A Foreign Field | 
 enlarge | Author: Ben Macintyre
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £14.99
Buy New: £2.75
You Save: £12.24 (82%)
New (1) Used (28) from £0.01
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 603703
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
ISBN: 0002571226
EAN: 9780002571227
ASIN: 0002571226
Publication Date: November 5, 2001
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: New and ready for immediate dispatch from the UK. Paperback not hardback. Fast dispatch 24-48 hrs. Established seller. Happy to answer any questions.
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
In A Foreign Field Ben MacIntyre has found another story from history's margins In two previous books, Forgotten Fatherland and The Napoleon of Crime, he focused on characters from the footnotes of history, creating compelling narratives from the stories of Nietzsche's sister and of a Victorian master criminal, brought it centre stage and constructed a very powerful drama of love, war and death around it. Robert Digby was a well-educated, middle-class private in the British Expeditionary Force at the beginning of World War I. In the very first month of the war, as the British, French and German armies surged back and forth across tracts of northern France, he became isolated behind enemy lines. When the fluid front lines of the war's first phase rapidly hardened into the murderous stalemate of the trenches, Digby and other British soldiers were permanently trapped in German-occupied territory. Seven, including Digby, took refuge in the small village of Villeret and were given shelter and assistance by the villagers. Under the noses of the German occupiers, they lived in Villeret for 18 months, masquerading as villagers. Relationships between the French peasants and the British soldiers grew strong. Digby fell in love with Claire Dessenne, the 19-year-old daughter of one of his protectors. In November 1915 Claire gave birth to Digby's daughter. Six months later someone in the village betrayed the men to the Germans. Digby and three others were captured, tried as spies and executed by firing squad. Digby's daughter, now in her 80s, still lives in northern France. Using her memories and those of other villagers, archive material and a handful of surviving letters by Digby (including one written to Claire only hours before his execution), Macintyre has produced a real-life story of the First World War as poignant and moving as Sebastian Faulks's novel Birdsong. --Nick Rennison
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
Truly Excellent July 6, 2002
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is an absolutely terrific read. It tells an intensely moving story of Love,honour and betrayal in the Great War. Fast paced and very easy to read, it is a work that can easily be enjoyed by anyone, not only those interested in the Great War.
This book moved me so much that I have only recently returned from visiting the principal places where the story took place.
An absolute classic, truly unputdownable.
 Haunting story of occupied France during WW1 January 28, 2002
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
A superbly well-researched book tracing the remarkable and moving story of a group of British soldiers caught in occupied France in the First World War.
This is a story of love, bravery, betrayal and tragedy elegantly told by a seasoned Times journalist. Of course, the tale itself is compelling, but the real value of this extraordinary book is the detailed picture it provides of how war changes people, destroys entire cultures, depriving communities of their past, their present and their futures.
A Foreign Field's focus on one village, one community gives the reader an opporunity to chart the wider human destructiveness of war.
MacIntyre's brings all the characters to life and tells the story with the skill of an accomplished novelist.
moving December 31, 2001
Gift Card Recipient (Chevy Chase, md USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This story is quite literally un-put-down-able -- an electrifying mystery, tragic love story, and anthem to the hideous waste of war. One wonders after reading this book why anyone would ever, after the Great War, feel compelled to take up arms again. A fine story by a first-rate raconteur.
new talent December 18, 2001
how encouraging to find a novice writer of such promise. mr macintyre has a deft way with words and plot. unlike other reviewers this book did not make me cry. it did make me think about the waste of war. who knows? in time mr macintyre might take his place alongside giants of modern literature. i will watch out for his next book with interest.
a classic of military history December 6, 2001
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The breadth of reviews of this book shows how well Mr Macintyre has tackled his subject. Unlike many of my fellow readers I enjoy books on military matters. I am fascinated by war as a tool of diplomacy and for young men to explore themselves and each other. Unlike most of my books on war this does not advertise itself as a book about war per se. It is ostensibly a mystery of love of betrayal and jolly good at that level it is too. I read it more for Mr Macintyre's wonderful grasp of the dynamics of the Great War. Like other notable military historians Mr Macintyre does not disguise the fact that war is and always will be like it or not. Death and carnage, yes, and young lives cut short certainly and also at the same time dignity as young men find themselves amidst all this. This work sits proudly alongside some of the better books in my extensive library of books on wars.
|
|
|
|
