Be inspired and impressed by Eileen Daffern's Essays on a Life - the memoirs of a 93 year old Brighton lady living life at the frontline of the peace movement, available at the Brighton Peace and Environment Centre now (£12 or £10 for members). Peace campaigner, internationalist and feminist, Eileen was born in 1914 in Yorkshire during a time of intense transformation and upheavel. She became politically active during the Second World War and joined the Communist Party in 1941. Hiroshima turned her into a lifelong campaigner for nuclear disarmament, and her driving sense of purpose has shown no sign of diminishing as she now reaches her mid-nineties.

Not just a biography in the traditional sense, this book is rather a social document. It is made up of ten essays, chosen as focal points through which to see Eileen's life unfolding: Landscape, Place, Ancestors, Being A Woman, Work, Politics and Peace (three essays), and Growing Old and Facing Death. Jeremy Paxman, in his article in the Guardian (05/04/07), writes: "At 93, Eileen is still a force to be reckoned with in the campaign against nuclear weapons. How many of us can expect, at the age of 93, to be giving a talk to the United Nations Association, turning out to a Cuba Solidarity Campaign meeting, supporting the Woman's International League for Peace and Freedom or holding activist meetings in our front room?"

While "Essays on a Life" is an interesting book of recent history for anyone to read, it is also a valuable source of information for students of International Politics, Contemporary British History, Peace Studies, Sociology and Woman's Studies.

City Books in Brighton and Hove is the main distributor of the book. It can also be ordered by e-mail: info@citybookshove.co.uk or log on to www.Amazon.co.uk

Marja Voutilainen