Product Description

When war broke out in 1914, no one was more caught up in the popular tide of patriotism than the young boys who wanted to fight for King and country. This is their untold story - the heroics of boys aged as young as thirteen who enlisted for full combat training. Meet, for example, Dick Trafford who was gassed and wounded three times and went over the top with one ear drum burst by the noise of battle before he was just sixteen.

At the time their stories were buried in censorship and government control. Now, the last survivors, all well over 100 years old, have their chance to hand down their stories of sacrifice and survival. Drawing on these unique testimonies, as well as diaries and letters, Richard van Emden makes this truly insightful investigation into the perennially affecting topic of children and war.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14358 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
'Engaging, well-written and balanced study' -- The Times

The Times
'Engaging, well-written and balanced study'

About the Author
Richard van Emden has established himself as a leading oral historian, with an exclusive archive specialising in the First World War. He has been interviewing veterans for over 20 years, and has met almost 300 on his tours to battlefields, developing close friendships with the last survivors. He has worked as a researcher and historical advisor on a number of television documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4, and is the author of six books.

Customer Reviews

An Extraordinarily Moving Book � a must read.
I have read many books on the First World War and have awaited this book with eager anticipation following the Channel 4 TV programme on the same subject. I was certainly not disappointed by this work as it packed so much information into its pages.

Richard van Emden has unearthed some incredible research on the boys that joined up, trained, fought and sadly died for our country in the First World War. I find it extraordinary that no one had ever thought to write about such a poignant subject. This book covers the story with great detail, highlighting some amazing cameos. Most incredible was the story of 15 year old Jack Pouchot who won the DCM for bravery. Imagine a 15 year old doing that today!

Another gem unearthed was that of an officer of the Accrington Pals commissioned at the tender age of 15 years old. To be in command of men at that age defies description, yet he still led his men over the top on 1st July 1916, the infamous first day of the Somme to be met by withering German resistance. And all at just 16 years old! One can only feel immense pride intermingled with sadness at such actions.

The sheer number of underage soldiers who fought in the British Army is staggering and van Emden's work cannot be praised too highly for shedding new light on this neglected sphere of the conflict. I still find it incredible that sitting here in the 21st century, writing this review on my PC, that it was only a few years ago that van Emden interviewed many of the veterans whose testimonies are contained within this book. The trenches, mud, machine guns and artillery seem a lifetime away, certainly from a different era, but credit must go to the author for his dedication in tracking down these men to capture their stories for the next generation.

A wonderful, thought-provoking and highly poignant book, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Compelling reading
This is not a book I would normally buy, however, after seeing, by chance, the cover featuring three terribly young boy going out to war I thought I would try to read something a little different. This book has revealed a world of which I had little idea, but the stories of these boys, as young as thirteen, are both gripping and heart rending.

There are fascinating picture sections too - there is a reproduction of a joining up form of a boy of fifteen, who became an officer and was later killed. His handwriting is so childlike, yet this boy was an acting Captain at sixteen! Other pictures show boys stripped to the waist who would be refused entry to the boy scouts today, never mind the army - and all these boys had been fighting in France.

I am impressed that the author has found and interviewed survivors who are aged between 105 and 108 years old - what a fascinating story they have to tell. This has to be the last oral testimony from that devastating war.

This is a superb book! What more can I say?

A brilliant history
Boy Soldiers of the Great War is how history ought to be written. It's a riveting, deeply moving account of the tens of thousands of boys and young men who not only served their country, but, as van Emden shows, quite probably saved it.

van Emden has done his homework and it shows on every page. While other oral histories simply collect and present first-person accounts, van Emden has discovered many previously untold stories, then puts them in social, political, personal and historical context.

Once started, the book won't be put down. Once finished, it won't be forgotten.