Rudsdale, a curator at Colchester Castle Museum, worked extensively in the Colchester area, manning the shelter in the vaults at Colchester Castle during World War II, working within agriculture and, towards the end of the war, in the Royal Observer Corps.
Historically, this book is full of interesting details of life in World War II. Socially, it gives an intriguing insight into changes which took place within society during that time period. Rudsdale expresses his opinions on the events he witnesses and I was quite surprised at the contrast between the romanticised version of life on the Home Front, which is so often portrayed in the media, and Rudsdale's description of the reality of living with the war and the changes it brought, on a day to day basis. As a Colcestrian myself, I found the journal even more engaging as I can visualise the majority of places described in a very different context.
Aside from all this, I was impressed by Rudsdale's writing. His descriptions are concise and to the point but also genuinely entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I cannot recommend it strongly enough.
Rudsdale's journal is being posted daily on this blog http://wwar2homefront.blogspot.co.uk/ where each entry is posted 70 years to the day after the events took place.
There are several copies of this book in Colchester Library or, if you wish to purchase a copy of the Rudsdale's journal or for more information, click here.
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