Pillboxes and Tank Traps, Bernard Lowry, Shire Library, 2014,
64p, £7-95.  ISBN 978-0-74781-356-9.

There are two types of local history: what specifically happens in a particular location as compared with the patterns which emerge from widescale research at a local level. This book on Pillboxes and Tank Traps has had a particular resonance for this reviewer because some years ago someone from the nearby village of Hopwas telephoned me to try to gain my support for the scheduling as historic monuments of some tank traps adjacent to the River Tame- these are listed as a potential site [SK181051] to visit in the
gazetteer of Bernard Lowry's valuable introduction to this topic. To my retrospective embarrassment I was unenthusiastic about seeking protected status for what I believed were some concrete blocks standing by a river.

This short volume gives a context to the provision and location of pillboxes, tank traps and other deterrents in the Second World War. Lowry explains the pattern of stop lines which stretched from the Scottish border to the South Coast, how it evolved and how it was intended to function and succeed in an emergency. In the course of his explanation he reveals examples that I have seen and did not
recognise as defences - a pillbox camouflaged as a bridge abutment; others disguised as a seaside shelter, a bus shelter and a garage attached to a house; with my favourite being a loopholed wall at the main junction in Cirencester, designed to be defended by the Home Guard.

Once one has realised how to look for potential evidence, the subtle but thorough pattern emerges. Therefore when we still observe a seemingly isolated set of tank traps, we need to recognise them as part of a planned national pattern of defence. This has been a very informative and enlightening book.