Shadows of War

In ‘Adolf’, a young boy becomes convinced his elderly neighbour is actually Adolf Hitler in hiding. The British soldiers in ‘The German Ghost’ have an otherworldly encounter with a mysterious and sinister figure in black. ‘East Doddingham Dinah’ is a stray cat who takes up residence on an RAF base and seems to possess the unsettling ability to know which planes will be shot down. A late-night aerial mission at 24,000 feet becomes a terrifying supernatural experience for the crew in ‘After the Funeral’. 

Master storyteller Robert Westall (1929-1993) loved writing about three subjects above all: World War II, cats, and ghosts, and all three of these interests are on display in this collection featuring eleven of Westall’s finest wartime stories, several of them supernatural. Originally published between 1982 and 1997, these stories are gathered together here for the first time and will delight readers of all ages.

Praise for Robert Westall

‘Fiendishly clever, spine-tingling short fiction’ - Publishers Weekly (on Antique Dust)

‘Marvelous M. R. Jamesian-style ghost stories’ - Michael Dirda, Washington Post on (Antique Dust)

‘So vivid and deft that it had me sweating with vertigo as well as superstitious terror’ - Daily Telegraph (on The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral)