Product Description

Miner's son David Powlett-Jones returns from the carnage of the Western Front in 1918, shell-shocked and bitterly hardened by the violence of war. He begins life again as a master at a remote Devon school, controlling the destiny of boys barely his junior.

As the years pass David becomes a teacher of rare talent, begins to find peace, and is able to adjust to the changes which are overwhelming society. But soon he will have to face up to the prospect of another terrible war.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #155364 in Books
• Published on: 2005-12-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 672 pages

Sunday Express
'Highly recommended. Combines tension with a splendid sense of atmosphere and vivid characterisation. An excellent read'

Review
Praise for R F Delderfield:

'Mr Delderfield's manner is easy, modest, heartwarming' (Evening Standard )

'He built an imposing artistic social history that promises to join those of his great forebears in the long, noble line of the English novel. His narratives belong in a tradition that goes back to John Galsworthy and Arnold Bennett' (Life Magazine )

'R F Delderfield is a born storyteller' ( Sunday Mirror )

'Sheer, wonderful storytelling' (Chicago Tribune )

'It is always a pleasure to read R F Delderfield, because he never seems to be ashamed of writing well . . . Today he is a bestseller wherever English language books are read' (Books and Bookmen )

'Highly recommended. Combines tension with a splendid sense of atmosphere and vivid characterisation. An excellent read' (Sunday Express )

Life Magazine
'His narratives belong in a tradition that goes back to John Galsworthy and Arnold Bennett'

Customer Reviews

Fabulous
I saw this as a boy on TV, but it's even better in the written form.

The book is long but so is a life and this evocation of the career of a committed schoolteacher with all its trials, triumphs and tragedies is wonderfully depicted by Delderfield.

There are lots of books about school from the point of view of its pupils but, so far as books about being a teacher are concerned, TSTAMD is still 'the daddy'.

Buy it now.

A brilliant book
Having recently watched the tv adaption I decided to read the book to see how it compared and was very favourably surprised. I have been unable to put it down since starting it and I disagree with the reviewer who said it's a long book - I'm just coming up to the end of the book and don't think it's long enough!! I can't recommend RF Delderfield's books enough. He is a master at creating great, sweeping sagas which totally engulf the reader. If it's got his name on the cover it's definitely worth a look!

a book to rediscover reading
Like many people I left school with a deep distrust of novels. Turgid, boring and meant to annoy was what they seemed to be. Then, four year later, I read this book. And I was totally sold on reading. This was the book that converted me from a bibliophobe to a bibliophile. It is easy written, heartwarming, challenging without being rough and rude as so modern novels are.

If you want to settle down to a beautiful read and relax in a story, you can't go very much wrong with this one. 25 years on I am still reading novels, and I have Delderfield's schoolmaster's tale to thank for it.