A foreign field
4.0
Open LibraryFirst lines
On a balmy evening at the end of August in the year 1914, four young soldiers of the British army-two Englishmen and a pair of Irishmen-crouched in terror under a hedgerow near the Somme River in northern France, painfully adjusting to the realisation that they were profoundly and hopelessly lost, adrift in a briefly tranquil no-man's-land somewhere between their retreating comrades and the rapidly advancing German army, the largest concentration of armed men the world had ever seen.
On a balmy evening at the end of August in the year 1914, four young soldiers of the British army-two Englishmen and a pair of Irishmen-crouched in terror under a hedgerow near the Somme River in northern France, painfully adjusting to the realisation that they were profoundly and hopelessly lost, adrift in a briefly tranquil no-man's-land somewhere between their retreating comrades and the rapidl…
About this book
In the first terrifying days of World War I, four British soldiers found themselves trapped behind enemy lines on the western front. They were forced to hide in the tiny French village of Villeret, whose inhabitants made the courageous decision to shelter the fugitives until they could pass as Picard peasants. The Englishman's Daughter is the never-before-told story of these extraordinary men, their protectors, and of the haunting love affair between Private Robert Digby and Claire Dessenne, the most beautiful woman in Villeret. Their passion would result in the birth of a child known as "The Englishman's Daughter," and in an act of unspeakable betrayal, a tragic legacy that would haunt the village for generations to come. Through the testimonies of the villagers and the last letters of the soldiers, acclaimed journalist Ben Macintyre has pieced together a harrowing account of how life was lived behind enemy lines during the Great War, and offers a compelling solution to a gripping mystery that reverberates to this day. - Publisher.
Themes & subjects
BiographyGerman Prisoners and prisonsHistoryMissing in actionPrisoners and prisons, GermanPrisoners of war
First published 2001Characters & people
Setting
FranceFrance) Villeret (AisneGermanyGreat BritainVilleret (Aisne)Villeret (Aisne, France)Villeret20th century
About the author
Ben Macintyre
25 December 1963
Benedict Richard Pierce Macintyre is a British author, historian, reviewer and columnist writing for The Times newspaper. His columns range from current affairs to historical controversies. - Wikipedia
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