Richard Wilson (11)

Super history book - the author and illustrator must have had great fun combining historical fiction and underpinning satire and irony, e.g. 'The Druids thought a great deal of the mistletoe which often grew on oak trees', page 3 and 'the Druids cheered on' the Britons against the Romans as though it was a football match, page 5, and many more - Queen Elizabeth 'was not always dancing. She was a very clever woman and a good ruler', page 56. Great fun; the illustrations need speech bubbles.

Published in 1917, this is a patriotic rendering of the heroism of the soldiers of the British Empire. There are some stories the explain why a serviceman was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest honour for bravery awarded in the British Empire. There are also many anecdotes of bravery by man and some women. Edith Cavell's story receives a lengthier telling I suspect because she was shot by a German firing squad and this book was released during the War.
Some services that do not always show more receive their due such as the minesweepers received a section. Soldiers from the Colonies are given equal space.
While written in a more convoluted English than we use today, this title does illustrate the bravery of the men forced to fight in the inhuman circumstances of WW I. show less

The stories and excerpts I found interesting, especially the last one by Belloc from "Hills and the Sea"; the poetry, not so much. This old sailor never heard anything poetic come out of the mouths of his aquatic friends at any time on any ship although the tall ships of the period chosen for this book were before my time. I was also a bit disappointed that, apart from John Masefield's "Cargoes", steam ships didn't turn up in a book designed and printed in early 1920s. A story or two about show more boilers or steam engines could have made the book better, in my opinion. show less