This was
the second of the "Easy-Reading" series, following on from the
Bible theme of 6060a. In the inside front cover, these books point out that "even
children whose reading experience is limited will be encouraged by the superb
full-colour illustrations and the relatively simple text". And superb
the illustrations were, created by John Berry approaching near photographic
precision with a paintbrush.
The Soldier, in 1966, was the first in the
series to be issued in the matt cover, dust-jacket-less format. Written by I
& J Havenhand, illustrated by Berry, it is, as you might expect, full of
tanks, guns, rockets and other exciting bits of machinery. Today’s high
technology is not much in evidence; "all regiments of the army have radios
in case the telephone wires get broken". The engineers have an especially
exciting job; "radios, watches, telephones, rockets, tanks and helicopters
are among the many things that the soldiers mend in their workshops".
However, nowhere in the book does it mention that the ultimate job of the
fighting soldier is to kill people. Yes Ira,
I was thrilled to get your card, because, I had already read this book some
time ago, and had thoroughly enjoyed it. In case you get a chance do read the
other books in the series, the Sailor, the Airman et al.