The Sins of Soldiers by S.J. Hardman Lea

When the author looked at contemporary wartime photos, he wondered why the soldiers often seemed to be smiling in the face of such horrific adversity.

Simon writes in a way that ensures we're soon hooked totally and it all started with a picture. (No disrespect meant to the bravery and sacrifice of those who fought, just indicative of the level of saturation from those who write about them.) However, even if you feel you can't take another morsel of peri-Somme 1916, please try a little of this one. During the past couple of years there have been many WWI novels coinciding with the centenary, perhaps making us feel book fatigued. The two men have a lot in common, more than they know and perhaps more than is good for them as the Somme approaches.īritish writer S J Hardman Lea – Simon to his friends – has pulled off something I wouldn't have thought possible. He has an ally in British officer David Alexander, which is just as well since not all his enemies are across no man's land. Unperturbed he carries his plan through and finds himself on the French front in 1916. He's a journalist wanting the uncensored inside story to send back home a deadly enterprise as, if the Germans don't get him, the Brits may deem him a spy. Poignant, thrilling and scary, it does justice to those who went through it while reinforcing our grateful respect for them.Īnson Scott wants to join the British army and World War I for a different reason than most of his fellow Americans. Summary: A gripping, refreshingly written hist-fict featuring the warts-and-all daily life in WWI trench warfare.

The Sins of Soldiers by S.J. Hardman Lea