- Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
- Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (25 Feb 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140065717
- ISBN-13: 978-0140065718
- Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 10.8 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 119,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Set in the years 1914 to 1918, An Ice Cream War follows the fortunes of two English brothers who enlist and fight in German East Africa. Contrasting the vibrant chaos of East Africa with the quiet gentility of Edwardian England, the novel tracks the brothers' very different but equally tragic experiences in the war and the pressures and sorrows of those they leave at home.
About the Author
William Boyd was born in Ghana in 1952. He was brought up there and in Nigeria. He was educated at the universities of Nice, Glasgow and Oxford. He is the author of a number of acclaimed and hugely popular novels and three volumes of short stories, and the recipient of many prizes, including the Whitbread First Novel Award, the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Sunday Express Book of the Year Award. He is married and lives in London
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First Sentence
'What do you think would happen,' Colonel Theodore Roosevelt asked his son Kermit, 'if I shot an elephant in the balls?' Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
'What do you think would happen,' Colonel Theodore Roosevelt asked his son Kermit, 'if I shot an elephant in the balls?' Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The other reviews have summarised what the book is about. I will explain why I think it is so worth while reading.
An Ice-cream War tracks the lives of a range of interesting characters whose lives are turned upside down (or destroyed) by the war. It starts with three or four separate threads which gradually converge to reach a climax of....I won't spoil it but will say that it is beautifully consistent with the only possible message one can draw from the war as seen by those caught up in it - pointless, random, gruesome and incomprehensible. Boyd has a terrific way of showing these different aspects in a way that is at the same time serious and funny.
He does all this while giving the reader a vivid feel for the times: the artificial complacent English world that was swept away by the war, and the awfulness of the war itself. Both of these we have all been told about but rarely have we seen them brought to life in a way that is both accurate and touches the heart.
The book additionally deserves thanks for bringing to light the achievement of the brilliant leader of the German forces in Africa. Von Lettow-Vorbeck, with a tiny contingent of troops, sucked in a massive part of the allies' fighting and support resources, made the only incursion in to British territory in the entire war, and taunted the allies into chasing him around Africa from the beginning of the war until after it ended.
Finally spare a thought for the Africans who were appallingly treated by both sides. The campaign in Africa was every bit as awful, if not worse, than the better known horrors of the trenches in France.
I heartily recommend this book.
An Ice-cream War tracks the lives of a range of interesting characters whose lives are turned upside down (or destroyed) by the war. It starts with three or four separate threads which gradually converge to reach a climax of....I won't spoil it but will say that it is beautifully consistent with the only possible message one can draw from the war as seen by those caught up in it - pointless, random, gruesome and incomprehensible. Boyd has a terrific way of showing these different aspects in a way that is at the same time serious and funny.
He does all this while giving the reader a vivid feel for the times: the artificial complacent English world that was swept away by the war, and the awfulness of the war itself. Both of these we have all been told about but rarely have we seen them brought to life in a way that is both accurate and touches the heart.
The book additionally deserves thanks for bringing to light the achievement of the brilliant leader of the German forces in Africa. Von Lettow-Vorbeck, with a tiny contingent of troops, sucked in a massive part of the allies' fighting and support resources, made the only incursion in to British territory in the entire war, and taunted the allies into chasing him around Africa from the beginning of the war until after it ended.
Finally spare a thought for the Africans who were appallingly treated by both sides. The campaign in Africa was every bit as awful, if not worse, than the better known horrors of the trenches in France.
I heartily recommend this book.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Set in East Africa and Kent during the First world War, this story has every ingredient for a great story; passion, betrayal, love, hate, heroism, revenge, gallantry, stupidy, comedy, tragedy, in fact all human life.
The story has great pace that is maintained throughout. Whether they're loathsome or loveable all the characters are extremely well drawn and the way they deal with the events they are caught up in never fails to keep you facsinated.
William Boyd has a lightness of touch that enables him to deal with cruelty and futility in a way that doesn't leave you feeling down. He can be comical without being irreverent. In this respect he must be unique.
The story has great pace that is maintained throughout. Whether they're loathsome or loveable all the characters are extremely well drawn and the way they deal with the events they are caught up in never fails to keep you facsinated.
William Boyd has a lightness of touch that enables him to deal with cruelty and futility in a way that doesn't leave you feeling down. He can be comical without being irreverent. In this respect he must be unique.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
British and German forces fought to preserve their colonial rights in Africa during the First World War and in many ways it was a completely different war from the one raging in Europe. As William Boyd shows in this brilliantly insightful book, there was a large measure of farce, as well as privation for the troops (many of which were Indian or African) and errors of leadership from the buffoons at the top. The British won the war by virtue of troop deployment and dogged determination, but there is a little glory that can be attached to the confusions and desperations involved.
What becomes clear in this book is the way the different ranks were treated, with officers under capture on both sides being billeted in bungalows or houses with their servants and the lower ranks herded into stockades like so many captured cattle. It is mainly the upper ranks we follow as we are introduced to rival plantations in East Africa, one owned by a German and another by an American, both replete with wives of varying indifference, composure and appetites.
The scene then shifts to England, to the life and times of a well-born family consisting of Gabriel and Felix and assorted sisters and their husbands. The family has army connections, exemplified by their father, an irascible and unbalanced old cove. Gabriel marries Charis, a young and naïve woman with no great connections and off they go on their honeymoon in France. Then war interrupts their awkward induction into intimacy and Gabriel is posted to Africa. Felix, who is a pacifist, much derided by his father, at first goes off to Oxford to get a degree. When he is shamed into trying to enlist his weak eyes prevent it, though later in the war this is brushed aside and he is given a commission with an African regiment.
Gabriel's time in Africa takes up much of the central portion of the book, and the connections between the characters introduced earlier become more contingent to the plot. Felix begins an affair with Charis, but a tragedy occurs and he sets out to find his brother. There are many nuances to which a straight recounting of the plot does not do justice.
This is a cleverly layered and complex story of people at war and the horrors they are forced to endure. There is much bleak humour, including an intelligence officer whose doomed expeditions always manage to kill one or other of his companions. William Boyd is superb at creating characters and settings that live on the page. His feeling for place is faultless and his humane but unflinching sensibilities infuse every moment with reality.
What becomes clear in this book is the way the different ranks were treated, with officers under capture on both sides being billeted in bungalows or houses with their servants and the lower ranks herded into stockades like so many captured cattle. It is mainly the upper ranks we follow as we are introduced to rival plantations in East Africa, one owned by a German and another by an American, both replete with wives of varying indifference, composure and appetites.
The scene then shifts to England, to the life and times of a well-born family consisting of Gabriel and Felix and assorted sisters and their husbands. The family has army connections, exemplified by their father, an irascible and unbalanced old cove. Gabriel marries Charis, a young and naïve woman with no great connections and off they go on their honeymoon in France. Then war interrupts their awkward induction into intimacy and Gabriel is posted to Africa. Felix, who is a pacifist, much derided by his father, at first goes off to Oxford to get a degree. When he is shamed into trying to enlist his weak eyes prevent it, though later in the war this is brushed aside and he is given a commission with an African regiment.
Gabriel's time in Africa takes up much of the central portion of the book, and the connections between the characters introduced earlier become more contingent to the plot. Felix begins an affair with Charis, but a tragedy occurs and he sets out to find his brother. There are many nuances to which a straight recounting of the plot does not do justice.
This is a cleverly layered and complex story of people at war and the horrors they are forced to endure. There is much bleak humour, including an intelligence officer whose doomed expeditions always manage to kill one or other of his companions. William Boyd is superb at creating characters and settings that live on the page. His feeling for place is faultless and his humane but unflinching sensibilities infuse every moment with reality.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Unsentimental satire
I read An Ice-Cream War for my English A-levels, and was stunned by what a savage black comedy it turned out to be. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jack Heslop
east africa in ww1
A well written and entertaining novel that informs us about a little-known but fascinating sideshow of the First World War: the battle between the British and the Germans for... Read more
Published on 9 Feb 2009 by C. Wight
not as good as some of his other work
William Boyd is probably my favourite author at the moment. This is one of his earliest novels and if I wasn't aware of the incredibly high standard of some his later work... Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2008 by legslikeaspider
Boring
I took this book with me to climb the Kilimanjaro, thinking I needed something entertaining to read as I lay alone in the tent on the cold nights going up. Read more
Published on 21 Sep 2007 by Erik Cleves Kristensen
A book you read with a smile.
I am currently reading An Ice Cream War, and I really enjoy it ! As a French native speaker, I'd like to point out the fluency of Boyd's language and his subtle sense of humour... Read more
Published on 22 Sep 2000
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