were also scenes of children crying over gravestones, with devastated, broken homes nearby. As a parent, I was shocked to see these images, and unhappy that I had bought a book that depicts physical violence, including cartoon scenes of war, devestation and death within a book that I mistakenly purchased thinking it would teach verbal negotiation and kindness skills for youngsters. This book should have a PG rating, if there is such a thing for books, and there should have been a warning within the synopsis of this book. With my child starting school for the first time in a few weeks, I feel that showing cartoon scenes of physical violence, bullying and intimidation, war and death to her or any child could cause unnecessary distress.

Great book, 13 Aug 2008
I am the mother of two high functioning autistic boys. It is hard to teach children with ASD social rules and this leads to a stressful existance for both parents and children alike.

This book was simple and clear with lovely pictures and my 9 year old son enjoyed listening to it and seemed to pick up the messages it was relaying in a much more effective way than being "told".

The reason I have given only 4 stars and not 5 is because some american terminology is used which is confusing to the narrator and the child especially when they have ASD. I also didn't like the "help" boxes featured on a couple of the pages which my son picked up on. I would like to think that parents who purchase/loan these types of books have the capability to do these "things" without prompting.

This really is a great book and I will be showing it to my support group "Talk 4 Talk" to possibly add to their library of books for parents/carers/children with speech, language and communication disorders.

Funny, moving and beautifully crafted, 16 Jul 2008
Ok, I'm biased. Leslie Thomas is probably my favourite British writer of any generation, bar none.But I'm not a fan of autobiographies as I find them often to be shrines to the author's ego and sense of their own importance.

Not so this one. Of course Thomas can't help but refer (and rightly so) to his many accomplishments against considerable adversity, but there's never a sense of him pushing out his chest and 'crowing'.

It's a beautifully written tale, as finely crafted as any of his fictional works and penned in Thomas' own inimitable style (which can have tears of laughter rolling down your cheeks in one paragraph whilst having you emotionally choked in the next).

Whatever price you pay, it's worth every single penny!



One of his best books, 20 Oct 2006
This book is brilliant, just brilliant. It is a novel against the background of a true event and provides the reader with a believable glimpse of what life would have been like during WWII. It is not a book about the war, but a story about people getting lost in the mahlstream of war - Americans and British, civilians and soldiers alike. The cuelty of WWII only emerges occasionally, but the war's bitter taste can be felt throughout the book. It is both a funny and sad story.

If you are interested in Leslie Thomas books: skip the "Virgin Soldiers", and join "The magic army" first.

A masterpiece, 24 Jan 2006
This book deserves to be better known. Set in a small village on the SW coast of England during WW2, it's based on a true story. Raw American marines really did evacuate villagers from their homes in order to use the area for training with live ammunition for the D Day landings. The story is comic and tragic and romantic. It's well researched, and written with such sympathy that you'll come to care deeply about the characters, and begin to understand the mutual astonishment and the complications that Devon villagers, and British and American forces experienced as their cultures first collided, then converged in the war effort.

Hilarious and moving account of the lighter side of WWII, 28 Jun 1999
Mr. Thomas illustrates the famous British complaint that the American soldiers were "Overpaid, oversexed, and over here," with a novel about the chaos which erupts in a small town when the GIs arrive in late 1943, to train for some major but unidentified event. Written with great warmth, a marvelous, down to earth story about two groups of people who can't quite believe that they are fighting on the same side. Mr. Thomas's rollicking humor makes the bittersweet ending all the more poignant. Excellent reading!

Suburbia unwrapped, 26 Jul 2004
A wonderfully observed portrait of middle class suburban angst, set in Plummers Park (based on Carpenders Park in Hertfordshire where Leslie Thomas once lived).
Andrew Maiby, decent but underachieving local newspaper reporter who is terrified of approaching middle age, has affair with teenage girl from "the other side of the tracks". Needless to say it all ends in tears, and almost in his death, but what really makes the novel memorable is the secondary plots and the acute depictions of all the characters - Polly Blossom Smith the local sculptress, Mauler Mason the Chairman of the Golf Club, the Plummers Park Flasher etc.

Thomas's bitter sweet comedy observes suburbia so well, 26 Mar 2001
Leslie Thomas tends to write a particular style of wry comedy that has a bitter sweet edge. Only very occasionally do you split your sides laughing! However his writing tends to amuse.

In this book Thomas observes the meanderings of a man approaching middle age in the synthetic surroundings of a newish estate in suburbia. He chooses an area just outside London (probably Carpenders Park just south of Watford) where London is an influence not a lifestyle.

He gives his hero (the right word or not ?) an affair with a much younger girl (wishful thinking?) which removes him for a brief while from his humdrum existence but the real plot is the observance of so much human life which seems to be the same but very different. The keenly observed characters could be any of ones neighbours or even ourselves. Thomas also highlights one of the great problems of life, inertia. People in his book could have such a good life if only they pushed!

A lot of people's hypocrisy is exposed but in such a way that you couldn't really condemn for it.

In the end the central character proves himself a hero but even then his wife questions his motives.

Not a book for all, some people will not get it, but one of his best. That is high praise given his standard of work.

A good holiday read, 24 Jan 2006
I read this book in one sitting. It's a wonderful, well written combination of crime and comedy. If you want something abosorbing but light to read on a train or plane or by a pool, try this!

Last Detective - but still a great read, 22 Mar 2004
I first read this book many years ago, shortly after seeing the Bernard Cribbins version of the film on TV. I recently purchased and read the book again, after seeing the exceptionally good for a remake Peter Davison version, and if anything it has improved with age.

The story of the "Last Detective" (Dangerous is the final choice for any case) is both funny and, if somewhat sentimentally, moving.

All the main characters are well rounded and colourful and the story moves at a steady pace picking up speed as it goes along. This book has every thing, there are humorous sub stories, an unlikely romance , colourful supporting characters, and a twist in the tail. This is Lesley Thomas at his very best, up there with Virgin Soldiers.

Not one of his best, 03 Dec 2005
As a long-time Leslie Thomas fan I was a little disappointed with his latest. Typical of his later war novels but not as good as 'Waiting For The Day', with characters and incidents not as well drawn. Like the latter, though, it evokes a poignant sense of place and time. He's such a good writer, I wish he'd get back to writing 'main character' novels of the standard of 'The Adventures of Goodnight and Loving' and 'Running Away'.

A Wonderful Book, 09 Nov 2005
A new title by Leslie Thomas is always an event for me. "Dover Beach" lived up to all expectations, as good a novel as he has ever written, the kind that makes reading a great experience and finishing it a regret. The author is at the top of the tree in writing on England in World War II, capturing the humour, the spirit, the highs and lows of the time through the eyes and activities of characters so well drawn that you believe you know them and feel that this is how it was as the phoney war moved into real war and those effected adjusted to it and in many cases became unlikely heroes.

A delightful read, 24 Jan 2006
Pick this up and you won't put it down until you've chuckled your way to its wonderfully satisfying end. Dangerous Davies and his philosophising sidekick Mod birl their way through this story, meeting characters as rich and warm and unlikely as themselves, as they hare down unlikely avenues in pursuit of the truth about the death of a local tramp. All this and a deliciously wistful romance too!

The bitter sweet comedy of Leslie Thomas never fails, 07 Sep 2001
Leslie Thomas writes a well researched novel which always has a bitter sweet element to the comedy. You may not split your sides laughing but you feel better despite the fact you could be moved to tears.

The story revolves around a collection of characters who live and / or work around Heathrow. It highlights the way in which the airport itself is a town within a town. Its also a love story that doesn't need explicitness to convey the passion, in fact its almost understated. It also highlights the way relationships can fail if they are not nurtured.

Thomas's characters are always well written and almost recognisable in real life, not real people but parts of people you know. They elicit the feeling that this is a person you could like or dislike although negative characters are rare in his books.

He also researches his subject matter well and his knowledge fits in well with my own experiences of travel by air.

Reading a Thomas book is never a disappointment and this is one of his better ones. It has a strong, realistic subject matter , strong characters and believable situations. You feel for the characters, you don't want the story to end.

A good read and a pleasing love story, 20 Dec 2007
The novel, set in the last year of WW2, tells of the love affair between two soldiers - Davy Hopkins and Kate Medhurst. The brutality of war is nicely juxtaposed with the sweet relationship which develops en route to Italy. A year afterwards, Hopkins tries to piece together the events of one fateful day.

The author crafts the central characters of Hopkins and Kate extremely well and there's enough period detail to please even the most patriotic of readers. Although I'm not personally a fan of war stories, I found myself immersed in this readable book.

Soldiers and Lovers, 12 Dec 2007
I was a bit disappointed in this book not one of his best. I felt as though I was waiting for something to happen - in the end the book got a lot better - then it made interesting reading and would have a lot of memories for those men who were in the Army and who went to Italy Dont be put of with my comments - I look forward to hearing yours.

Beware some graphic images not suitable for young or sensitive children, 18 Aug 2008
I bought this book for my first born four year old child who naturally ends up fighting occasionally with our younger two year old child. I wanted to use a book to explain that it is ok to get mad sometimes, but that there are other ways of solving arguments. This book actually goes beyone verbal fighting (which is what I thought this book was about, arguing, not physical violence). This book shows young children punching, shoving and kicking each other, children bullying and teasing others, scenes of distressed children crying, adults fighting (one of which is of two adults who have poured paint all over each other during a fight), children with bruises, frightened children, worried children and children being coaxed to physically fight with other children. The most distressing 2 pages I witnessed are about half way through the book and the illustrations teach children that sometimes adults fight wars with one another; I quickly stopped reading to my child when I saw the two pages of illustrations of children running for cover from war planes, with people trapped under rubble, with bombs exploding and fire everywhere; there were also scenes of children crying over gravestones, with devastated, broken homes nearby. As a parent, I was shocked to see these images, and unhappy that I had bought a book that depicts physical violence, including cartoon scenes of war, devestation and death within a book that I mistakenly purchased thinking it would teach verbal negotiation and kindness skills for youngsters. This book should have a PG rating, if there is such a thing for books, and there should have been a warning within the synopsis of this book. With my child starting school for the first time in a few weeks, I feel that showing cartoon scenes of physical violence, bullying and intimidation, war and death to her or any child could cause unnecessary distress.

Great book, 13 Aug 2008
I am the mother of two high functioning autistic boys. It is hard to teach children with ASD social rules and this leads to a stressful existance for both parents and children alike.

This book was simple and clear with lovely pictures and my 9 year old son enjoyed listening to it and seemed to pick up the messages it was relaying in a much more effective way than being "told".

The reason I have given only 4 stars and not 5 is because some american terminology is used which is confusing to the narrator and the child especially when they have ASD. I also didn't like the "help" boxes featured on a couple of the pages which my son picked up on. I would like to think that parents who purchase/loan these types of books have the capability to do these "things" without prompting.

This really is a great book and I will be showing it to my support group "Talk 4 Talk" to possibly add to their library of books for parents/carers/children with speech, language and communication disorders.

Funny, moving and beautifully crafted, 16 Jul 2008
Ok, I'm biased. Leslie Thomas is probably my favourite British writer of any generation, bar none.But I'm not a fan of autobiographies as I find them often to be shrines to the author's ego and sense of their own importance.

Not so this one. Of course Thomas can't help but refer (and rightly so) to his many accomplishments against considerable adversity, but there's never a sense of him pushing out his chest and 'crowing'.

It's a beautifully written tale, as finely crafted as any of his fictional works and penned in Thomas' own inimitable style (which can have tears of laughter rolling down your cheeks in one paragraph whilst having you emotionally choked in the next).

Whatever price you pay, it's worth every single penny!



One of his best books, 20 Oct 2006
This book is brilliant, just brilliant. It is a novel against the background of a true event and provides the reader with a believable glimpse of what life would have been like during WWII. It is not a book about the war, but a story about people getting lost in the mahlstream of war - Americans and British, civilians and soldiers alike. The cuelty of WWII only emerges occasionally, but the war's bitter taste can be felt throughout the book. It is both a funny and sad story.

If you are interested in Leslie Thomas books: skip the "Virgin Soldiers", and join "The magic army" first.

A masterpiece, 24 Jan 2006
This book deserves to be better known. Set in a small village on the SW coast of England during WW2, it's based on a true story. Raw American marines really did evacuate villagers from their homes in order to use the area for training with live ammunition for the D Day landings. The story is comic and tragic and romantic. It's well researched, and written with such sympathy that you'll come to care deeply about the characters, and begin to understand the mutual astonishment and the complications that Devon villagers, and British and American forces experienced as their cultures first collided, then converged in the war effort.

Hilarious and moving account of the lighter side of WWII, 28 Jun 1999
Mr. Thomas illustrates the famous British complaint that the American soldiers were "Overpaid, oversexed, and over here," with a novel about the chaos which erupts in a small town when the GIs arrive in late 1943, to train for some major but unidentified event. Written with great warmth, a marvelous, down to earth story about two groups of people who can't quite believe that they are fighting on the same side. Mr. Thomas's rollicking humor makes the bittersweet ending all the more poignant. Excellent reading!

Suburbia unwrapped, 26 Jul 2004
A wonderfully observed portrait of middle class suburban angst, set in Plummers Park (based on Carpenders Park in Hertfordshire where Leslie Thomas once lived).
Andrew Maiby, decent but underachieving local newspaper reporter who is terrified of approaching middle age, has affair with teenage girl from "the other side of the tracks". Needless to say it all ends in tears, and almost in his death, but what really makes the novel memorable is the secondary plots and the acute depictions of all the characters - Polly Blossom Smith the local sculptress, Mauler Mason the Chairman of the Golf Club, the Plummers Park Flasher etc.

Thomas's bitter sweet comedy observes suburbia so well, 26 Mar 2001
Leslie Thomas tends to write a particular style of wry comedy that has a bitter sweet edge. Only very occasionally do you split your sides laughing! However his writing tends to amuse.

In this book Thomas observes the meanderings of a man approaching middle age in the synthetic surroundings of a newish estate in suburbia. He chooses an area just outside London (probably Carpenders Park just south of Watford) where London is an influence not a lifestyle.

He gives his hero (the right word or not ?) an affair with a much younger girl (wishful thinking?) which removes him for a brief while from his humdrum existence but the real plot is the observance of so much human life which seems to be the same but very different. The keenly observed characters could be any of ones neighbours or even ourselves. Thomas also highlights one of the great problems of life, inertia. People in his book could have such a good life if only they pushed!

A lot of people's hypocrisy is exposed but in such a way that you couldn't really condemn for it.

In the end the central character proves himself a hero but even then his wife questions his motives.

Not a book for all, some people will not get it, but one of his best. That is high praise given his standard of work.

A good holiday read, 24 Jan 2006
I read this book in one sitting. It's a wonderful, well written combination of crime and comedy. If you want something abosorbing but light to read on a train or plane or by a pool, try this!

Last Detective - but still a great read, 22 Mar 2004
I first read this book many years ago, shortly after seeing the Bernard Cribbins version of the film on TV. I recently purchased and read the book again, after seeing the exceptionally good for a remake Peter Davison version, and if anything it has improved with age.

The story of the "Last Detective" (Dangerous is the final choice for any case) is both funny and, if somewhat sentimentally, moving.

All the main characters are well rounded and colourful and the story moves at a steady pace picking up speed as it goes along. This book has every thing, there are humorous sub stories, an unlikely romance , colourful supporting characters, and a twist in the tail. This is Lesley Thomas at his very best, up there with Virgin Soldiers.

Not one of his best, 03 Dec 200