A Couple Of Books...

[Bayleaf]

Just got the latest catalogue from Postscript, and there are a couple that might be of interest on WW1

The War Walk £3.99 (paperback, original price £7.99)

As its last survivors pass away, the First World War remains as starkly engraved on our collective memory as ever. In this remarkable fusion of history and travelogue, the author, whose father and uncle both fought in that apocalyptic conflict, walks the length of the Western Front from Ostende to St Mihiel, tracing the ebb and flow of battle, while interviews conducted in the 1980s with the dwindling band of veterans record the stark reality of life and death in the trenches.

The Soldier's War £6.99 (hardback, original price £20.00)

Once we could sit enthralled as the veterans themselves talked; now we are left only with the stories, but what stories they are!' Richard van Emden draws on his own interviews with Great War veterans to follow the experiences of British Tommies through the course of the war, and to reflect on themes such as comrades, leave and attitudes towards the enemy. The soldiers' stories are told in their own words, and the photographs are their own, taken in or behind the trenches.

[Guest SuzyC]

Just got the latest catalogue from Postscript, and there are a couple that might be of interest on WW1

The War Walk £3.99 (paperback, original price £7.99)

As its last survivors pass away, the First World War remains as starkly engraved on our collective memory as ever. In this remarkable fusion of history and travelogue, the author, whose father and uncle both fought in that apocalyptic conflict, walks the length of the Western Front from Ostende to St Mihiel, tracing the ebb and flow of battle, while interviews conducted in the 1980s with the dwindling band of veterans record the stark reality of life and death in the trenches.

The Soldier's War £6.99 (hardback, original price £20.00)

Once we could sit enthralled as the veterans themselves talked; now we are left only with the stories, but what stories they are!' Richard van Emden draws on his own interviews with Great War veterans to follow the experiences of British Tommies through the course of the war, and to reflect on themes such as comrades, leave and attitudes towards the enemy. The soldiers' stories are told in their own words, and the photographs are their own, taken in or behind the trenches.

It´s quite right, we did remember their stories first hand and should pass them on accordingly, however, sad to say, we of the swinging sixties were mostly bored by it. My Great Uncle Karl told me (whilst he was enduring WWI as a Sherwood Forrester) about celebrating his 21st birthday in a sheltered French pig sty eating a pork pie which had been sent from home (the pastry must have been good to survive the postal system in those days) and slurping a little French wine. I have a copy of a letter which he sent home which I will try to find and put on the site. However, I always thinks the truly brave people never talked about what they did. I only learned second hand how my Dad won his DFC, he would never have dreamed of telling me personally.