Product Description

This is an 'After-the-Bomb' story told by teenage Danny, one of the survivors - one of the unlucky ones. Set in Shipley, an ordinary town in the north of England, this is a powerful portrayal of a world that has broken down. Danny not only has to cope in a world of lawlessness and gang warfare, but he has to protect and look after his little brother, Ben, and a girl called Kim. Is there any hope left for a new world?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22104 in Books
• Published on: 1994-12-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Synopsis
This is an 'After-the-Bomb' story told by teenage Danny, one of the survivors - one of the unlucky ones. Set in Shipley, an ordinary town in the north of England, this is a powerful portrayal of a world that has broken down. Danny not only has to cope in a world of lawlessness and gang warfare, but he has to protect and look after his little brother, Ben, and a girl called Kim. Is there any hope left for a new world?

About the Author
Robert Swindells lives on the Yorkshire moors and is a full-time writer. He has won the Children's Book Award twice, for BROTHER IN THE LAND and for ROOM 13. In 1994, he won the Carnegie Medal for STONE COLD, and also the Sheffield Book Award.

Customer Reviews

Swindles' best novel in my opinion
This is a harrowing read for teenagers, but thankfully never becomes overtly disturbing. i read this when i was 12 and loved it.
The after-effects of a nuclear war are depicted realisically- from the radiation sickness and birth defects, to the terrible struggle to survive. The main character's love for Kim and the kindness of other humans adds light to an otherwise relentlessly grim story.
I would have to say this is not the most original story- at the time such post-apocalypse fiction was common. However, "Brother in the Land" stands out as a very well writen example of cold-war fiction for teenagers.

In my all time top ten
This is a fabulous book. I've read it time and time again with classes and always got something new out of it. It has a moving ending that always has me on the verge of tears, and half the kids too. I love the stunned silence you get in class when you have read the final chapters. It has so many themes to discuss.

The Holy Grail
Forgive the hyperbole of the title, but I have searched for this book for about 6 years since first reading it as a teenager and then forgetting the title. All I can tell you is that I was not dissapointed. This is a phenomenal emotionally-charged novel which altered my perceptions of life and death irrevocably. This is a book for anyone who questions society, human nature or the will to survive. I am a graduate of English Literature, and I can honestly claim this as my favourite ever book.

I urge parents to buy this for their children, and to borrow it when they've finished it! As a prior reviewer noted (much to my delight), this book is a proscribed text in certain English courses. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to study this for weeks on end - personally, the day it finally arrived was spent consuming every page. I read it again a week or so later, and was still moved, shocked and inspired by it. This harrowing account of a child becoming a man through the greatest of tragedies, and the human spirit's continuation in even the bleakest circumstances shall remain with me for the rest of my life.

Thank you Robert Swindells!