Book Reviews

Katherine Fricker, Mary McKeown and Diana Toyn are to be congratulated on producing an excellent and worthy successor to Dorothy Richard’s 1991 Biddenham parish history and guide. In 380 pages they describe the village’s development from Domesday to last year’s […]

Roger Bradshaw’s, A History of Silsoe, is both fascinating and frustrating. Fascinating because of the encyclopaedic information provided about many aspects of Silsoe’s history, much of which has not been published elsewhere. Frustrating because of the book’s odd ‘topical’ structure

An invaluable addition to the literature on medieval Bedfordshire. If you have a strong interest in the archaeology or early history of the county this is a “must buy” book. The book starts with an excellent introduction by Robert Liddiard,

An essential addition to any local historian’s library. The Whitbreads have played a part in Bedfordshire life since the 13th century, starting as peasant farmers, then local and county officials, M.P.s, and major landowners and benefactors- funding roads, bridges and

At about noon on Tuesday 2nd December 1788, James Reed and his sons were gathering kindling in Flitwick Wood when they found the savagely mutilated body of a young woman. It was a crime of passion quickly solved, but unusually,

Tessa West has worked in prisons and penal matters for many years. Her well-researched book provides an authoritative account of John Howard’s life and legacy. Howard (1726-1790) was leading early prison reformer, described by John Wesley as: “One of the

An account of prisoners of war in Bedfordshire during the Second World War has been long overdue. Stephen Risby has blended both military and social history to produce an excellent outline of the subject, which answers the questions: why were

This is Dick Dawson’s third book about Bedfordshire, following the excellent Lost Villages of Bedfordshire. Barmy Bedfordshire is very different in nature, but nonetheless a similarly ‘good read’. It provides a series of humorous, sometimes also touching, vignettes of some

This is an excellent, well-researched and highly readable account of the life and works of the Reverend Augustus Orlebar, and late-Victorian and Edwardian village life and politics. It provides fascinating insights into the role of ‘Squarson’ as village leader, and

As a former Cub Scout whose ‘pack’ met at St. Luke’s, I found this short book (91 pages) an evocative account of development and recent history of St. Luke’s and its site. The author, David Bunney, was the last Minister