Author Gordon Williams is best know for Straw Dogs (originally titled The Siege of Trencher's Farm) and the Booker shortlisted From Scenes Like These. When he wrote The Camp Williams had the benefit of his newsman's eye for detail and the immediacy of his own, ex-conscript's, experiences at the sharp end of the Cold War. He was stationed at RAF Gutersloh - the closest air base to the East German border. But for the young conscripts in The Camp, their real enemy lay elsewhere. The Camp relates their coming of age in the mid 1950s in a small town in Germany. It was the first book Williams wrote, and does not pander to the usual cosy image of national service. The reviews were excellent: 'A story of power, oppression and self preservation... Impressive' --The Times Literary Supplement. 'A talent at once so harsh and controlled' --The Spectator. 'The Camp earns high honours' --The Sunday Times This new edition of The Camp was published by reinkarnation on the 50th anniversary of the ending of conscription in the UK.
