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The First Casualty
 
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The First Casualty (Hardcover)

by Ben Elton (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
RRP: £17.99
Price: £15.29 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 389 pages
  • Publisher: Bantam Press; First Edition edition (1 Nov 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0593051114
  • ISBN-13: 978-0593051115
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 14.4 x 3.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 158,369 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #26 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > E > Elton, Ben

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Product Description

Review

" A work of formidable imaginative scope the writing is so good, the language so surprisingly subtle and the characters so beautifully delineated."
-- "Daily Telegraph
"" Riveting action scenes bristle with a queasy energy unputdownable and disgustingly realistic."
-- "Sunday Telegraph"

"From the Paperback edition."



Product Description

It is Flanders in June 1917: a British officer and celebrated poet, is shot dead, killed not by German fire, but while recuperating from shell shock well behind the lines. A young English soldier is arrested and, although he protests his innocence, charged with his murder. Douglas Kingsley is a conscientious objector, previously a detective with the London police, now imprisoned for his beliefs. He is released and sent to France in order to secure a conviction. Forced to conduct his investigations amidst the hell of The Third Battle of Ypres, Kingsley soon discovers that both the evidence and the witnesses he needs are quite literally disappearing into the mud that surrounds him. Ben Elton's tenth novel is a gut-wrenching historical drama which explores some fundamental questions. What is murder? What is justice in the face of unimaginable daily slaughter? And where is the honour in saving a man from the gallows if he is only to be returned to die in a suicidal battle? As the gap between legally-sanctioned and illegal murder becomes evermore blurred, Kingsley quickly learns that the first casualty when war comes is truth.
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Customer Reviews

29 Reviews
5 star:
 (11)
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 (6)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (29 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars The real "First Casualty" is believability, 20 Feb 2006
By A Customer
Ben Elton is one of the best comic script writers around and can turn his hand to good comic novels, what a shame therefore that he has produced this historic who-dunnit and has been unable to leave out the left-wing dogma that we associated him with in the eighties. This book falls in many places; the hero as a very successful Scotland Yard detective inspector would easily have been able to exempt himself from war service or have been offered complimentary work within the military that did not jar with his conscience. All the characters from the military, penal (prisoners, Irish nationalists, and guards), and the aristocracy on down all conform to Ben Eltons stereotypes, I was awaiting at every page a "Captain Thatcher" who would be a grandparent of Mrs T and who would delight in doing down the worker-soldiers and aim to break their solidarity.

All in all a waste of Eltons superb talent in a revisionist diatribe. A fair who-dunnit but stereotyped way beyond neccesary. No one doubts that WW1 was pure carnage and waste and however correct the sentiments of the hero, we can only say so with todays attitudes. Many a Lords son was also killed at Ypres as well as workers. This is a poor effort.

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42 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An Unusual Combination, 17 Nov 2005
By Peter Holdsworth "Fantasist Fan and Fisherman" (Nairobi, Kenya) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This new book of Ben Elton's was gripping from the first page. It is an unusual combination of a detective story set in the first world war. Using this canvas it is able to explore many of the major issues of war, morality, conscience and human dignity, as well as highlighting the terrible and wasteful tragedy that the first world war was. Of what importance is the murder of one man when governments are killing millions in the war? What is particularly well defined by Ben Elton is all the power and machinery of the state that is used to compel people to do things, that given the chance to think properly they probably would not do.

Most of this is done deftly by the author, although at times the language, not surprisingly reads as though it is a screenplay, or perhaps one's mind translates it into language that one might have heard in well known TV/screen productions. This doesn't detract from the book, which is too much of a 'page-turner' and too full of thought provoking ideas to distract the reader. The hero sometimes sounds quite stiff, but this is probably in keeping with his character and with social behaviour of the times.

As somebody who has read all of Ben Elton's books, I thought that this was his best, although don't expect the usual humour. It is quite different from the rest of his work, although still retaining the strong moral messages.

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19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Ben Elton's Best......, 28 Nov 2005
By James C. Costa (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I was very surprised when I read the back of the book jacket and found out Elton was writing a serious novel. I was skeptical and did not expect much. To my surprise, I found myself up late at night reading this gripping well written novel. I hope his fans support this novel. I'd love many more like this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Transfixing
I initially bought Ben Elton's "The First Casualty" to enhance my wider reading for my ALevel English Literature exam and I didn't expect it to turn into one of my favourite... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Emily Green

5.0 out of 5 stars The First Casualty
This is a suberb work of fiction and allows a novice to world war one to get a good idea of what the horrors of the trenches were like as well as getting a great read at the same... Read more
Published 9 months ago by A McNulty

1.0 out of 5 stars Rubbish
This book got one star as it is the lowest rating possible - the truth is it doesn't deserve any.

I think it must rate as the worst novel I have ever read - the plot... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Stuart M. Wilson

4.0 out of 5 stars A gripping tale
I haven't read any Ben Elton books before and gather that this one is a departure from his usual witty and satirical style. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Bluebell

4.0 out of 5 stars Please ignore the pompous idiots below
This novel, is exactly that, a novel. Nobody should buy this book because of the belief it will give you a definitive and accurate look at world war one. Read more
Published on 1 Sep 2006 by tenfootpole

5.0 out of 5 stars First Casualty
Historical inaccuracies and cliches should not stop you from reading this book, if there are any I didn't notice them and nevertheless the story seemed entirely believable. Read more
Published on 21 Aug 2006 by A reader

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a history of WWI - and never promised to be!
This book is absolutely fabulous!

Please, ignore the other reviews given here which are frankly ridiculous. Read more
Published on 9 Jun 2006 by Lexi

1.0 out of 5 stars A truely dreadful book
Ben Elton has borrowed from a library a standard history of WW1 and forced a ludricrous plot around it. Read more
Published on 12 May 2006 by Pyers Symon

1.0 out of 5 stars Utter Dross
This one of the worst novels I have read in my life. The characters are wooden, the plot unbelievable and the ending a farce.
Published on 8 May 2006 by James G. McKelvie

5.0 out of 5 stars The First Casualty
Really gave an insight into the lives and personal feelings of those soldiers involved in the First World War. Read more
Published on 19 April 2006 by D. Smith

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