The Glory of Their Deeds

I really loved this book. If you enjoy reading fiction taking place in World War One, you’ll enjoy this book greatly.

The characters are compelling and I felt like the author actually researched what he was writing, which I love because lately a lot of people are writing World War One fiction without actually researching battles, VADs etc which is so frustrating when you are reading and mentally correcting people.

Thank you for writing a well written book!

One of the best books about World War I and its aftermath I have ever read. James and William were childhood friends who both went to enlist just prior the when the United States entered the war. Emily, William's sister, also finds her way to France as a Red Cross volunteer. Shifting from the past (during the war) to the present (months after the end), Emily and James must figure out how to continue living when so many friends and loved ones cannot. A wonderful minor character, Walt, shows the ugly reality of what happened to the men who returned home changed physically. I did not know that some cities put laws in place to keep "ugly" people out of site or covered when the deigned to leave their homes. White-Patarino shines a brilliant light on "The War to End All Wars" in a way that few fictional books have done before. In his afterward, White-Patarino includes the sad bit of truth that World War I is largely forgotten or cast aside in the American memory, replaced by World War II just a generation later.

First and foremost, I’d like to thank NetGalley, Victory Editing and Benjamin White-Patarino for access to this amazing history lesson of a book.

It was called “The Great War”. It was supposed to be the war to end all wars and while the fighting may have stopped, those that made it home were fighting an internal war of their own. James Garrison and William Culver were the best of friends. Having grown up together, enlisting in the army together made total sense. Never far away from the duo was William’s twin sister, Emily. When the boys were deployed to France, Emily felt the need to do something more and followed them as a Red Cross volunteer. When the war was finally over, James and Emily returned, William did not. In an attempt to protect Emily from the truth about her brothers death and weighed down with PTSD as well as survivors guilt, James kept quiet on the real story behind Williams death and when he did finally tell the truth, it wasn’t the whole truth. While the fighting may have stopped, the war within James raged on. Could love heal? You have to read it to find out.

I highly recommend reading the authors notes. Almost immediately, I appreciated the author because he attempted to shed light on WWI when even a high school history class barely touches the subject. I’m grateful to have had the chance to read this book because like so many, my knowledge of WWI is minimal at best and it opened my eyes to a time and place that I definitely want to learn more about. The author paints a vivid picture of a wartime France, I felt like I could actually hear the machine gun fire and the mortar explosions. I could understand the soldiers hunger and fatigue and shock. As someone who tends to stick pretty close to WWII, I had been looking for something to take me back a little further and this was the perfect launching pad to my research into WWI...so Benjamin...if you see this and I know I’m just one reader but mission accomplished