VILLAGE THAT DIED FOR ENGLAND: Tyneham

An idyllic English village on the isle of Purbeck in Dorset, Tyneham and the whole of the surrounding valley was evacuated at short notice towards the end of 1943 to form a long-distance gunnery range. The derelict houses can still be visited and form a monument to the sacrifice made by the local people. Notice of eviction was posted on 16 November, and the evacuation was completed a month later, removing 255 villagers from their houses, some of whom did not survive the shock and the winter hardship. The evacuation took place under cover of official secrecy and those responsible, including the head of local civil defence, Mrs Evelyn Bond, found it a harrowing experience. Churchill pledged that the villagers would return, but in 1947 Attlee's government retained it as one of seven "contentious areas" where no reconciliation of civilian and military interests was found possible. The area's MP Lord Hinchingbrooke led the protests, assisted by celebrities such as Brains Trust veteran CEM Joad, but to no avail. The author charts the continuing protests revived in the 1960s by Rodney Legg and the Tyneham Action Group. This massive book puts the fate of Tyneham and the Lulworth ranges in the context of the society and politics of the era, starting with the use of the area as a tank firing range in the 1920s. The author sees Tyneham as the focus for different kinds of English patriotism, with protesters including demobilised combatants, Tory grandees and bohemians embracing a back-to-nature lifestyle. In the 1930s the poet, visionary and rural campaigner Rolf Gardiner set up an influential arts centre at Springhead. Gardiner had travelled extensively in Germany and admired some aspects of the Hitler youth movement, leading the author to ask "No such thing as a Dorset Nazi party?" This book was controversial on its first release in 1995, and it makes an interesting read. 15.6 x 23.3 cm, 650 pages, softback, photos, A reissue of Patrick Wright's 1995 classic.