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ABOUT THIS BOOK

PUBLISHER: Faber & Faber

FORMAT: Paperback

ISBN: 9780571204731

RRP: £8.99

PAGES: 272

PUBLICATION DATE:
July 9, 2001

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That Summer

It is 1940 and Britain is at war with Germany. France has fallen and with Britain the next, and most crucial, country in Hitler’s path, the threat shifts to unfamiliar terrain – the skies and an epic battle between the Luftwaffe and the RAF. Lenny is a young and inexperienced fighter pilot stationed in Gravesend. After a meeting at a dance with Stella, a radar operator with a more worldly attitude altogether, he falls in love for the first time. She is his eyes on the ground, he is her protector in the air, and as the battle intensifies so their affair gathers pace in an increasingly uncertain time. Class and national barriers lose their distinction and a heady whirl of parties, drinking and promiscuity distracts from the more serious business at hand. Told in intimate, alternate chapters from the perspectives of Lenny and Stella, That Summer matures into a breathtaking novel; a classic love story and a thrilling picture of life during wartime.

Reviews of That Summer

'The Battle of Britain may be rightly regarded as the most famous air conflict in history but Greig has made it something much more important for a generation now almost unimaginably removed: he has made it real… That Summer is an extraordinary achievement that deserves to have Greig, after several impressive novels, promoted to the ranks of the highest-regarded writers.' Anthea Lawson, The Times

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Andrew Greig

Andrew Greig was born in Bannockburn near Stirling in 1951. He completed an MA in Philosophy at Edinburgh University and then worked in a variety of jobs, including salmon netting, hop picking and farm work. He ‘survived’ as a poet for nearly 20 years thanks to the Scottish Arts Council and various bursaries, as well as teaching creative writing in schools and giving readings. He was Writer-in-Residence at Glasgow University from 1979-1981, and at Edinburgh University from 1992-1994.$$$Andrew Greig now lives in Orkney and the Lothians. His first novel, Electric Brae, was shortlisted for the McVitie’s Prize and the Boardman-Tasker Award, and his second, The Return of John MacNab, was shortlisted for the Romantic Novelist’s Award and topped the Scottish bestseller lists in 1996. He is also the author of the acclaimed When They Lay Bare (1999) and That Summer (2000).$$$He is recognized as one of the leading Scottish poets of his generation, having written six volumes of poetry. He is also well-known for his writing on mountaineering, based on his climbing experiences in Scotland and the Himalayas. His acknowledged classic in mountaineering literature, Kingdoms of Experience, has recently been reissued by Canongate.