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Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > War fiction > First World War fiction
In 1914 Paul Baumer and his classmates are marched to the local
recruiting office by a sentimentally patriotic form-master. On a
calm October day in 1918, only a few weeks before the Armistice,
Paul will be the last of them to be killed. In All Quiet on the
Western Front he tells their story. A few years after it was
published in 1929 the Nazis would denounce and publicly burn
Remarque's novel for insulting the heroic German army - in other
words, for 'telling it like it was' for the common soldier on the
front line where any notions of glory and national destiny were
soon blasted away by the dehumanizing horror of modern warfare.
Remarque has an extraordinary power of describing fear: the
appalling tension of being holed up in a dugout under heavy
bombardment; the animal instinct to kill or be killed which takes
over during hand-to-hand combat. He also has an eye for the grimly
comic: the consignment of coffins Paul and his friends pass as they
make their way up the line for a new offensive; the young soldiers
joyfully tucking into double rations when half their company are
unexpectedly wiped out. Remarque's elegy for a sacrificed
generation is all the more devastating for the laconic prose in
which his teenaged veteran narrates shocking experiences which for
him have become the stuff of daily life. Paul cannot imagine a life
after the war and can no longer relate to his family when he
returns home on leave. Only the camaraderie of his diminishing
circle of friends has any meaning for him. He comes especially to
depend on an older comrade, Stanislaus Katczinsky, and one of the
most poignant moments in the book is when he carries the wounded
Kat on his back under fire to the field dressing station, with
starkly tragic outcome. The saddest and most compelling war story
ever written.
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The Way Back
(Paperback)
Erich Maria Remarque; Translated by Brian Murdoch
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The sequel to All Quiet on the Western Front, one of the most
powerful novels of the First World War and a twentieth-century
classic. After four gruelling years the survivors of the Great War
finally make their way home. Young, spirited Ernst is one. Finding
himself inexplicably returned to his childhood bedroom, restless,
chafing, confused, he knows he must somehow resurrect his life. But
the way back to peace is far more treacherous than he ever
imagined. If All Quiet on the Western Front was a lament for a lost
generation, this sequel speaks with the same resonant voice for
those who came back. The is a new definitive English translation by
expert Remarque translator Brian Murdoch. 'Remarque is a craftsman
of unquestionably first rank' New York Times Book Review
A DEVASTATING WAR. A LOVE THAT WON'T DIE. A sweeping and sumptuous
historical epic from Hilary Jones. The 1918 armistice has ended the
war in Europe. But as the 1920's roars to life, it is an age of
social change, excess, shellshock and ghosts. Having shown courage
and strength on the battlefield, Will and Grace are back in the UK
and working at the cutting edge of modern medicine. At every turn
they see a country in flux. Many of their contemporaries are
following serious paths, committing to causes of the day - workers'
rights, votes for women, an independent Ireland. Others seek refuge
in more earthly and bohemian pleasures. But as young parents and
practising medics, they have - more than anything - duties of care
and compassion that cannot be ignored. The follow-up to Hilary
Jones's acclaimed debut novel, Frontline, perfect for fans of Ken
Follett, Kate Mosse and Jeffrey Archer. ___________ PRAISE FOR DR
HILARY JONES 'The doctor hits the spot and deserves to be read' -
Jeffrey Archer 'A story to get the heart racing' - Daily Express
'An enthralling tale' - Daily Mirror 'Dr Hilary is a master
storyteller' - Lorraine Kelly CBE
Winner of the BOA Short Fiction Prize Finalist for the the Big
Other Award for Fiction The Complete Writings of Art Smith, the
Bird Boy of Fort Wayne, Edited by Michael Martone is a Midwestern
mythology that celebrates facts, fiction, and the impermanence of
art. Inspired by the real-life pioneer of early aviation who
invented the art of skywriting, the brief stories in this
collection by "editor" Michael Martone follow the adventures of Art
Smith and his authorship in the sky. In the spirit of Kurt Vonnegut
and Hayao Miyazaki, The Complete Writings of Art Smith, the Bird
Boy of Fort Wayne, Edited by Michael Martone recreates the wonder
of the early flying machines as it reimagines the unwritten stories
we tell about the daredevils who flew them.
March 1911: Betty Dean needs a job and somewhere to live, and
eventually, a husband - according to her mother. Sent into service
at Stowford House in Cheshire, where the days are long and the work
is gruelling, Betty's dreams of making something of herself seem
even further away. But soon she is forced to return to The
Potteries, carrying with her a dreadful secret which could leave
her reputation in tatters. Could WW1 bring new opportunities or
will Betty run out of options? A new job on the trams throws her a
lifeline. Meeting fellow tram girls Connie and Jean brings the joy
of friendship, even if Betty struggles with having to keep secrets
from her new pals. When Duncan Kennedy, a shy but charming soldier,
enters Betty's life, it seems that she may finally find love. But
opening herself up isn't easy, and when he leaves for the front,
she finds herself alone once again. As the Great War rumbles on,
Betty's life in The Potteries is full of its own battles... A
heart-breaking WW1 saga that fans of Pam Howes and Nancy Revell
will love. Readers are loving The Potteries Girls on the Home Front
'Well written, with a lovely storyline and lovely
characters...couldn't put it down.' Reader Review 'Family saga at
its best. Brilliant book - can't wait to read more by this author.'
Reader Review 'A good cosy read, but not without a little
heartbreak and some feel good moments as well to delight the
reader.' Reader Review Praise for Lynn Johnson's Potteries Girls
series: 'A poignant, emotional and heart-wrenching read...best read
with a box of tissues handy' Bookish Jottings 'This truly was a
fabulous story from beginning to end and I struggled to put it
down!... richly detailed, beautifully written and the storyline
along with the characters was enthralling' Rose is Reading 'I
highly recommend reading this and being transported back in time.
An excellent historical fiction that had me compulsively turning
the pages.' Books and Bookends 'Overall, I loved it. There were
lots of moments that made me gasp and others that almost made me
cry, and then there were those that made me smile and sigh.' Jess
Bookish Life 'heartwarming and emotional. I absolutely love the
story line...I really enjoyed the setting and the characters. If
you enjoy historical fiction, this is definitely a book to read!'
Jessica Belmont Book Reviews 'I'm quite astonished this is a debut
novel... The characters came alive on the page, and it's a fully
rounded story... A fabulous read' Grace J Reviewerlady 'an
emotional, captivating read which is perfect for anyone who loves a
good saga!... a fantastic read that quickly drew me into the story
and kept my interest throughout with its fabulous plot.' Over The
Rainbow Book Blog 'the author winds her story around your person
and snares your heart... Though filled with much darkness and
despair, there is also hope and love' Insatiable Readers 'Johnson
has a Cookson flair...she does capture the heart and soul of her
characters.' Cheryl M-M Book Reviews
The final book in Cynthia's War at Home series 'Always a
stay-up-all-night read with Cynthia Harrod-Eagles! ***** 'Fabulous
series of books, this author never disappoints' ***** 'I love
Cynthia Harrold-Eagles' historical novels' ***** 1919: The war is
over, but peace is yet to come. As men are demobbed, women must
give up positions that gave them freedom. Edward is given an
important job at the Peace Conference in Paris, but it means more
lonely months away from Beattie and his hoped-for reconciliation.
Fred's unit is sent to the Rhine, and Cook feels a guilty relief
that her uprooting has been postponed. Laura's friend Ransley
volunteers for a further six months, and rather than go home, Laura
finds a new outlet: conducting guided tours of the battlefields. In
England there are strikes and unrest, hardship and widespread
unemployment, and everywhere the sight of the wounded to remind the
nation of what it has paid for peace. But as the first, difficult
year post-war comes to an end, there are great changes afoot for
the Hunter household, wonderful surprises, and the promise of a new
start. Pack Up Your Troubles is the sixth and final book in the War
at Home series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, author of the much-loved
Morland Dynasty novels. Set against the real events of 1919, at
home and on the front, this concludes the vivid and rich family
drama featuring the Hunter family and their servants.
The Booker Prize-winning modern classic of contemporary war fiction
from the Women's Prize-shortlisted author of The Silence of the
Girls Recommended by Richard Osman 'One of the few real
masterpieces of late twentieth-century British fiction' Jonathan
Coe 'Original, delicate and unforgettable' Independent 'A new
vision of what the First World War did to human beings, male and
female, soldiers and civilians. Constantly surprising and formally
superb' A. S. Byatt, Daily Telegraph 1917, Scotland. At
Craiglockhart War Hospital in Scotland, army psychiatrist William
Rivers treats shell-shocked soldiers before sending them back to
the front. In his care are poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred
Owen, and Billy Prior, who is only able to communicate by means of
pencil and paper. . . Regeneration, The Eye in the Door and The
Ghost Road follow the stories of these men until the last months of
the war. Widely acclaimed and admired, Pat Barker's Regeneration
trilogy paints with moving detail the far-reaching consequences of
a conflict which decimated a generation. The Regeneration trilogy:
Regeneration The Eye in the Door The Ghost Road
From bestselling author Diney Costeloe, a young woman fights to
save a treasured war memorial and uncovers a tragic story that
reverberates from World War I to the present day. 'This is our
secret, pet. You mustn't tell anyone about us planting this tree
for dad. It's our secret.' 1921. In the sleepy village of Charlton
Ambrose, eight ash trees stand as a timeless memorial to the men
killed in the Great War. On a dark and chilly night, a ninth tree
appears. Who planted it and why? And who was 'the unknown soldier'
for whom it is marked? 2001. Eighty years later, the memorial is
under threat from developers. Local reporter, Rachel Elliott, is
determined to save it, and to solve the mystery of the ninth tree.
The trail will take her into the dark heart of her own family
history; to a great, but tragic, love; and to a secret that has
been kept since the war to end all wars. Published in ebook as THE
NURSES OF ST CROIX. What readers are saying about THE LOST SOLDIER:
'I didn't want it to end. It is beautifully written and pulls on
every emotional string in our bodies' 'I loved reading this ...
Diney Costeloe is a fabulous author ... I really felt as though I
was living the story with the characters. I definitely recommend
this book!' 'Diney Costeloe is an awesome writer, all her books are
just wonderful and unputdownable'.
** LONGLISTED FOR THE CWA HISTORICAL DAGGER ** THE WESTERN FRONT,
JULY 1918. Gregor Reinhardt is a young lieutenant in a stormtrooper
battalion on the Western Front when one of his subordinates is
accused of murdering a group of officers, and then subsequently
trying to take his own life. Not wanting to believe his friend
could have done what he is accused of, Reinhardt begins to
investigate. He starts to uncover the outline of a conspiracy at
the heart of the German army, a conspiracy aimed at ending the war
on the terms of those who have a vested interest in a future for
Germany that resembles her past. The investigation takes him from
the devastated front lines of the war, to the rarefied heights of
society in Berlin, and into the hospitals that treat those men who
have been shattered by the stress and strain of the war. Along the
way, Reinhardt comes to an awakening of the man he might be. A man
freed of dogma, whose eyes have been painfully opened to the
corruption and callousness all around him. A man to whom calls to
duty, to devotion to the Fatherland and to the Kaiser, ring
increasingly hollow...
"A crackling portrayal of everyday American heroines...A triumph."
- Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of
Fifth Avenue A group of young women from Smith College risk their
lives in France at the height of World War I in this sweeping novel
based on a true story-a skillful blend of Call the Midwife and The
Alice Network-from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig.
A scholarship girl from Brooklyn, Kate Moran thought she found a
place among Smith's Mayflower descendants, only to have her
illusions dashed the summer after graduation. When charismatic
alumna Betsy Rutherford delivers a rousing speech at the Smith
College Club in April of 1917, looking for volunteers to help
French civilians decimated by the German war machine, Kate is too
busy earning her living to even think of taking up the call. But
when her former best friend Emmeline Van Alden reaches out and begs
her to take the place of a girl who had to drop out, Kate
reluctantly agrees to join the new Smith College Relief Unit. Four
months later, Kate and seventeen other Smithies, including two
trailblazing female doctors, set sail for France. The volunteers
are armed with money, supplies, and good intentions-all of which
immediately go astray. The chateau that was to be their
headquarters is a half-burnt ruin. The villagers they meet are in
desperate straits: women and children huddling in damp cellars,
their crops destroyed and their wells poisoned. Despite constant
shelling from the Germans, French bureaucracy, and the threat of
being ousted by the British army, the Smith volunteers bring
welcome aid-and hope-to the region. But can they survive their own
differences? As they cope with the hardships and terrors of the
war, Kate and her colleagues find themselves navigating old
rivalries and new betrayals which threaten the very existence of
the Unit. With the Germans threatening to break through the lines,
can the Smith Unit pull together and be truly a band of sisters?
Top voices in historical fiction deliver an unforgettable
collection of short stories set in the aftermath of World War
I-featuring bestselling authors such as Hazel Gaynor, Jennifer
Robson, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig and edited by Heather
Webb. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh
month...November 11, 1918. After four long, dark years of fighting,
the Great War ends at last, and the world is forever changed. For
soldiers, loved ones, and survivors the years ahead stretch with
new promise, even as their hearts are marked by all those who have
been lost. As families come back together, lovers reunite, and
strangers take solace in each other, everyone has a story to tell.
In this moving anthology, nine authors share stories of love,
strength, and renewal as hope takes root in a fall of poppies.
Featuring: Jessica Brockmole Hazel Gaynor Evangeline Holland Marci
Jefferson Kate Kerrigan Jennifer Robson Beatriz Williams Lauren
Willig Heather Webb
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The Eyes Of Asia
(Paperback)
Rudyard Kipling; Introduction by Charles Allen
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R300
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Kipling's The Eyes of Asia takes the reader on a remarkable journey
of discovery into the heart and soul of four soldiers of the Indian
Army who fought for King and the British Empire in the First World
War.Their touching stories are narrated through a series of
imagined letters written in the blood-drenched battlefields of
war-torn France and makeshift hospitals on England's coastline to
their loved ones back home in the relative peace of their villages
in India and the North-West Frontier. Kipling brings the
experiences of these uneducated Sikh, Hindu and Muslim military men
to life, weaving the horrors of a foreign war like no other with
acts of kindness arising from cultural encounters with French
farmers and British military personnel.Through unofficial access to
translations of scores of intercepted Indian Army letters, Kipling
gained an intimate understanding of the plight and humanity of men
neglected in Western literature after the War. To Kipling, they
were unsung heroes whose sacrifices had made a decisive impact on
the British war effort.
Death still comes to Everyman, but this study of three
twentieth-century German plays shows the harder challenge of living
without salvation in an age of war and unprecedented mass
destruction. Death comes to everyone, and in the late-medieval
morality play of Everyman the familiar skeleton forces the
universalized central figure to come to terms with this. Only his
inner resources, in the forms of Good Deeds and Knowledge, ensure
that he repents and is redeemed. Three important twentieth-century
German plays echo Everyman - Toller's Hinkemann, Borchert's The Man
Outside, and Frisch's The Arsonists/Firebugs - but the
unprecedented scale of killing in the First and Second World Wars
changed the view of death, while in the Cold War the nuclear
destruction literally of everyone became a possibility. Brian
Murdoch traces the heritage of Everyman in the three plays in terms
of dramatic effect, changes in the image of Death, and especially
the problem of living with existential guilt. Death, now over-fed,
still has to be faced, but Everyman has the harder problem of
living with the awareness of human wickedness without the
possibility of salvation. All three plays have tended to be viewed
in their specific historical contexts, but by viewing them less
rigidly and as part of a long dramatic tradition, Murdoch shows
that all present a message of lasting and universal significance.
They pose directly to the theater audience questions not just of
how to cope with death, but how to cope with life.
Towards the end of the war as the Germans are in their final
retreat in November 1918, a British raiding party stumbles across a
strange and eerie scene in a ruined chateau, under fire. Following
the strains of a familiar tune, and understandably perplexed as to
who would be playing the piano in the midst of shellfire, they
discover a German officer lying dead at the keys, next to a
beautiful woman in full evening dress, also deceased. But the
officer is the spitting image of G B Bretherton, a British officer
missing in action.... So follows a tale of mystery and identity,
first published in 1930, which is not only an authentic account of
conditions at the Front, but also a remarkable thriller, with a
highly unusual plot, which won Bretherton comparisons to John
Buchan and the best of the espionage writers. John Squire, the
influential editor of the London Mercury said 'of the English
war-books, undoubtedly the best is Bretherton.' The Morning Post
thought it 'one of the best of the English war novels. I do not
expect anything much better.' The Sunday Times pinpointed its dual
attraction: it was both 'a mystery as exciting as a good detective
story and an extraordinarily vivid account of trench-warfare'.
The masterful second novel in Pat Barker's classic 'Regeneration'
trilogy - from the Booker Prize-winning and Women's
Prize-shortlisted author of The Silence of the Girls WINNER OF THE
1993 GUARDIAN FICTION PRIZE 'Spellbinding and startlingly original'
Sunday Telegraph 'Gripping, moving, profoundly intelligent'
Independent on Sunday 'A new vision of what the First World War did
to human beings, male and female, soldiers and civilians' A. S.
Byatt, Daily Telegraph London, 1918. Billy Prior is working for
Intelligence in the Ministry of Munitions. But his private
encounters with women and men - pacifists, objectors, homosexuals -
conflict with his duties as a soldier, and it is not long before
his sense of himself fragments and breaks down. Forced to consult
the man who helped him before - army psychiatrist William Rivers -
Prior must confront his inability to be the dutiful soldier his
superiors wish him to be. The Eye in the Door is a heart-rending
study of the contradictions of war and of those forced to live
through it. The Regeneration Trilogy: Regeneration The Eye in the
Door The Ghost Road
Susan Hill's classic novel Strange Meeting tells of the power of
love amidst atrocities. 'He was afraid to go to sleep. For three
weeks, he had been afraid of going to sleep . . .' Young officer
John Hilliard returns to his battalion in France following a period
of sick leave in England. Despite having trouble adjusting to all
the new faces, the stiff and reserved Hilliard forms a friendship
with David Barton, an open and cheerful new recruit who has still
to be bloodied in battle. As the pair approach the front line, to
the proximity of death and destruction, their strange friendship
deepens. But each knows that soon they will be separated . . . 'A
remarkable feat of imaginative and descriptive writing' The Times
'The feeling of men under appalling stress at a particular moment
in history is communicated with almost uncanny power' Sunday Times
'Truly Astonishing' Daily Telegraph
Now repackaged--the timeless classic of World War I Germany that
speaks to generation after generation.
The stories of an American Indian sniper caught up in the Great War
and of his aunt, one of the last Cree Indians to live off the land,
are intertwined in a mesmerising journey as they travel home over
three days This beautiful, haunting novel begins as Niska is
reunited with her nephew, Xavier, after he returns from the horrors
of the First World War. As she slowly paddles her canoe on the
3-day journey to take him home, travelling through the stark but
stunning landscape of Northern Canada, their respective stories
emerge. Niska is the last Cree Indian woman living off the land in
Canada. She recalls her memories of growing up among her kinsfolk,
of trying to remain true to her ancestors and traditions in a
rapidly changing world. Xavier joined the war reluctantly at the
urging of his only friend, Elijah - a Cree boy raised in the
reservation schools. Elijah and Xavier honed their hunting skills
as snipers in the horrors of the trenches and the wastes of
No-man's land. But as the war continues, they react in very
different ways to the never-ending carnage around them. Niska
realises that in the aftermath of war, Xavier's very soul is dying
- but will the three day journey home be enough to help him find
hope again?
"Mrs. Dalloway is a novel that thinks with extraordinary precision
and virtuosity about what modern novelists mean when they talk
about character: how characters are born; how they age and grow; .
. . how they reach for one another in moments of terror and joy,
and, finding nothing solid to hold onto, shrink back, unfurling the
dazzling intricacies of their thoughts like the petals of the
flowers Clarissa Dalloway sees at the florist's shop, each burning
in solitude, 'softly, purely in the misty beds.' The intimacy we
are offered with her characters comes at the expense of the
intimacy they cannot offer each other." -MERVE EMRE, from the
Introduction
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My Friends
(Paperback, Main)
Emmanuel Bove, Janet Louth; Introduction by Garnette Cadogan
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R376
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"Death of a Hero," published in 1929 was the author's literary
response to the war. He went on to publish several works of
fiction. In 1942, having moved to the United States, he began to
write biographies. This last work was very controversial, as it was
highly critical of the man still regarded as a war hero.
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