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Veterans: The Last Survivors of the Great War

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With the dawning of the new century, the memories of the Great War will be just that. The authors of "Veterans: The Last Survivors of the Great War" have painstakingly sought out those remaining men and women who fought in World War I, and uses their words and memories to paint the picture of the reality of the experience.

The memories are grouped by chapters which makes it easy to use for quick reference or personal interest. Each chapter contains stories, quotations, and memories from soldiers who fought in the trenches, nurses, or those who waited at home. Each chapter incorporates a variety of memories, not just soldier's memories.

As the horror of that War may fade in our memories, this book will serve to remind us of what was endured by so many as told in their own words.

Having watched the television documentary series, reading the book was a welcome addition and a possession that I will always treasure.

As the years go by, these veterans now in their 90's and many aged 100 plus, are becoming fewer and fewer.

Their experiences so excellently documented here are a fitting epitaph to those no longer able to tell their incredible stories.

The vivid recollections of the experiences in the trenches, at the front, going over the top and seeing so many of their comrades slaughtered are heart-rending.

The individual accounts of these heroes portrayed here relate to one of the most catastrophic and traumatic conflicts in history. A conflict that will soon be beyond living memory. These personal stories are a priceless memory and testament of what occurred in order that we might live in freedom.

Like other books by Richard Van Emden, this collection was totally enjoyable. The author, similar to Brown, Macdonald, Arthur and others, has the great ability to allow the reader to nearly experience the Great War through the eyes of those who fought it. The emotions, fears, feelings of those soldiers and civilians are captured in a magnificent way in this book.

The book peaked your interest throughout and the stories that came to life showed the horror and tragedies that went on during and after the war that we could never know about. The people involved in The Great War became real people to me and could have been friends or neighbors. The sheer number of people that were wounded and killed when compared to what people complain about now is, in some ways, too much to comprehend.
All in all, a wonderful book that sheds a light on a War that no other book has shown.