Tunes from the trenches : songs from the first & second world wars

"From Coope, Boyes & Simpson to Sam Sweeney, there's been no shortage of English folkie-type commemorations of the Great War, and in that sense John is a bit slow out of the traps with this one; but once he cranks that trusty squeezebox up, and throws himself into the best-loved hits of the battlefield with his customary vigour, resistance is futile. With the exception of a sinister bugle call (...) he doesn't bother concocting any of the dramatic tensions that others have favoured in this particular arena; but, whether indulging in the great singalongs of the two world wars (...) or the darkly humorous ditties of the times (...), the insights into the attitudes of ordinary solders and the gallows humour that sustained their spirits are rousingly well-aimed".