A Stillness Heard Round the World: The End of the Great War, November 1918

1959. A Stillness Heard Round the World The End of the Great War: November 1918, by Stanley Weintraub (read 24 Nov 1985) This book is not too well organized, but it contains much absorbing information on the last days of the First World War. It starts by telling of the False Armistice, then on to the meeting in the Forest, the 72 hours before the signing, the events in Germany, the Kaiser's going to Holland, the signing, the last shots, and the celebrations. Much poignancy, and little things overwhelmed me emotionally. The material is gathered from accounts of people who were there and from numerous memoirs and secondary sources. The book often tells of fiction treating the events as well--for instance, Parade's End , by Ford Madox Ford show more (which I read 7 Sept 1984 and did not care for). This is an enjoyable book to read about a fantastic time: November 1918. It also reminds me of a family story which has always amazed me; my oldest sister was born June 8, 1916 and when my mother in our farm home learned of the event on Nov 11, 1918, she told my sister to go to the field where my father was working and tell him. So she did and he told her he had heard the church bell ringing and would be coming home with the team he was working with. It certainly says something for the maturity of my sister, just two and a half, that she was commissioned to carry out and did carry out the task my mother, no doubt aware of my sister's capability, had assigned her. show less