Todd Gray - Blackshirts in Devon (2006)
Local History – 300 pages – my copy bought from Waterstones for £14.99 in summer of 2008
- 2 nods out of 2 -
The fascists in Devon? – in the land of cream teas, of grassy moorland, of the farmer and the janner? For a brief flurry in the mid 1930s, it appeared that the Right in Might would indeed, prove right. In the fascinating premise of this book, Todd Gray delves into Devon’s murkier, darker secrets; his quest to pose the question on just how large a presence fascism held in the west-country.
Local History – 300 pages – my copy bought from Waterstones for £14.99 in summer of 2008
- 2 nods out of 2 -
The fascists in Devon? – in the land of cream teas, of grassy moorland, of the farmer and the janner? For a brief flurry in the mid 1930s, it appeared that the Right in Might would indeed, prove right. In the fascinating premise of this book, Todd Gray delves into Devon’s murkier, darker secrets; his quest to pose the question on just how large a presence fascism held in the west-country.
The scope of the book is wide and interesting to anyone with a passion for local history. Gray examines the activity in Plymouth (1933-34), the later concentration at Exeter (later 1930s) and the Blackshirts and their lives during the Second World War. The towns are well documented, but so are the smaller villages of Devon, giving the book its full deserts in its title on being truly about Devon.
However, Blackshirts in Devon is not the tour de force of local historical writing it perhaps should be, say, on comparison with A.L. Rowse’s Tudor Cornwall. Immediately apparent is Gray’s limits in writing ability; to put it bluntly, he is a poor author. The book is home to many interesting facts, gleamed from painstaking research, yet they have been squandered in a shoddy and confusing narrative (if narrative is the right term?). The book is cut into three parts, dependant on date (i.e.: part one is 1933-34; part two 1935-39), which makes complete sense; however, within the details are misplaced in no coherent whole, meaning that the reader must re-read previously stated details whilst waiting thirty or forty pages to continue on a previous thread. Why was it done in this way? Perhaps it is due to the lack of a central, driving force. There a few interesting characters (especially noted in the third part – the strongest of the book), and the study would have been better served on a central, controlling figure, in a condensed but arguably stronger examination. Yet the ultimate truth must be admitted: there was simply not a great deal of Blackshirt activity in Devon in this period.
The bulk of Gray’s research rests mostly on newspapers and fascist literature – some of which are excellent finds. Yet the book is missing that essential human ingredient of the words in their own words. It is understandable that few testimonials had in circulation, given the nature of the political activity and now more so due to the distance from this period – around seventy years. However, such investigation has been undertaken in even greater hushed, darker pasts, such as Nazi Germany and the occupied France during the Second World War.
Most infuriatingly are the continual mistakes present in the book’s layout and text. The graphic of title and sub-title are consistently confused, whilst further errors are founding basic areas such as spelling and referencing. I ask the question: Where was the proof-reader? Sadly, these detract from the book’s whole and importance; perhaps eliminations could be undertaken in a later edition.
The scope of the issue saves Gray’s book from joining other dubious titles in the Worm’s 1 nodder sin-bin. Despite its flaws, Blackshirts in Devon remains an illuminating read for anyone with an interest in Devon; yet further afield, it is one of quaint interest.
