Description10-year-old Johnny's toymaker father has volunteered for service in the British Army of World War I. At first, his spirits are high as he completes basic training, but his tone becomes grim once he reaches the front. To ease his son's worries, Johnny's dad carves him little figurines that reflect his experiences in the war. Comprised of letters from his father, followed by Johhny's feelings, Lord of the Nutcracker Men is a haunting and poignant tale. Author Iain Lawrence has written numerous books for young adults, including Ghost Boy and The Smugglers .
DescriptionIn Greenmantle, Richard Hannay, the South African mining engineer and war hero first introduced in Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps, travels across war-torn Europe in search of a German plot and an Islamic messiah. He is joined by three others: John S. Blenkiron, an American who is determined to battle the Kaiser; Peter Pienaar, an old Boer Scout; and the colorful Sandy Arbuthnot, who is modeled on Lawrence of Arabia. Disguised, they travel through Germany to Constantinople and the Russian border to confront their enemies, the hideous Stumm and the evil beauty Hilda von Einem. Their success or failure could change the outcome of the First World War.
DescriptionAt 19, Hennie De Rivera's dreams have no place for the suitable marriage her parents plan for her. Instead, her thoughts are all of the young radical scientist Daniel Roth and their plans to change the world. But their stormy, passionate marriage will bring them into conflict not only with the establishment world of Hennie's prosperous family but all too often with each other. From the riches and rages of turn of the century New York to the squalor and slaughter of the World War I trenches, they must fight against the twists and turns of fate.
DescriptionH.G. Wells sets forth an intriguing first-hand observation of Italy, France, and Britain under severe duress during the "War to End All Wars, " World War I. He insightfully examines the technological effects of modern warfare, particularly the introduction of the tank and aerial bombing on human nature. Two prophetic visions of his philosophy to truly end all war are revealed: the control of war weapons and the creation of a world state.
DescriptionHere are the extraordinary writings of a generation who fought through a war of unprecedented destructive power, and who had to find new voices to express the horror of what they discovered. The great names - Owen, Sassoon - are fully represented, but there are also many poems by lesser-known or unexpected figures, ranging from serving soldiers like Isaac Rosenberg and Richard Aldington to women such as Edith Nesbit and Vera Brittain. The poems are arranged by theme to give a sense of how the writers' feelings and attitudes evolved.
DescriptionAutumn, 1918: Rumors of peace are spreading across America, but spreading even faster are the first cases of Spanish influenza, whispering of the epidemic to come. Maureen Ross, well past a safe childbearing age, is experiencing a difficult pregnancy. Her…
DescriptionIn the beginning months of World War I, a very strange thing happened. After the fierce trench warfare of November and December, on Christmas Eve, 1914, the fighting spontaneously stopped. Men on both sides laid down their arms and came to celebrate Christmas with each other. They shared food parcels across the lines, sang carols together, and erected Christmas trees with candles. They buried the dead, exchanged presents, and even played soccer together. Stanley Weintraub uses the letters and diaries of the men present to underscore the reality of this strange, delicate, twilight-like state of truce, when peace and good will really were for all men. It was with reluctance that the truce came to an end, and men had to get back to the business of killing.
DescriptionWhat happens when a trained killer discovers, in the aftermath of war, that his true vocation is love? Having survived the killing fields of World War I, Fidelis Waldvogel returns home to his quiet German village and marries the pregnant widow of his best…
