The Machine Gunners

Rating:
Summary: an excellent read
Review: a realistic description of what it was like to like in england during the bombing raids of 40's 41's and it well worth reading!

Rating:
Summary: a 1st class childs view on war torn britain.
Review: as previous reviews have mentioned, this is a first rate novel from one of britain top childrens authors, now sadly deceased. It highlights some of Westall's own experiences in war torn tyne and wear - an idea born from his own son (who many of Westall's books are based on - in memorium), when asked by him to stop a leaking roof on the den/base his son and friends had built. Westall states that he felt extremely priveliged to have been invited into their secret world.(hence the den in the book). a very detailed account for those interested in ww2 britain - right down to shrapnel collections found under hedges, to chrysanthemums for christmas. an excellent read, and a book adopted by many schools for english tutoring. This is his best and first book, but try secret lovers, a collection of short stories, and in particular Blind Bill.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I first checked this book out of my local library. I completly loved it at 5 years of age I read it in about 5 days. Now at 11 I must say I have read it 5 times.I suggest if you like suspense and incredible writing you should get this book.

Rating:
Summary: Evocative Novel of Wartime Britain, for Children and Adults
Review: I first read Westall's book as a youngster twenty years ago, and again as an adult just recently. I must say the book has withstood the test of time, and my own growing up -- I'm not sure if I enjoyed it more as a boy or as an adult! I recommend this book most highly, as well as Westall's [apparently out-of-print] "The Devil on the Road".

Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: I had had this book for about 2 years before even thinking of picking it up and when I did I read it in under half a day. It kept a constant grip on my imagination (mind you I am very interested in all sorts of aircraft) A GREAT READ!

Rating:
Summary: It's Alright
Review: I liked the machine gunners but it was a little complicated. Some British and German words I couldn't understand.

Rating:
Summary: Magic !
Review: I read this book a long time ago, as part of my schooling. Even at that age, I did not want to put this book down. This is a good one to pass on to young'uns, and alot of adults too. A must for the bookshelf me thinks.

Rating:
Summary: The ultmate war game, apart from this time with a real gun!
Review: Just imagian a time when collecting war suveners made you the most popular kid in school, then imagan how popular you would be if you had a real and working machine gun with a couple of hundred rounds! Thats exactly what Chas McGill found apart from he did not use it to become popular he used it to kill Germans. This book was realy cool, but if I told you any more about it I would ruin the story.

Rating:
Summary: smashing,amzing and cool
Review: The machine gunner is an enjoyable book to read. It gave you a sense of what it was like to be a child in World War 2. It's interesting and fun to read, when Chas McGill finds a working machine gun with 2000 live rounds. He tries to keep this secret safe he builds a fortress with friends to fight the Germans in Garmouth Chas's hometown. I recommend this book to anyone because its full of action but historically it gives you information about what it would be like to live in world war 2 times

Rating:
Summary: Gunning a Good Book
Review: The Machine Gunners is a very good book, which I would recommend to readers of ages eleven to fourteen. It's set around 1949 to 1941 in a small town during World War 2. It involves a group of children, Chas, Aundrey, Carrot-juice, Nicky, Clogger and Cem, who find a machine gun and shoot down a German fighter plane during the air raids, causing the plane to crash. After ejecting from the plane, the pilot, Sergeant Rudi Gerlath, accidently stumles across the kids' hidden fortress, and is taken prisoner. It is a very good book, and out of a score of ten, I would give it an eight and a half to nine. Congradulations, Mr Westall, on writing such a good book.