'It is a wonderful novel about what war does to its participants - not only the soldiers, but the families pulled from the periphery onto the battlefield. Hicks has perfected the art of mixing fact and fiction, and turned the book into a sustained, profound meditation on what it means to live, to love and to die. Congratulations to Robert Hicks - he has written a moving and magnificent novel'

A wonderful read. Blends the historical and the personal with a master stroyteller's skill

Written with lyrical beauty, arresting images as well as a compelling storyline

Based on fact and meticulously researched, it is a moving novel. Robert Hicks is a superb storyteller.

'A sleeping giant'

This remarkable debut novel has an unflinching eye for detail and is at once a meditation on the futility of war and a paen to the power of he human spirit.

A life-affirming book

Intensely romantic . . . a remarkable courtship by mail which survived the most testing of separations during the most difficult of times

[Gives] a flavour of a time when danger and separation made romance especially poignant . . . an uplifting and relevant story

Personal and poignant

Edgerton has written what could prove to be one of the most influential books on the history of the Second World War ... majestic ... [he] has successfully shown us that we still have a lot to learn about the conflict ... it will become the required reading for all students wishing to study the Second World War

An astounding work of myth-busting ... Inspiring and unsettling in equal measure

Majestic ... a wonderful read. It has probably popped more myths than any other book on the war in recent years

Brilliant and iconoclastic ... debunks the myth that Britain was militarily and economically weak and intellectually parochial during the 1930s and 1940s

Truly eye-opening ... Edgerton's carefully researched book will fundamentally change the way you think about World War II

Riveting ... a wonderfully rich book ... thoroughly stimulating

A major new assessment of Britain's war effort from 1939 to 1945. Never again will some of the lazy assessments of how Britain performed over these years ... be acceptable. That's why this is such an important book

Innovative and most important

Compelling and engaging ... an excellent read

Edgerton's well-researched volume bursts with data that reveal Britain's true strength even when supposed to be in critical condition

Britain's War Machine offers the boldest revisionist argument that seeks to overturn some of our most treasured assumptions about Britain's role in the war ... Edgerton [is] an economic historian with an army of marshalled facts and figures at his fingertips ... This is truly an eye-opening book that explodes the masochistic myth of poor little Britain, revealing the island as a proud power with the resources needed to fight and win a world war

Masterful Britain's War Machine promotes the notion that the United Kingdom of the Forties was a superpower, with access to millions of men across the globe, and forming the heart of a global production network