John Lewis-Stempel

I thought I was pretty clued up about the social history of World War I, but this book was a revelation. It described the war, and life in the trenches and beyond from the point of view of the young subalterns who, in leading their men at the Front, had a life expectancy once there of six weeks. These young men, some no older than 17, had been equipped by their education in public schools to be team players, leaders, and military men through their membership of the OTC. They rose to the occasion, leading men often old enough to be their fathers, commanding their respect and even love. Some of these man became officers in their turn, because the public school men, frankly, were mainly all killed. Marlborough School, for example, lost 400 men in the Great War.

This absorbing book describes day to day routines, life in the trenches and away from the front line, sharing letters and memoirs painting a vivid picture of fear, or boredom, of patriotism, of respect by the young men for their troops who had been brought up in such different circumstances, and of the men's for their young officers in this most dreadful of wars. Read it.… (mere)

It's only January, but I may have already read my non-fiction Book of the Year.

Lewis-Stempel combines his interest both in the countryside and in the Great War in this account of the role of the natural world in the conflict. It's already quite widely known that the presence of birds in the soldiers' lives brought solace and interest to a routine where boredom, hellish discomfort and sheer terror co-existed, but here we have an account of the rich interest and affection that birds provoked.

Then there were plants - the emblematic poppy of course, but wild flowers of every kind soothed the soul. And I certainly had no idea that soldiers sent home for seeds to produce prize-winning gardens alongside their wretched trenches, or that soldiers from France to Gallipoli grew vegetables to supplement their rations.

Lewis-Stempel describes the fierce bond between men and the animals who worked alongside them - the official horses, dogs and canaries (yes, they soothed the wounded as they were transported in ambulances), often in appalling circumstances. He talks about the unofficial animals who made life easier - the rat-catching cats, the caged birds, the ferrets.

Then he talks about the wildlife that made life even more hellish - the rats, lice, flies and mosquitoes - which in many cases brought about as much suffering as battle wounds.

He describes how war changed the face of the countryside both in France, and perhaps more surprisingly in England, and explains the birth of the war cemeteries.

This story is told not just in Stempel-Lewis' own terse yet lyrical prose, but in the letters, poems and diaries of the men themselves. Each chapter is interspersed by a section of poems, or of supporting facts and figures.

I won't forget this book. It brought World War I more vividly to life than almost anything else I have previously read.
… (mere)

I seized upon this book, partly as an admirer of Lewis-Stempel's writing, and partly because I too have lived in rural France - though not in the Charente. Lewis-Stempel's quest to become a peasant farmer was not ours, but there was much to recognise and appreciate here. The sheer quantity of bird and insect life; the make-do-and-mend philosophy underpinning daily life; the welcome afforded to incomers who show appreciation and make the effort to integrate; the infuriating nature of French bureaucracy; the love of foraging and of traditional methods. This was a peaceful read, quickly read, yet calming, and evocative of the simpler lifestyle he celebrates.… (mere)