True Stories from World War I
The Great War has always been an emotive subject, and it’s a difficult task to portray it with both frankness and delicacy for children. This book manages to do both. It relates six stories from the trenches and six from the air over No-Man’s-Land, six true tales of heroism, futility, interest and pathos. Each section includes an introduction, which puts the anecdotes into perspective, and a glossary of terms used in quotes from the actual participants.
Each true tale has a mission – to illustrate part of the life of the soldier or pilot for the reader; from the underground battles between sappers to the Gallipoli landings; the canvas-and-wire pilots taking pot shots at each other with pistols, to the development of and the terror caused by the massive Gotha bombers over Britain. Every aspect of the First World War is covered.
Hepplewhite tells the stories of real participants in the conflict but does it in a way which interests without being salacious. There are basic facts and figures – such as casualties – as well as the words to trench songs and poetry. There are illustrations and reproduced photographs and letters. Considering the awful subject, the author handles everything with respect and decency, and a little well-placed gentle humour lightens the readers’ sensibilities. But he doesn’t patronise or cushion them from the bare facts of this world-changing event. He shows – from a safe position – a world which the modern-day child could scarcely imagine.
