Catching up with the Past

Catching up with the Past is a fascinating account of Michael Windross'life. From his early childhood in Cumberland, it moves to London - where, as achorister at St Paul's Cathedral, he also sang at the Coronation of QueenElizabeth II in the Abbey; then to Lancing College, to Cambridge, and crossingthe North Sea, to Antwerp. Events follow in a linear progression - but withechoes from a distant past. In part two, the reader is transported back toDumfriesshire in the nineteenth century and taken on a journey that retracesthe family past, not only through written records but also through objectswhich tell their own tale. The narrative follows the now familiar path, butthen shifts to Australia, Gallipoli, and, in World War II, to the Anziobeachhead - as described by the author's father Brian in letters written toDoris, his wife. The story comes full circle. This is a life well lived. Thebook will appeal to those who share the writer's love of the past, who have astrong sense of time and place - and are game for a bit of detective work.