We Shall Not Sleep: A Novel (World War One Novels) [Hardcover]

Anne Perry (Author)

Book Description

Series: World War One Novels | Publication Date: April 10, 2007

Anne Perry’s magnificent Victorian mysteries established her as one of the world’s best known and loved historical novelists. Now, in her vividly imagined World War I novels, Perry’s talents “have taken a quantum leap” (The Star-Ledger), and so has the number of her devoted readers. We Shall Not Sleep, the final book in this epic series featuring the dedicated Reavley family, is perhaps the most memorably enthralling of all Perry’s novels.

After four long years, peace is finally in sight. But chaplain Joseph Reavley and his sister Judith, an ambulance driver on the Western Front, are more hard pressed than ever. Behind the lines, violence is increasing: soldiers are abusing German prisoners, a nurse has been raped and murdered, and the sinister ideologue called the Peacemaker now threatens to undermine the peace just as he did the war.

Then Matthew, the third Reavley sibling and an intelligence expert, suddenly arrives at the front with startling news. The Peacemaker’s German counterpart has offered to go to England and expose his co-conspirator as a traitor. But with war still raging and prejudices inflamed, such a journey would be fraught with hazards, especially since the Peacemaker has secret informers everywhere, even on the battlefield.

For richness of plot, character, and feeling, We Shall Not Sleep is unmatched. Anne Perry’s brilliantly orchestrated finale is a heartstopping tour de force, mesmerizing and totally satisfying.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The depth and passion of Perry's fifth and final volume in her acclaimed WWI series won't disappoint readers who have followed this engrossing and moving tale from its inception with No Graves as Yet. In the last days of the war, the Reavley family—Joseph, an army chaplain; his brother, Matthew, an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service; and their sister, Judith, an ambulance driver—find themselves together in the mud, blood and trenches of Flanders. Throughout the series, the three have been locked in a deadly struggle with someone they call the Peacemaker, who they believe is a high government official who had their parents murdered in his quest to involve England in an odious peace effort with Germany. A breakthrough arrives with a German officer who's willing to go to England and reveal to the authorities the identity and mission of the Peacemaker, though the family must first solve the mystery of a murdered nurse before unmasking the Peacemaker. At the finish, Perry neatly and satisfactorily ties up all the loose ends from the preceding novels. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In the fifth and final entry in Perry's World War I series, the war is drawing to a close. British intelligence officer Matthew Reavley has received word that a high-ranking German defector is willing to identify the Peacemaker, the man who has been undermining Britain's war effort and is responsible for the death of Reavley's parents. As Matthew travels to Ypres, his brother, Joseph, a chaplain, and his sister, Judith, an ambulance driver, prepare to help him bring a swift resolution to the family tragedy that has haunted them for years. But when a young nurse is viciously murdered and Matthew is charged with the crime, Joseph and Judith must find the real killer so that Matthew can complete his mission. In contrast to the previous entries in the series, there is little action here and much talk--about what the war has cost the soldiers in terms of their humanity, the changing roles of women, and the elusive search for love and peace of mind. Still, the many fans of the series will be anxious to know how it ends. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; First Edition edition (April 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345456602
• ISBN-13: 978-0345456601
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #704,827 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anne Perry is the bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the William Monk novels, including Dark Assassin and The Shifting Tide, and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, including The Cater Street Hangman, Calandar Square, Buckingham Palace Gardens and Long Spoon Lane. She is also the author of the World War I novels No Graves As Yet, Shoulder the Sky, Angels in the Gloom, At Some Disputed Barricade, and We Shall Not Sleep, as well as six holiday novels, most recently A Christmas Grace. Anne Perry lives in Scotland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a marvellous end to a wonderful series!, April 22, 2007

By 

S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: We Shall Not Sleep: A Novel (World War One Novels) (Hardcover)

I am a huge Anne Perry fan, but even my high opinion of her writing was actually shaken to the foundations with this series. This is a wonderful series. All five books are masterpieces in their own right, and this book, which is the final one in the series did not disappoint me. In it we finally have an answer as to who "The Peacemaker" was. There is also another mystery in it, but this one, although a particularly brutal one, was an indication of how the world changed after the end of the First World War. This is a hearbreaking series, and totally riveting. I would not have missed it for the world, and I highly recommend it to anyone who can appreciate wonderful storytelling, as well as realistic characterizations. Ms. Perry's portrayal of how the world changed after this war is poignant and spell-binding.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honor, loyalty, betrayal, heroism, good and evil on the large canvas of world war, May 29, 2007

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Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: We Shall Not Sleep: A Novel (World War One Novels) (Hardcover)

With war finally coming to an end, leaving millions dead and the landscape of Europe forever changed, Anne Perry concludes her World War I spy/mystery saga. This five-book series paints the themes of honor, loyalty, betrayal, heroism, good and evil on the large canvas of world war, but it also develops storylines of daily life on the battlefields and at home.

It is now November 1918, years into a war that was only supposed to last months. And the war is coming to end. Members of the Reavley family --- Joseph, the army chaplain; his brother Matthew, the Secret Intelligence Service officer; and their sister Judith, the ambulance driver --- are together under dire circumstances as they strive to unmask the Peacemaker. They now have the means to find out exactly who he is and bring him to light. The Peacemaker has already cost them their parents, friends and others of importance to England.

A messenger dressed as a Swiss priest comes to see Matthew with news. They now have an ally against the Peacemaker in Germany. This man, Manfred von Schenckendorff, is willing to come across enemy lines to London and expose the Peacemaker to tell the Prime Minister. His own country will be betrayed by this decision, but he hopes his defection will help with the peace process. When Matthew is asked where Manfred should come through on the Western Front, Matthew sends him to Yrpes where Joseph is stationed. When Matthew tells Joseph what he knows, Joseph can hardly believe it and questions if it's true.

The Peacemaker has big plans for England, Germany and Europe. He has argued that the greater end justifies the smaller ugliness of his means. And he reminds the war reporter Mason of just that point when he visits. Mason takes this philosophy to mean that the Peacemaker had used means that he despised, which allows Mason to continue to sympathize with him.

Mason has been a supporter of the Peacemaker's plans because of the horrors they both experienced in the Boer War. Mason returns to the Western Front to report on the end of the war and renews his acquaintance with Judith Reavley. He has come to realize that the Peacemaker is an armchair warrior using other people's blood for his own purposes. In this case, the Peacemaker's plan is one of domination of the Western World by governments who believe as the Peacemaker does.

Meanwhile, Manfred arrives in Ypres with a bayonet injury to his foot. As Joseph and Matthew wait to take him to England, a nurse is murdered. She was a flirt and not well liked; anyone could have killed her. Was it a German prisoner? Or one of their own soldiers?

A civil policeman investigates, and the commanding officer requests Joseph's help. However, when Matthew is arrested for her murder, Joseph and Judith work together to find the real killer. In their race against time to get Manfred to London, they find evidence that frees Matthew --- only to have Manfred arrested. As they dig deeper, the private lives of the nurses and troops lead them to uncover the murderer.

With the murder solved, the three Reavleys, along with Manfred and now Mason, borrow an ambulance in order to catch a boat for London. Perils await them as they make the trip, but they arrive to see the Prime Minister. They have the necessary evidence, testimony and knowledge to identify and make their case against the Peacemaker.

Anne Perry has honored this time in history with her series. The struggles portrayed by the characters --- both those of impeccable character and those who are flawed --- are memorable. The overall series mystery of the Peacemaker's identity keeps readers on the edge of their chairs all the way to the end. The underlying tensions of a world at war bring to the audience an awareness of the costs of war, government decisions during chaotic times and the toll on humankind. WE SHALL NOT SLEEP (along with the entire series) will stay on this reviewer's shelf and is definitely worth a yearly read.

--- Reviewed by Jennifer McCord

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent end to the series, April 13, 2007

By 

ellen "ellen in atlanta" (Atlanta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: We Shall Not Sleep: A Novel (World War One Novels) (Hardcover)

This latest series featuring the Reavley family during WWI, Anne Perry has taken us out of the comfort zone and into the trenches. Perry has always been great with detailing the world she writes, and we experience the horror not only of war, but the intrigue of the Reavley family as they untangle the mystery of the Peacemaker. Their family was torn apart when their parents were murdered enroute to London to give Matthew, their son in military intelligence, a treaty that would form an alliance with England and Germany, (forming a society whose freedom would be limited).
Joseph, the older son is a military chaplain, Matthew the intellegence officer, and Judith, the youngest, is an ambulance driver. (The other sister, Hannah stays home to take care of her children while her husband is in the Navy).
The Reavleys get a break when a German official sees that the Peacemaker needs to be brought down. Matthew comes to the front to get him, and they (the Reavelys) get involved in solving a nurse's murder. They have to go to London to take the German to Lloyd George, the PM, to end the conflict.
This book ties up all the series' loose ends. It is not action packed, but it does answer every question and characters' fates posed in the series, and that is very rewarding.
Still the beauty of Perry's words and the atmosphere she creates are the forefront of this book. Will miss the series, although look forward to the Monk and Pitt series again.