Ann Pettitt's autobiography, telling the remarkable story of her involvement with the Greenham Peace Camp. This book is published in time for the 25th anniversary of the arrival of the first marchers at Greenham Common.

Hunangofiant Ann Pettitt, gwraig nodedig yn hanes heddychiaeth Gwersyll Heddwch Greenham. Cyhoeddir y llyfr i gyd-fynd â dathliadau 25 mlynedd ers i'r gorymdeithwyr cyntaf gyrraedd Comin Greenham.

In 1980, way back in what now seem the dark ages of the Cold War, when ordinary, thinking people lived in constant fear and expectation of a nuclear war, Ann Pettitt decided that she had to do something about it. She had the idea of organising a women-only march to Greenham Common to protest against the planned storage of Cruise missiles at the American base there. Undeterred by the fact that she and her partner had two very young children and a smallholding to run, Ann was determined to make her idea a reality. The rest is history. But history might have been different.

This is the extraordinary tale of the way in which ordinary people made their voices heard and finally succeeded in making at least one of the world leaders involved see sense: ‘Mr Gorbachev [...] told the United Nations in a speech he made that it was the people in the peace movement who [...] had made him realise that somebody in power had to do something different.’ It just sends a shiver down your spine, especially in the light of current world situations. It gives hope.

The book is sadly let down by its cover, which suggests an earnest, possibly rather dull, read. This could not be further from the truth. Ann Pettitt is a natural storyteller and I was gripped from the very first sentence of the introduction. She tells the story not only of Greenham and how it all started, but also of her parents' experiences during the Second World War and her own visits to Russia to support peace campaigners within the USSR – ordinary people who risked an awful lot more than a few days or weeks in a relatively comfortable British prison. There is plenty of room for melodrama and hubris here, but neither creeps in for even a moment. Ann Pettitt writes with a natural humility, a gentle wit and wisdom that had me crying, laughing and telling all my friends to go out and buy this book.

Suzy Ceulan Hughes

It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.

Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.