Dawn of Fear is the story of being a child in Britain during World War II. At the start of the book we meet Geoffrey, Derek and Peter . It is the start of an air-raid and the boys are in school. As the sirens wail through the air they follow their classmates to the air-raid shelter. Without realising the danger of the raid the three boys watch excitedly as dog-fight occurs in the sky above. It is a dangerous time and they are smartly ushered into the school shelter by their teacher.

Peter and Derek are particularly close friends and together with Geoffrey they excitedly set about building their special camp in the land near to their home. But, against the danger of the air raids, they are drawn into conflict with David Wiggs and the children from the White Road.

There is danger in the darkness too and Derek is haunted by the shadows and the threat of night raids. He is taken from his bed by his parents in the middle of the night as the bombings begin, and it is here that Derek understands the danger around him for the very first time. The raids bring death with them too and on the way to school they find a bomb crater next to a ruined house and excitedly search for shrapnel. To the children shrapnel is a prize, an ever greater prize is that the school is closed for the day.

The boys continue to build their camp and befriend Tom, a 'grown-up' who is to join the Merchant Navy. The boys are in awe of him. The camp is completed after a lot of hard work and holds their treasures - Geoffrey's egg collection, Derek's blow-pipe and darts and Peter's six-shooter. But their enjoyment and pride in the camp is short-lived. One morning they find it wrecked by the children of the White Road, their treasures destroyed and Peter's six-shooter stolen. Devastated, they plot their revenge with the aid of Tom.

The story finishes with the boys exacting their revenge on the children from the White Road. Their glee at a successful campaign is cut short and their lives are hit by a tragedy that brings home the true danger of the war.

I didn't know what to expect from Dawn of Fear when I first bought it. Dawn of Fear is a skilfully written book and any fan of Susan's DR books will love it as well. It is a powerful book set against the backdrop of the bombings of World War II. It is completely different from the DR books and is almost totally autobiographical.

I enjoyed it immensely and as a youngster I could relate to the boys' adventures. As a young man I understood more of the setting and of Britain at the time of the War as my mother was a child during World War II and she has many stories similar to those in the book - the air raids, the shelters and the terror.

Susan Cooper gives an excellent background to the writing and setting of Dawn of Fear in Dreams and Wishes (Swords and Ploughshares). From this essay it is possible to identify Susan Cooper as Derek - of course, she turned herself into a boy...