GRGR Wartime London

[kelber at mindspring.com]

An interesting (short!) novel to read on the side:   The Small Back Room, by Nigel Balchin.  It describes the stresses of a British scientist working for the War Dept. in London.  Part of his job is to investigate (and defuse) a new booby-trapped bomb that the German's have begun to drop on London.  The writing's not great (Balchin started as a scientist/engineer), but there's a great bomb-defusing scene and a good portrayal of wartime government bureaucracy.  It was made into a movie of the same name, directed by Michael Powell (Peeping Tom, The Red Shoes), in 1949.  The movie is definitely worth tracking down.  I was lucky enough to catch it at a local art house.