In September 1958, Britain's children thrilled to the first issue of "War Picture Library", where they could read of the valiant struggle of a motley group of British soldiers from the British Expeditionary Force whose units were overwhelmed by German forces swarming through the frontiers of Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg. "Fight Back to Dunkirk" was a page-turner of the first order, a shilling shocker that grabbed your attention for 64 explosive pages. The good news was, when you'd finished, there was another one waiting on the spinners at the newsagents.Over the coming months and years, "War Picture Library" revealed to its young (and sometimes not-so-young) readers just what their fathers and uncles had been through in combat. The diversity of characters and breadth of locations available, from the home front to the steaming jungles, meant that there was something new for readers every month. Fifty years on, the stories still have the power to thrill and horrify us." Against All Odds" is a carefully selected collection of some of the most amazing war stories and striking war art ever produced, reproduced 25 per cent bigger than the originals so you can feel every bullet hit, every crashing wave and every nerve-shattering explosion. This is military history as you've never read it before.

In September 1958, Britain's children thrilled to the first issue of "War Picture Library", where they could read of the valiant struggle of a motley group of British soldiers from the British Expeditionary Force whose units were overwhelmed by German forces swarming through the frontiers of Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg. "Fight Back to Dunkirk" was a page-turner of the first order, a shilling shocker that grabbed your attention for 64 explosive pages. The good news was, when you'd finished, there was another one waiting on the spinners at the newsagents.Over the coming months and years, "War Picture Library" revealed to its young (and sometimes not-so-young) readers just what their fathers and uncles had been through in combat. The diversity of characters and breadth of locations available, from the home front to the steaming jungles, meant that there was something new for readers every month. Fifty years on, the stories still have the power to thrill and horrify us."

Against All Odds" is a carefully selected collection of some of the most amazing war stories and striking war art ever produced, reproduced 25 per cent bigger than the originals so you can feel every bullet hit, every crashing wave and every nerve-shattering explosion. This is military history as you've never read it before.

Steve Holland is the author of over 1,000 articles and a dozen books relating to comics and pulp culture, including The Trials of Hank Janson, nominated for the Silver Dagger Award by the Crime Writers Association. His latest book, The War Libraries Index charts the extraordinary history of Fleetway's war picture libraries.

2008-08-31 Nostalgia for boys

Yes men of a certain age (I don't think many girls read these or the Commando books) will know what to expect here and wallow in the nostalgia. Thankfully not processed to be PC - they are of their time and therefore serve a historical purpose as well as being great entertainment. I was regalling my son only a couple of weeks ago of how I would wait for the War and Battle picture libraries Summer specials to take on holidays and how they would hold me enthralled for hours and of course we all were able to go out and fight pretend battles of our own. I prefferred these comics to the slightly more staid Commando books but devour all of them as well as the weekly doses of Victor, Hotspur and the Eagle.

Ah those were the days....and by the way my son loves these as well. Achtung Schweinhund! Indeed