Mervyn Matthews' childhood in the thirties, forties and fifties was remarkable even by the standards of the time. Bombed out of his house during the Swansea blitz, he went to live with his maternal grandmother in the Hafod area of Swansea, was evacuated to west Wales and also spent a long period hospitalised.

As if the discomforts of war were not enough, he was also the centre around which his parents' separation revolved. And little did the young Mervyn know that there were other family secrets waiting to be revealed as he grew older in the austerity of post-war Britain.

Against the backdrop of bombed-out Swansea and the beautiful Gower, and with a cast of friends, teachers, neighbours and his large family - Mervyn's Lot - this is a story by turns comic and poignant, and always true to the life of the times. Illustrated with over 20 period photographs of the author's family and friends.

Mervyn Matthews, translator, writer and retired academic, is more recently the author of a number of books about Russia.