Christmas Truce: The Western Front December 1914

by Malcolm Brown and Shirley Seaton

Book Overview

'Just you think,' wrote one soldier to his family, 'that while you were eating your turkey I was out talking with the very men I had been trying to kill a few hours before!' At Christmas 1914 in a war... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0330390651
• ISBN13: 9780330390651
• Release Date: December 1999
• Publisher: Pan Books (UK)
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The best book on the subject

Excellent. I read the lesser, although well-intentioned book by Stanley Weintraub, but this is clearly the best book on the subject of the tragically short Christmas Truce, 1914. The very fact that the truce even arose, suggests the idea that even World War One was a war orchestrated by the World Banking System. There was no logical reason for the Brits and the Germans, who had fought together (as the Prussians) to defeat Napoleon at Waterloo, to go to war with each other. The more you read about how much the troops had in common, and how much they resisted resuming combat, the more angry you become at the sheer fraud underlying modern conflict. I seriously question whether there are any 'honest wars', and I am no pacifist. I just hate to think of people's sons and daughters dying so that rich people get get even richer.

"Our friend the enemy."

Malcolm Brown and Shirley Seaton cover the events that led to, and followed from, the so-called "Christmas Truce" of 1914. In the early months of the great war, the trench lines had become, more or less, set and the enemy soldiers were close enough to speak to one another. The lengthy stalemate led to increased communication in some areas and, on Christmas Eve, to offers of a truce. In other words, "We won't shoot if you don't." Soon soliders from both sides were mingling, exchanging gifts, taking photos, and helping one another bury the dead. The authors let the soldiers speak for themselves as to what the Truce meant from a contemporary, emotional, and/or political standpoint and this objectivity gives the book added weight. An excellent reminder of the true humanity that is within us all, every one, and excellent Christmastime reading. Recommended.