Despite the struggle to make ends meet during the tough years of warfare in the 1940s and rationing persisting until the early 1950s life could still be sweet. Especially if you were a young boy playing football with your pals saving up to go to the movies at the weekend and being captivated by the latest escapade of Dick Barton on the radio. Chocolate might be scarce and bananas would be a pipe dream but you could still have fun. Hunter Davies captures this period beautifully. His memoir of growing up in post-war North of England from 1945 onwards should be one that will resonate with thousands of readers across Britain.