Witness to War

Witness to War's first edition was published in 2023 and had sold out by the end of 2024. The original publisher, Ayrshire and Arran Archeological and Natural History Society, were unable to undertake a second edition as they already had several books by local authors in their queue for publication. Tony Burrin of The Wee Bookshop in Corrie, was happy to step in and we are both proud of the result: 80 more pages on high quality glossy paper with superb reproduction of the the images, including many additional ones.  The original book brought forward a volume of memories and stories from Arran and elsewhere and it has been my privilege to pass these on in the new edition - some are very poignant and will bring a tear to the eye as people celebrate the 80th Anniversary of VE Day.  These are people's stories and deserve to be remembered alongside those memories that are better known and reproduced through television and movie. At a time when totalitareanism, intolerance and populism are again sweeping the planet, we need to recall the unity and sacrifice that enabled the defeat of fascism all those years ago - and the hopes for a better world that emerged from the rubble of Europe in May 1945 - hopes we need to renew today.  I hope this book will contribute to that purpose.