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| View Larger Image | Letters From the Trenches: A Soldier of the Great War | Hardcoverby Bill Lamin (Author)
| List Price: | $26.95 | | Price: | $20.48 | | You Save: | $6.47 (24%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Hardcover | | Publisher: | Michael O'Mara | | Edition: | annotated editionth Edition | | Page Count: | 192 Pages | | Publication Date: | June 01, 2009 | | Sales Rank: | 1,022,008st |
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FEATURES | - ISBN13: 9781843173731
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
- Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
The youngest of four children, Harry Lamin was born in Derbyshire in 1877 and left school at the age of 13 to work in the lace industry. In December 1916 he was conscripted into the 9th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, an infantry unit with which he served in France and Italy until more than a year after the war had ended. On the Western Front he took part in the Battle of the Messines Ridge in June 1917, and then in the costly, long-drawn-out agony of the Battle of Passchendaele (Third Ypres), in which he was wounded. Harry’s battalion was later ordered to Italy as part of an Anglo-French force sent to shore up the Italian Army. Seeing action on the Piave front, the 9th York and Lancasters served in Italy until Austria sued for an armistice after the crushing defeat of Vittorio Veneto. With the war over, Harry remained in Italy, transferring to the Royal Munster Fusiliers in April 1919, and was finally demobbed in January 1920. Throughout his time in service, Harry wrote beautifully observed letters home to members of his family and to friends. Whether describing some action during Third Ypres; the frequent and often tedious marches and train journeys that were the lot of the “poor bloody infantry;” the mountainous country of the Italian front or the shattered landscape of Flanders, his narrative is always stoical, uncomplaining, good-humoured, and profoundly moving. Annotated, edited, and arranged by Harry’s grandson—who discovered the letters in a drawer—this is an insightful tribute to a fine, brave, selfless and honourable man who endured everything that the war could throw at him and still came up smiling. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 2 reviews)
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Letters from the Trenches by James R. Benvie (Houston TX)  5 Stars
June 15, 2009
Have been following Harry on the blog and was eager to get the book, so was delighted when Amazon US finally shipped it out. The book is as good as the blog it tells us of the experiences of an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances. The book contains the letters of Harry Lamin, the author's grandfather, written from the WWI trenches to his brother Jack and sister Kate. The book contains much of the material from the blog, there is material omitted and added,(this is I am sure due to the different media forms), but it gives the same feeling of identification with Harry and his comrades. The book contains no revelations or blinding historical insights, but paints a picture of the stoic, reliable, courageous "British Tommy", who gets the job done despite the horrors and difficulties. I am unsure if I identify so easily with Harry because he is the ordinary grandfather figure of my childhood, but the book I am sure will work for later generations as well.
Those still following the blog will have only reached July 1919, so I will only say the Bill Lamin, does an excellent job of drawing everything to a close.
It is amazing to think the this period is still in living memory,(There are still two living Veterans of WWI), but it is a different world from ours: Harry and his comrades entered the war as 19th century men and when it ended those who came home were 20th century men.
This book helps us understand these changes through the eyes of one such ordinary man.
I am sure Harry would never have imagined himself as the main character in a book, let alone understand a blog, and as far as appearing on a postage stamp; well that was for the King!
[...]
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Great reading on the 'Great War'! by Paula Friedrich 5 Stars
June 12, 2009
Bill Lamin, a retired teacher, started an online blog with his grandfather's WWI letters from the front as both a history lesson for his pupils, and a way to preserve those letters; with this book, he has successfully turned them into a moving and engaging portrait of an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances. The book follows Harry Lamin from civilian life, a very human man at home with his family, through some of the worst fighting of World War One.
The book is more than simply a reiteration of the blog; it expands on the background to those letters, with clear and informative explanations of the events surrounding Harry and his army mates: soldiers like Harry rarely if ever had the 'big picture'; they knew only what they themselves saw, not what was happening in the wider war. There are quite a few additional photos in the book that were not posted on the blog, plus, of course, the letters themselves.
I cannot recommend it highly enough to anyone, particularly those interested in WWI!
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