Customer Reviews

To Serve Them All My Days

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I love this book. It's old and about a time even older. Set between the two world wars in an English 'public' (that is private) school, it's a tale of dedication and love of ones calling such that we rarely understand nowadays. Such times are gone, but like the hero of the story, we can review a piece of history through an engaging story of one man's life and those around him. Great for a wet weekend with the T.V. turned off.

Goodness I love this book, story about traumatized soldier coming back from first world war and finding his calling as a Teacher in the boarding school. A lot of teachers in this book are teachers with capital T and while it may seem a bit idealized teachers who love the kids that much do exist in real life thankfully :)

I adored so many characters - David's first headmaster, his daughter, many of his students. I highly recommend this book to anybody.

David Powlett-Jones returns from three years experiencing the horrors of trench warfare during World War I. Injured and suffering the after-effects of shell-shock, he turns to teaching. He finds a job teaching history at Bamfylde School in Cornwall, England.

Driven by his experiences, David soon finds that he is not as interested in teaching history as it has always been taught at Bamfylde; a dry complilation of dates, battles and rulers as he is in opening the eyes of his students to the reality of war. He believes that there is rarely a reason for war, and that the damage is so severe that only as a last resort should it be contemplated. The boys he teaches are quite interested in this viewpoint, and David becomes a popular master with them. His theories find opposing views among some of the other masters, however. The chief of his opponents is Carter, who teaches science and heads up the student Cadet Corps. He vehemently opposes Powlett-Jones, and tries to thwart his teaching style however he can.

As David heals, he also finds love. He marries a nurse, Beth, and they are blessed with twin daughters. David's happiness is short-lived, however, as Beth and one of the daughters are killed in a car accident. Following this, David's life is one of depression, and only teaching and the need to provide for his surviving daughter pulls him through the next decade.

When the headmaster who hired David retires, several candidates for headmaster are considered. David is one candidate, while his nemesis, Carter, is another. The decision is made not to choose either internal candidate for fear of creating havoc at the school. An outsider is chosen. Unfortunately, this outsider is a dictatorial rule-follower, who ruins morale and brings the school close to chaos. When he dies, David is chosen to be the new headmaster.

This coincides with his new relationship. He remarries to Christine, and they have a son. Now in his 40's, David has finally found resolution to many of his questions and concerns, and is in a stable period. But, the drums of war are starting to beat again. David is faced with the prospect of World War II, and readying his students to face another world convulsion.

I can't thank Sourcebooks enough for reprinting the R.F. Delderfield novels. All of them are wonderful reads, engrossing and comforting at the same time. To Serve Them All My Days is an interesting look at not only one man's life and his reaction to war, but a glimpse into the world of British education and the society that had to face two world wars within forty years. It is difficult to comprehend today the amount of death and destruction that was everyday life for most of the world during this time period. This book is recommended for lovers of historical fiction or for anyone interested in a great read.

I read R.F. Delderfield's Swann family saga in high school and liked it very much. I re-read that series a couple of years ago and it finally occurred to me to seek out other works by Delderfield. To Serve Them All My Days was the next book--and I love this book even more than the Swann Saga. It is a little different than newer novels, as others have pointed out, there tends to be more narrative and less dialogue, but this is not a bad thing. I very much like Delderfield's style. I have now read several further Delderfield books; so far this is my favorite, although I haven't found a stinker yet. Buy it and snuggle in for a great read.

The great thing about reading fiction, as I tell my non-reading friends, is that you can go places you would never otherwise be able to go, and meet people that you'd never get to meet. That's why I really like To Serve Them All My Days and it's protagonist David Powlett-Jones.

The novel spans just over 20 years in the adult life of David, also known by nicknames Pow Wow and P.J., as he begins teaching at the private school Bamfylde.....okay to Americans it would be called a private school, in England it's a public school. P.J., a Welshman, is recovering from shell shock after three years in the trenches of World War I, and the novel begins with his train ride to the interview for the job. There are no flashbacks to his war times, it's only dealt with when he reminisces to his students and colleagues over the years. It's thought by his doctor at the hospital that teaching might 'snap him out of it', and while he's dubious, he does as he's told and goes to the interview. I don't think I'm spoiling anything by saying that he gets the job.

What follows over the pages are his interactions with his students, fellow teachers, and the bureaucracy. He finds mentors, friends, and of course love.......you can't have a novel like this without love. But it's dealt with almost gently, the love parts, and I found myself touched by them. P.J. is the only character we truly get a handle on, it's very rare that he's not in a scene, and the other characters are seen through his eyes. That's not a bad thing here, and I grew to care a lot about P.J and what happened to him.

I'd never heard of R.F. Delderfield, in no small part because he died in 1974, when I was two years old. I found this book in a bricks and mortar store, it was facing out and has an interesting cover. That's all it took to make me stop and see what it was about. I love Amazon and it's great prices, and I'm as guilty as anyone of helping along the destruction of bookstores.......but I'm not unmindful of the fact that there are books that I never would have found if not for just being able to wander through a store full of books, with nothing else to distract me (aside from people watching) from finding something great to read.

Anyway, wonderful novel. Five Stars.

I found this book because someone in Amazon's historical fiction group gave it a "thumbs-up". Fortunatly our library has most all of Delderfield's books, so I'm going to read some others. The charactors grabbed me to the point that I felt crushed when something bad happened to any of them. However, it is a very "uplifting" story.

Follows a dedicated, shell shocked World War I veteran as he hesitantly begins what will be a lifelong career in the complex microcosm of an English all boys residential school. The main character, Davey, is clearly a competent teacher from the outset. However teaching is the least of his tasks. It literally takes all his ingenuity to cope with the bullying and petty rivalries that dominate both the boys' relationships and those of the faculty. His experience with the totally unnecessary carnage of the first World War pits him against key faculty members who are actively cheerleading for Britain to enter World War II. And his generally socialistic political views lead to an emotional involvement with a candidate for the socialist labour party following his wife's death. It is extremely fascinating to watch as the students grow up and come back as parents and as fellow faculty members mature and gain wisdom over forty plus years. We also watch Davey cope with death, not only of his wife but the two faculty members who are his closest intimates.

By Dr Stuart Jeanne Bramhall, author of THE MOST REVOLUTIONARY ACT: MEMOIR OF AN AMERICAN REFUGEE

This was purchased as a present for my husband and he was delighted,We have both read the book in the pat but wanted to re-read it and I am looking forward to my turn!

Of course Amazon had the book and was searching for. Completed the gift list. Thank you.