Harry's War - Shall I buy it?

[GaryS]

Anyone read this book? I saw it on Amazon and thought it might be a good buy.

Shall I, Shan't I? Oh... The excitmement of it all.

[Jonathan Saunders]

Its a great book and I really enjoyed it but I would have enjoyed it less if I had paid £20 for it.

[gRANdson]

I ordered a copy of this a few months ago..and it arrived last week [i'm guessing the publishers have recently re-printed, hence Amazon now having stock]. I haven't finished it yet, but from what I have read, it has certainly been worthwhile getting.

[Kate Wills]

The reason for the hefty price tag is that is it lavishly illustrated, with forty full-page colour plates of paintings by Harry Stinton, other sketches and backgrounds for text pages and full-colour dust-jacket. The amount of colour necessiated the use of glossy paper, which is heavy and required a good binding, hence the price reflects a quality production. The paintings are rightly described as naive, but they do covey a good idea of Harry's experiences, and have a certain charm.

Why not treat yourself for Christmas? We all need to push the boat out occasioanlly, and if you are interested in the personal experiences of war or the Sixth Londons, go for it.

By the way, my philosophy of book-buying is that, unlike many of the good things in life, most of my books will outlive me, and many will appreciate in value as the years roll by, while giving me continued pleasure. Reason enough for a treat?

[Sue Light]

This book has been reviewed a couple of times before, with most people enjoying it, but with a few reservations re: accuracy. One of the threads was about finding suitable Great War books for children - I think that Harry's War is a great introduction for children from a fairly young age - the illustrations are so detailed, without being frightening or too explicit, and would form a good basis for discussions. I remember one six year old in my family being completely enchanted with the picture of naked soldiers taking a bath in the presence of women! Soldiers that 'took their clothes off' were remembered for a long time

Let's hope the memory fades before she grows up!

Sue

[GaryS]

Guys

Many thanks, I think I'll treat myself... Or rather ask the Mrs to treat me (steady!) to the book at Christmas.

Appreciate all the feedback. I did a search on here for the book before I posted but it came back as nothing found, hence my new thread. Sorry if it's been covered before.

[eskimo]

hi Gary,

Waterstones stock it if you want to browse it first.

Regards Eskimo..

[GaryS]

eskimo

I went out for a little walk after work and there's a small bookshop down near Waterloo Station (it's full of transport and war books) that had a copy, which I browsed and I like the book. But, there's a bigger bookshop that has been closing down for ages and they had a pictorial book for £20 and I was really torn between the two. In fact I was so torn that I didn't buy either.

But I may get the picture book tomorrow, I think it was called WW1 In Pictures but I'm not sure.

[Brian Buck]

Virginia Mayo, the author of Harry's War, gave a very good talk to our WFA branch on the book.

[sneakyimp]

Amazon has some used copies for as little as $0.95 plus $3.99 shipping:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1857533178/ref=tmm_hrd_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&sr=&qid=