In 2001, Emily Blatchford (née Williams) travelled to find the place in Northern France where her great grandfather had been wounded in the autumn of 1914.
Reading his memoirs, and using them as a guide on where to go, her journey saw her visiting many other sites of both her family’s tragedy and the national World War I tragedy; and so absorbed was she by this pilgrimage that she decided to collect the diaries of as many members of her father’s and mother’s families as she could and collate them into one volume, tracing each day of the war through their own experiences.
A Family at War follows nine members of the author’s family through the Great War. Their letters, memoirs and diary entries portray the bravery, loss and even laughter they experienced.
For example: “We are taking part in an immense artillery battle the like of which has never been seen.”
And: “Your son did extremely well – after all the men on one of his guns had been killed, he fired it himself until hit and was killed instantaneously”
This is an undeniably moving book as you grow to know and love the characters telling of their extraordinary experiences.
A Family at War is in its second edition.
A Family at War. £12 including UK postage and packing.
A Family at War. £15 including EU postage and packing.
A Family at War. £18 including Rest of the World postage and packing.