Customer Reviews

47 reviews

• ellie hoddinott

  A highly enjoyable and entertaining read. It brings to life the times in the fire brigade in the 60s to the 90s, and whilst there are tragedies along the way the humour, that seems to be an important part of the fireman's coping strategy, does not in any way, devalue the dedication of the firemen in doing their job to the best of their ability. Even if your not an aficionado of fire brigade stories it is an enthralling autobiography that does credit to the author and to the London Fire Brigade. I liked the mix of London's fire service history, the Brigade's highs and lows, and the dangers the fireman faced with little or no public recognition of the challenges they faced. A book to be recommended.
  

• Lee Barnard

  I just want to say what a great book and read. I managed to get a copy from one of the very few book stores here in Sydney. Although I served in the Brigade from 1988 to 2004, some of the images you portrayed reminded me so much of my younger days spent with Dad at Barbican fire station (C26 Red Watch). It was them younger years that craved for me to join the London Fire Brigade. Now some 26 years on, and a senior fire officer myself. I will always pride myself at being a London Fireman. Thank you for your incisive thoughts, your memories and education. Good luck at the Awards on the 28th May 2014.
  

• Denise Zyla

  Although I've not read many biographies I enjoyed this book immensely as it wasn't a 'me, myself, I'. When the author did give himself a tongue in the cheek pat on the back it was always after praising the skills etc. of the rest of the team(s). It was a book featuring many harrowing events "behind the lines" which I remembered well, having worked in the City of London for 30 years before moving to France. To all female readers this is a book that takes us 'beyond the uniform'!"
  

• Jean Postie

  I really enjoyed this book. It was funny, poignant, sad and thought provoking. A very personal story brought alive on the page in very engaging writing. A book I would recommend and I can see why it has been nominated for a book prize. I loved it.
  

• John Harding

  I saw that this book had been nominated for the People's Book Prize 2013 and thought I would give it a try. It was a very good move, since after the first introductory pages I was hooked on the career of this fireman, later senior officer, in the London Fire Brigade. His story is engaging, full of humour, at times gripping and he delivers the sad and tragic events with the style of a seasoned reporter rather than a firefighter. It is both honest and refreshing as it is not all about him, rather its the people (many of whom are wonderful characters) and the events that accompanied his long, and distinguished, career.The title also delivers exactly what is say's. It takes you behind the scene of a service as it was almost two decades ago, and its a poignant reminder of the influence that political correctness and health and safety has had on our everyday lives. I thoroughly recommend this read to anyone who enjoys a good autobiography.
  A first rate read and it has got my vote in the People's Book Prize. Well done David C.Pike.
  

• Jim Geoghegan

  Dave Pike served at the next station to me on the same watch, yet I only spoke to him a couple of times. His reputation was well known but contact always seemed to allude me.
  His book arrived on my desk like a house brick from above and when he asked me to write a short review of it for the RMA Magazine I thought that I would be in for a long and boring task.......wrong!
  After the usual couple of pages to introduce you to Dave’s formative years in south London the book suddenly became a procession of memories of people that I had known, some quite well, Len Knight was my first guvnor at Manchester Square fire station, others just fleetingly but I was hooked. I couldn’t wait to turn the page and find another memory of a job/person or station that I had encountered over my time in the London Fire Brigade. I spent some time trying to work out who some of the described but not named individuals were and I think that the pen picture did provide evidence enough to identify those individuals, if you actually knew them.
  The comments made when in a smoke filled room when not in breathing apparatus rung in my ears; like they were said yesterday and as for the mention of the Lambeth bar, I felt that I was back there, going through ornamental glass and metal door to the dark and warm interior and ordering a pint of Youngs bitter.
  As Dave progresses through the ranks, his experiences at the hands of those above him will ring a peal of bells in the head of anyone who has tried to even climb on the first rung of promotion and his colourful description of individuals, named and unnamed will spark further memories in many of you.
  It’s a great book for those of us who were there, and for those that weren’t. Even as he advanced further into management and he describe s his achievements, he doesn’t wander off in telling us how good he was, well, not often anyway, without crediting those who he worked with who helped him onwards. A rare feat in books written by former senior officers.
  I really could go on forever with the points that raised long forgotten memories but ...... buy the book hard copy or kindle version and re-ignite your own memories.
  

• Tim Alderman

  Beyond the flames. David C. Pike. Well firstly I should say that although I have met Dave a number of times I am not a \mate\ and I have never served with him. Also he\'s achieved much more in the LFB than I ever could or wanted to and I couldn\'t write a book for toffee. The book starts as do many of this ilk with Dave\'s early days going into the Job, incidents, and career progression. It is written in a very easy to read style, absorbing and entertaining. So far very well done. However there are long passages dealing with how he arranged various displays and ceremonies and also his time supervising training school and the Museum etc which I found hard to get through. The star parts of the book were for me the \'inner workings\' of headquarters both Divisional, Area and Brigade and the back biting skullduggery of our leaders......great stuff. All in all an extremely good read, if there is a sequel- more fires and action please and more behind the scenes gossip.
  

• Peter W Humphreys

  I have just finished reading Beyond the Flames. It is a first class account of what actually happens on fire stations in London. Some of the incidents mentioned were very insightful, as often national and local media does not give sufficient information on what actually happened. 30 odd years of a fireman working his way up the slippery slope of promotion, is a very hard thing to achieve. The pitfalls that often need to be overcome to achieve promotion are numerous, not least of all, falling foul of certain senior officers. I think that this book was very well written and would be understood by people outside of the Fire Brigade. I highly recommend this book.
  

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