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| Penguin Books UK Michael Joseph 25 July 2014 |
Shadow of War, is the start of The Great War series of books by
this author which will see a new book for each year of the duration of the war.
The story opens as the unrest in Europe starts to escalate and during the
summer of 1914, five British communities, are about to discover that the order
of the old routine is about to change forever.
With his usual skilful style of
recounting history, Stewart Binns has succeeded in giving a realistic portrayal of
the effects of the first few months of the war and shows just how the different
social groups adapted to living in uncertain times. The ever changing tidal
wave of political unrest is juxtaposed against the uncertainty of an increasingly
difficult social situation, and the communal feelings of both fear and insecurity
acts as a palpable reminder of the uncertainty
of impending war.
The book initially gets off to rather
a slow start, not because the book is uninteresting, far from it, but more because
as with any new series there are people and places to get to know. However, as
the individual stories start to coalesce, the narrative starts to both educate
and entertain and a feeling of rapport with the characters starts to emerge.
Of all the many books published
in this centenary year of the start of World War One, it is difficult to know
which one to choose. My thoughts are, if you would
like something that will take you gradually through the conflict year by year, then
this book with its solid beginning is a good a place as any to start.
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