I read this for my book group and yesterday we met to discuss it, so what did we all think of it?

I think it is probably the first book that we have read that we all agreed on.  We thought it was an excellent novel although we all got so wrapped up in the narrative we had to remind ourselves that it was a novel and not a biography.  The characters are very well drawn and filled out.  The descriptions of what it was like on a WW1 battlefield and in the trenches were so well described you actually thought you were there yourself.  It describes the awful conditions and lack of food and it portrays many different human emotions; fear, love, loss, betrayal, confusion etc  The narrative is very lyrical which makes the book quite compelling despite the horrific details of the battlefield.  One of the most awful passages for me was the description of the first time they soldiers encountered mustard gas!

The author also manages to bring in the political aspect of the war and the Irish situation and reasons for why some of the Irish soldiers were taking part in the war.  The political views of the main character change as the war leaves it mark on him, leaving him to feel confused about the situation.

I would thoroughly recommend anyone to read this book, especially if you are interested in WW1.

Thiepval memorial stands in an isolated windswept position and is the largest memorial in the world and was opened on 31st July 1932 by the Prince of Wales. It contains over 72,000 names of British and Commonwealth men with no known graves, who fell on the Somme between July 1916 and March 1918.   Most of these died during the first battle of the Somme.  An inscription on the memorial reads:

Here are recorded names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields July 1915 February 1918 but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.

To the rear of the memorial is cemetery which unusually contains both British and French burials (300 of each). This commemorates the joint Anglo-French action that took place in the Somme. The French are buried to the left and the British on the right

For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out tnchick.