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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
I enjoyed reading this book from Jim Murphy's perspective. I seriously thought the book was published in Europe because of the honesty that he includes in the history of the Christmas Truce. Quick read!
Definitely a moving historical event. Made me want to read more about WWI. The piece I did not like was the author's comparison between WWI and the conflict in Iraq. I definitely felt like he inserted his own opinion into a nonfiction book. I always struggle with a book written for kids when I feel like the author has a political agenda.
Intermediate war enthusiasts will love this book. It includes many photographs from WW1, along with accessible text about the reasons for the war and the outcomes. Those always on the lookout for peace and Christmas miracles will also appreciate the sensitive way this event was documented.
If your history classes in school were anything like mine, then this is how a typical year would go: Lots of Revolutionary War, lots of Civil War, oh no it's almost the end of the year so let's just skip to WWII, and finally a brief smattering of Vietnam. WWI got the short end of the stick year after year after year when I was growing up. In fact, by the time I graduated from high school I associated only a couple vague images with it: mustard gas, red poppies, and [b:All Quiet On The Western Front|355697|All Quiet on the Western Front|Erich Maria Remarque|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174044948s/355697.jpg|2662852]. Now mine was a particularly silly education, but I worry about kids today. Surely I'm not the only person who went through this. So what do you hand a ten-year-old who wants a really good book on WWI, and also wants it to explain how it happened? There are full-fledged adults operating in the world right now that haven't a clue about who or what Franz Ferdinand was (aside from a contemporary band). I guess what I love so much about Jim Murphy's Truce is that it not only talks about the famous and spontaneous truce between two opposing sides that happened around Christmas Day in 1914, but the author also takes the time to put the whole war into context without wasting so much as a word. This can only be described as senselessness synthesized.
It was considered a bit of a Christmas miracle at the time. A sprawling war, two sides taught to hate one another, and then . . . peace. Apropos of nothing, troops put down their weapons and met in No Man's Land to exchange gifts, sing songs, and play games. But how did it happen? To understand that is to understand WWI within context. Its causes, key players, and ultimately how it ended. Jim Murphy, historian extraordinaire, breaks it down for the kids and delivers a painful but ultimately strangely hopeful encapsulation of a moment in time that was admirable in its unlikelihood. A Time Line, Notes and Sources, additional bibliography, and index are included.
If WWII is "the good war" then WWI's the one we like to try to surreptitiously slip behind our backs. It doesn't have any of the iconography of its successor, nor the sheer black and white of the good and evil of the time. Maybe that's why there aren't that many children's books about it. Truce works as well as it does because it not only clarifies the confusing details (Franz Josef knowing full well that the Serbs weren't behind the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, for example) but also because he's created a narrative for the war. It was dumb as all get out. Not a reason in the world to justify it, really, and the sheer amount of blood spilt is enough to turn your head. Truce is history plus interest for the middle grade non-fiction reader not yet ready for three hundred page tomes.
Even the chapter headings are interesting. They have great titles like "Those Stupid Kings and Emperors" and "Things Were Beginning to Look Unpleasant" which more often than not come from direct quotes of the time. Murphy also gives a human face to the drama. I like to think that he also does a great job of showing how similar the two sides were, particularly when it comes to their commanding officers. When the truce broke out, commanders on both sides were livid. The English would avoid similar Christmas truces in the future with continual artillery barrages. Corporal Adolf Hitler said of it, "Such a thing should never happen in wartime. Have you no German sense of honor left at all?" I think that part of the reason Truce stands out amongst its fellows is that it shows both sides continually. The photographs are taken by both sides. The quotations and memories too. And we even see how nasty propaganda demonizing the enemy was used by opposing countries prior to the war to get the populace involved.
The natural fictional pairing with this book is Michael Foreman's [b:War Game: Village Green to No-Man's-Land|74308|War Game Village Green to No-Man's-Land|Michael Foreman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170851336s/74308.jpg|1023588]. A less immediate association, but no less apt, is Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan. Though ostensibly a kind of Steampunk novel, Westerfeld's book would be a great read after Truce once kids understand the characters and want to hear about them in a fictional setting. Plus, now that they have the rudimentary causes of the war under their belts, they'll be able to better understand historical fiction novels about that time period.
The fact of the matter is, it was a stupid war that killed a lot of people. Murphy even goes so far as to show how it helped sow the seeds that led to WWII. That makes it all the crazier that it was started by just a few guys, and could have been cut off if personalities had been different or if they'd listened to their enlisted men and stopped it after that first Christmas. Truce, when you get right down to it, is a sad story. One of the most touching moments in the book is when you read the words of a British private who greeted a German in No Man's Land. "The first man I came to was an old man, and when we shook hands I thought he was not going to let my hand go. The tears came rolling down his cheeks, and I felt sorry for him as he was so old, and wanted to go home." He could have. As Major Murdoch McKenzie Wood would later say, "it was only the fact that we were being controlled by others that made it necessary for us to start trying to shoot one another again." A great introduction to WWI and undeniably the best book for kids on the subject I've ever seen. And it'll break your heart in the bargain.
Ages 8-12.
It was considered a bit of a Christmas miracle at the time. A sprawling war, two sides taught to hate one another, and then . . . peace. Apropos of nothing, troops put down their weapons and met in No Man's Land to exchange gifts, sing songs, and play games. But how did it happen? To understand that is to understand WWI within context. Its causes, key players, and ultimately how it ended. Jim Murphy, historian extraordinaire, breaks it down for the kids and delivers a painful but ultimately strangely hopeful encapsulation of a moment in time that was admirable in its unlikelihood. A Time Line, Notes and Sources, additional bibliography, and index are included.
If WWII is "the good war" then WWI's the one we like to try to surreptitiously slip behind our backs. It doesn't have any of the iconography of its successor, nor the sheer black and white of the good and evil of the time. Maybe that's why there aren't that many children's books about it. Truce works as well as it does because it not only clarifies the confusing details (Franz Josef knowing full well that the Serbs weren't behind the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, for example) but also because he's created a narrative for the war. It was dumb as all get out. Not a reason in the world to justify it, really, and the sheer amount of blood spilt is enough to turn your head. Truce is history plus interest for the middle grade non-fiction reader not yet ready for three hundred page tomes.
Even the chapter headings are interesting. They have great titles like "Those Stupid Kings and Emperors" and "Things Were Beginning to Look Unpleasant" which more often than not come from direct quotes of the time. Murphy also gives a human face to the drama. I like to think that he also does a great job of showing how similar the two sides were, particularly when it comes to their commanding officers. When the truce broke out, commanders on both sides were livid. The English would avoid similar Christmas truces in the future with continual artillery barrages. Corporal Adolf Hitler said of it, "Such a thing should never happen in wartime. Have you no German sense of honor left at all?" I think that part of the reason Truce stands out amongst its fellows is that it shows both sides continually. The photographs are taken by both sides. The quotations and memories too. And we even see how nasty propaganda demonizing the enemy was used by opposing countries prior to the war to get the populace involved.
The natural fictional pairing with this book is Michael Foreman's [b:War Game: Village Green to No-Man's-Land|74308|War Game Village Green to No-Man's-Land|Michael Foreman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170851336s/74308.jpg|1023588]. A less immediate association, but no less apt, is Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan. Though ostensibly a kind of Steampunk novel, Westerfeld's book would be a great read after Truce once kids understand the characters and want to hear about them in a fictional setting. Plus, now that they have the rudimentary causes of the war under their belts, they'll be able to better understand historical fiction novels about that time period.
The fact of the matter is, it was a stupid war that killed a lot of people. Murphy even goes so far as to show how it helped sow the seeds that led to WWII. That makes it all the crazier that it was started by just a few guys, and could have been cut off if personalities had been different or if they'd listened to their enlisted men and stopped it after that first Christmas. Truce, when you get right down to it, is a sad story. One of the most touching moments in the book is when you read the words of a British private who greeted a German in No Man's Land. "The first man I came to was an old man, and when we shook hands I thought he was not going to let my hand go. The tears came rolling down his cheeks, and I felt sorry for him as he was so old, and wanted to go home." He could have. As Major Murdoch McKenzie Wood would later say, "it was only the fact that we were being controlled by others that made it necessary for us to start trying to shoot one another again." A great introduction to WWI and undeniably the best book for kids on the subject I've ever seen. And it'll break your heart in the bargain.
Ages 8-12.
World War I is known as the Great War and the War to End All Wars, but it seems like World War II gets all the attention in schools, media and history books. I for one don't remember learning a lot about WWI in school. I do remember learning a lot and reading a lot about WWII however. So my knowledge about WWI is limited. This book by Jim Murphy was an excellent source of information about the events leading up to the start of the war and some of the things that took place during the war. It is astounding that this is a war that really could have been avoided. The Serbs were willing to give in and had basically caved to all demands, but Franz Josef went ahead and invaded anyway. And then everyone else followed along and 8 million people died and millions of acres of Europe were destroyed and Hitler was created and WWII followed. It is amazing the chain of events that was created because one man decided to ignore something.
The Christmas Truce on the other hand is a testament to man's goodness. Both sides are entrenched across No Man's Land. The occasionally shoot at each other or make raids but otherwise they are stuck in their trenches as Christmas approaches. Then on Christmas they decide to stop fighting, they come out of their trenches and share gifts and meals, they sing songs and spend time together. These truces last long past Christmas in many areas and the enemies realize that they are not monsters they are just men. It is a beautiful thing in the midst of a horrible war. The men on the ground realize none of them want to fight even as their superior officers rage at them to keep fighting this senseless war.
Jim Murphy has a wonderful way of bringing nonfiction to life. He does not write in a dry boring style, but a flowing narrative way that is interesting and really brings history to life in a way that young people (and not so young people) want to read it.
The Christmas Truce on the other hand is a testament to man's goodness. Both sides are entrenched across No Man's Land. The occasionally shoot at each other or make raids but otherwise they are stuck in their trenches as Christmas approaches. Then on Christmas they decide to stop fighting, they come out of their trenches and share gifts and meals, they sing songs and spend time together. These truces last long past Christmas in many areas and the enemies realize that they are not monsters they are just men. It is a beautiful thing in the midst of a horrible war. The men on the ground realize none of them want to fight even as their superior officers rage at them to keep fighting this senseless war.
Jim Murphy has a wonderful way of bringing nonfiction to life. He does not write in a dry boring style, but a flowing narrative way that is interesting and really brings history to life in a way that young people (and not so young people) want to read it.
I know, I'm too liberal with my 5-star ratings, but boy have I been reading some good stuff lately. This was unintentionally the perfect nonfiction follow-up to [b:Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld|6050678|Leviathan (Leviathan, #1)|Scott Westerfeld|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1275694232s/6050678.jpg|6226342]. Westerfeld's book, though it was an alternate history, still taught me more about what set off World War I than I remember learning in school, and Murphy's book fleshes out the reality magnificently, with maps, photos, drawings, first-person quotes, a timeline, notes & sources, additional resources, and index. And the main point? The war really didn't have to happen at all! Misunderstandings, arrogance, and stubbornness were more the culprits than anything else. Extremely readable and educational; highly recommended for both history and Christmas buffs. Yes, I cried over this one too.
Also on this topic: [b:War Game|1037241|War Game|Michael Foreman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180411889s/1037241.jpg|1023588] by Michael Foreman, [b:Christmas in the Trenches|263554|Christmas in the Trenches|John McCutcheon|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173241492s/263554.jpg|255485] by John McCutcheon, and the 2006 movie "Joyeux Noel."
"I...came to the conclusion that I have held firmly ever since, that if we had been left to ourselves there would have never been another shot fired. For a fortnight that truce went on. We were on the most friendly terms, and it was only the fact that we were being controlled by others that make it necessary for us to start trying to shoot one another again." --Major Murdoch McKenzie Wood
Also on this topic: [b:War Game|1037241|War Game|Michael Foreman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180411889s/1037241.jpg|1023588] by Michael Foreman, [b:Christmas in the Trenches|263554|Christmas in the Trenches|John McCutcheon|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173241492s/263554.jpg|255485] by John McCutcheon, and the 2006 movie "Joyeux Noel."
"I...came to the conclusion that I have held firmly ever since, that if we had been left to ourselves there would have never been another shot fired. For a fortnight that truce went on. We were on the most friendly terms, and it was only the fact that we were being controlled by others that make it necessary for us to start trying to shoot one another again." --Major Murdoch McKenzie Wood
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Well written true story about WW I.
informative
fast-paced
I had no idea that in some instances a truce went on for as long as two weeks.