John Crosfield (1915-2012) CBE DSc MA

This is the story of the long life of an inventor, artist, entrepreneur and family historian born into a prominent Quaker family, as seen through his own eyes. His correspondence begins at the age of nine, when he is sent to a boarding school where he is bullied, undernourished, badly housed and frequently ill. But he learns to play the violin, to paint in oils by an inspiring art master and takes an early interest in engineering.

He describes his days at Cambridge, Munich under the Third Reich and WW2 when he develops new mines for the...