You be the judge!

Fantastic!

Gripping read of this fascinating career

Great insight into the fire service at this time.

Great read, describing the gripping adventures of this interesting career.

great read

Reality, real life, read between the lines. A book to hold your interest a true 'can't put down' book.

An excellent read

A great story. it brings back so many memory's to any ex firemen a great reminder of LFB in 60s and 70s it brings back memories of life on a fire station.

Well worth a read.A true down to mearth account of life on the front line.

Brilliant Read

the is very well written and true to life

I thoroughly enjoyed this read. It gave me a real insight into that period of The London Fire Brigade history. Well done David C Pike.

A great Lamp swing, excellent

A can’t-put-it-down book, captures the full spectrum of being an operational firefighter, the highs and lows are well captured. If I had one slight critique maybe set at another fire station say Battersea? Very good read.

A really absorbing book that I thoroughly enjoyed ! It is a 'Warts and All' account of the Authors time in the London Fire Brigade, engaging, funny and brutally honest ! Tells it how it is ! Highly recommended candidate for the prize ! My copy is now doing the rounds of my children and their friends so it looks like I'll have to buy another.

A great read about being in the Fire Brigade in 60's and 70's

as a retired firefighter this book has brought back memories,some sad,some a bit frightening but most happy,

What a great read!

A great story. it brings back so many memory's to any ex firemen.

Gives a very good insight to the London Fire Brigade from being a cadet fireman through to a senior officer. A book you cannot put down until you reach the end. A very worth while contender.

Terrific read, unputdownable and reminded me of my many happy years in the brigade. We'll done and I look forward to the next one

A worthy nominee. A recommended read.

As a new author Mr Pike would seem to be at something of a disadvantage given the more established,and better known, authors he is up against in this year's 'People's' Prize. That said he has delivered an exceptionally good read in his book Beyond the Flames. It is classic story telling based on his career, both man and boy, in the London Fire Brigade. It has a clear beginning, middle and end. Like any long journey there are just one or two short stretches of rather mundane scenery, but they are the exception to the rule since the book is flowing with well placed anecdotes that link the action, excitement and sadness of a service we all too often take for granted. It is a surprisingly honest account of his career path, which in itself is refreshing, as he gives credit to the many well illustrated characters along the way. He takes pains to avoid the service jargon, but in a book of this nature it is almost impossible to totally avoid. In any event I soon got the hang of what a 'PE' was, and what wearing 'BA' meant. The pictures add to the story telling by putting faces to some of the people involved. If I were to be picky, the quality of the pictures would have been better on gloss paper within this paperback, but that is a publisher issue and not a criticism of the author. Overall a highly recommended read and worthy of anybody's vote in the Non-Fiction category. Well done Mr Pike. I hope to heard more of you in the future.

great book.

A good read & very interesting for anyone who has served in the LFB. May be a bit "in house"for lay people. But never the less a worthwhile read.

A well written book of his life as a fireman , I had a job putting it down at times very interesting read.

A great read it was as though I was seeing the book in pictures not reading printed words. Brutally honest at times on both his personal and professional life.

A great read, brought back lots of memories of station life.

Excellent reading.

I was never a great book reader but this has rekindled so many memories of my late in the Fire Service I cannot wait for the next. The names, the places and those story's so true.

Great stories. Brave anecdotes always leavened by humour.

A remarkable story which is a very engaging read

This book shows a true insight into the life of a fireman, a great read!

great read from page one could not put it down

A great read that blows away the cobwebs after nearly 40 years. Well written and candid, where possible,

As a retired Firefighter (Fireman) myself this book tells life on a fire station as I remember it. a great read.

Such and easy read about those whom Churchill referred to as 'heroes with grimy faces' all be it Pikes post wartime memories.

Great read!

A well written book.

A true story from a mans heart.

Excellent book, well writen.

It is a wonderfully human book written in a way you can identify with. It is written with such love and passion.

Excellent

A well written book showing how a firefighters life has periods of calm followed by periods of frantic activity.

A first class book!

Brilliant read, and some funny things that have happened to the author. Great book

This has awakened memories of a career that is second to none.

Very enjoyable and engaging read.

Excellent read, well written.

A fascinating insight of the London Fire Service.

Wonderful read about a First class London Fireman.

I am a London firefighter for 24 years so I know this book will be a compelling and enjoyable read.

Loved this. Gives great insight into London Fire Brigade, the work the fun and comradeship. I enjoyed hearing about people and events I knew of as my husband was in the brigade alongside the author, Dave's " guiding light". Read it!!

A fabulous insight into the life of a truly commited member of the fire service. A must read.

An important written contribution towards recording the history of this dedicated, skilled and well trained corp of men and women who daily encounter the results of horrendous incidents caused by fire, collision and other disasters.

A good read!!!! very moving and poignant......a fire service of world quality and ability....nice one Dave Pike.

My husband was in the brigade at this time and I met a lot of the characters in the book.....a great read and a good memory jogger...well done Dave.

I was a fireman at the time this book is covering....it is a very accurate and warm reminiscence of my whole career through the LFB, all of the characters from 1975 to the finish are perfectly portrayed and have been truly represented....its been a wonderful experience to re-live those days for I believe things will never be the same again so this book marks the true bravery, gallantry and strength of a profession wherein fire fighters may be called upon to sacrifice their lives for complete strangers in circumstances where they are under enormous pressure from an uncontrolled and highly dangerous event.....a truly glorious and historic portrayal of events and comradeship. I would also like to add a personal note.........I would like to place on record the highest respect that I have for this author Divisional Officer Dave Pike who represented his Brigade, for the whole of his career, in an exemplary fashion and with great modesty......this man deserves this prize not just for his authorship and his memory in remembering these things but for his whole lifes work....I salute you Dave.................Dean Van Stratten - LFB retired.

This book captures the atmosphere of those years perfectly and will be recognised by any fireman around the world. Excellent read I nearly missed to fire calls because I couldn't put it down.

An excellent account of David Pike's life in the London Fire Brigade. Touching yet amusing at times. Definitely worth reading.

Well written and completely factual.

the smell of the smoke jumps out from the pages

Its a warts an all book from a man who dedicated his life to the protection of others. It's written without much of the jargon you'd might expect for this type of book; but even when there is there's a glossary to help you. I wholeheartedly recommend this book , just so you'll get a feel for a firemans lot. Not always pretty, but peppered with the humour that abounds within the Fire Service.

His stories are very good good luck to him xx

A wonderful read and a worthy contender for this award.

Great memories

It took me ages to read this book, every chapter brought back memories as I joined about the same time as David. This resulted in me going back and re-reading chapters. A fantastic read bringing back firefighting in the 70's and 80's with all the laughter and tears. This book will be going to my children and grandchildren as a description of my life in the London Fire Brigade. Thank you Pikey

Although it is my story it is the men and women of the London Fire Brigade that made the telling possible. This nomination is as much for them as it is for me.

An excellent account of what it was like to be in the London Fire Brigade during some of its most difficult challenges.

A very good insight into the life of a fireman.

If you are a member or ex member of the emergency services or just a casual reader this is a must read. A creditable version of "London's Burning"

A frank, honest and wholly realistic account of a varied, interesting and dedicated career as a London Firefighter in the 'front line'. Excellent read.

A great read,hard to put down.

Being an ex London firefighter with 28 years service I have found this book informative, entertaining & it brought back many memories. Thank you Dave Pike for sharing your memories.

Brilliant book tells of the life in the fire brigade the public don't get to see.

A realistic account of firefighters working for the London Fire Brigade, very well written by Mr Pike.