With devastating clarity and gentle humour, Mabel Hewitt takes us through her extraordinary life, from her childhood in the shadow of the First World War right up to the present day. Born in the tumultuous thirties, when the threat of the poorhouse hung over working families, she was just 10 years old when war clouds began to gather across Europe. She remembers air-raid sirens, taking shelter underground with her mother and sisters, and the utterly terrifying Coventry Blitz, when almost two-thirds of the city was destroyed or damaged.

And yet, despite everything, her spirit shines through. Mabel’s War is a poignant account of love and hope during some of the country’s darkest days.

Mabel Hewitt is a sparky, eloquent 92-year-old who endeared herself to millions on a BBC TV programme commemorating WWII. A reviewer for The Times called her “formidably likeable”. Barbara Jones is semi-retired after a long career as war correspondent journalist for various media outlets, covering the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, latterly for The Mail on Sunday. She has ghostwritten a number of books, including “Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend”.