Six Weeks
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Review
'Best research resource ever. Beautiful book' (Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) )
'a harrowing but engrossing meditation on a national tragedy... This book could not demonstrate more vividly how those ideals [of chivalry, patriotism and self-sacrifice] which inspired such bravery were shattered.' (DAILY MAIL )
'a superb study... Lewis-Stempel's marvelously evocative book is full of throat-catching moments... The result is the most moving single book on the Great War that I have ever read - and I have read many... his book pays the subalterns the respect they deserve by entering into their distant mindsets.' (Nigel Jones LITERARY REVIEW )
'This well researched book tells the harrowing story of the men - or adolescents, many of them -who unhesitatingly answered the call by War Minister Lord Kitchener for volunteers, and continued to answer it even after it became clear that the life expectancy of a subaltern in the trenches averaged only six weeks... Lewis-Stempel is excellent on life in the trenches... for all the horror and pity of their struggle, their legacy is our freedom.' (Andrew Roberts MAIL ON SUNDAY )
'woven with great narrative skill...presents an incomparable portrait of a generation' (MILITARY TIMES )
'It is only rarely that a book deserves to be recommended unreservedly but John Lewis-Stempel's Six Weeks falls firmly into that category...This is a book that should be read by every young man who aspires to serve as an officer in the Army; it will educate him about how to behave in command of soldiers and about how to face the perils of war.' (THE GUARDS MAGAZINE )
'a valuable addition to the vast literature of the First World war' (DAILY EXPRESS )
'a harrowing but engrossing meditation on a national tragedy... This book could not demonstrate more vividly how those ideals [of chivalry, patriotism and self-sacrifice] which inspired such bravery were shattered.' (DAILY MAIL )
'a superb study... Lewis-Stempel's marvelously evocative book is full of throat-catching moments... The result is the most moving single book on the Great War that I have ever read - and I have read many... his book pays the subalterns the respect they deserve by entering into their distant mindsets.' (Nigel Jones LITERARY REVIEW )
'This well researched book tells the harrowing story of the men - or adolescents, many of them -who unhesitatingly answered the call by War Minister Lord Kitchener for volunteers, and continued to answer it even after it became clear that the life expectancy of a subaltern in the trenches averaged only six weeks... Lewis-Stempel is excellent on life in the trenches... for all the horror and pity of their struggle, their legacy is our freedom.' (Andrew Roberts MAIL ON SUNDAY )
'woven with great narrative skill...presents an incomparable portrait of a generation' (MILITARY TIMES )
'It is only rarely that a book deserves to be recommended unreservedly but John Lewis-Stempel's Six Weeks falls firmly into that category...This is a book that should be read by every young man who aspires to serve as an officer in the Army; it will educate him about how to behave in command of soldiers and about how to face the perils of war.' (THE GUARDS MAGAZINE )
'a valuable addition to the vast literature of the First World war' (DAILY EXPRESS )
Review
Best research resource ever. Beautiful book (Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) )
Compelling (Julian Fellowes )
This well researched book tells the harrowing story of the men - or adolescents, many of them -who unhesitatingly answered the call by War Minister Lord Kitchener for volunteers, and continued to answer it even after it became clear that the life expectancy of a subaltern in the trenches averaged only six weeks... Lewis-Stempel is excellent on life in the trenches... for all the horror and pity of their struggle, their legacy is our freedom. (Andrew Roberts MAIL ON SUNDAY )
It is only rarely that a book deserves to be recommended unreservedly but John Lewis-Stempel's Six Weeks falls firmly into that category...This is a book that should be read by every young man who aspires to serve as an officer in the Army; it will educate him about how to behave in command of soldiers and about how to face the perils of war. (GUARDS MAGAZINE )
woven with great narrative skill...presents an incomparable portrait of a generation (MILITARY TIMES )
A superb study... Lewis-Stempel's marvelously evocative book is full of throat-catching moments... The result is the most moving single book on the Great War that I have ever read - and I have read many... his book pays the subalterns the respect they deserve by entering into their distant mindsets. (Nigel Jones LITERARY REVIEW )
Diaries and letters convey the inspiring spirit of these young men. (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
A hugely moving account (OXFORD TIMES )
A poignant and detailed study on what life was like at the front. (GOOD BOOK GUIDE )
One of the most important new studies of the Great War (CONTEMPORARY REVIEW ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Compelling (Julian Fellowes )
This well researched book tells the harrowing story of the men - or adolescents, many of them -who unhesitatingly answered the call by War Minister Lord Kitchener for volunteers, and continued to answer it even after it became clear that the life expectancy of a subaltern in the trenches averaged only six weeks... Lewis-Stempel is excellent on life in the trenches... for all the horror and pity of their struggle, their legacy is our freedom. (Andrew Roberts MAIL ON SUNDAY )
It is only rarely that a book deserves to be recommended unreservedly but John Lewis-Stempel's Six Weeks falls firmly into that category...This is a book that should be read by every young man who aspires to serve as an officer in the Army; it will educate him about how to behave in command of soldiers and about how to face the perils of war. (GUARDS MAGAZINE )
woven with great narrative skill...presents an incomparable portrait of a generation (MILITARY TIMES )
A superb study... Lewis-Stempel's marvelously evocative book is full of throat-catching moments... The result is the most moving single book on the Great War that I have ever read - and I have read many... his book pays the subalterns the respect they deserve by entering into their distant mindsets. (Nigel Jones LITERARY REVIEW )
Diaries and letters convey the inspiring spirit of these young men. (SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
A hugely moving account (OXFORD TIMES )
A poignant and detailed study on what life was like at the front. (GOOD BOOK GUIDE )
One of the most important new studies of the Great War (CONTEMPORARY REVIEW ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I saw a review in The Military Times of this book which called it 'an incomparable portrait of a generation.' I don't disagree. The author really gets inside the head of those young men who volunteered to fight in the first world war as trench officers - the most dangerous job going. If you thought they were all hooray henrys, youll be pleasantly surprised. Many of them were just normal boys (tough outside, sensitive inside) who stepped unflinchingly up to do their duty when asked. I have nothing but respect for them and the author should be thanked for opening eyes to their sacrifice on our behalf. Also I've read lots of books about the Western Front, but I learned much new about the trenches from Lewis-Stemple's book ( did you know some soldiers had gardens and flower borders in the trenches?). The book though isn't 'dry;' in parts, especially the chapter about 'going over the top' it rips along.
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book - which is neatly constructed to shadow the life (and quite likely the death) of a subaltern, from school to Western Front - is as much an emotional journey as it is a historical one. I don't normally read history books, but found each young man's personal journey so moving and engaging. You enter the mind of the boy officers. 'Moving' is the word. But there is also much information on how the officers lived, as well as died; the accounts of officers planting flowers to prettify trenches are particularly stunning. There is lots about poetry, and one of the novel aspects of the book is , it shows how wide was the range of the poetry of the officer poets; it wasn't just the 'pity of war' poetry of Wilfred Owen they wrote, but encompassed everything from birds over the trenches to high battle
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
There has been considerable debate on the internet about the title of this book which comes from a quote by Robert Graves of 2/Royal Welch Fusiliers who wrote: "A soldier who had the honour to serve with one of the better divisions....could count on no more than three months' trench service before being wounded or killed; a junior officer a mere six weeks". So he wasn't saying that six weeks was LIFE EXPECTANCY since only approx. a third of casualties were fatalities: but that this was how long an officer lasted before being a casualty of some kind. This has exercised quite a number of people, and alas has led them not to take the book as seriously as they should.
That quibble apart, this is a well-researched, well-written book, and it is amazing that The Great War, the most written-about war of all time surely, should have a huge gap that this book is able to fill: namely the role, life and (sadly mostly) death of the junior officer on the Western Front.
I came to this book whilst researching my grandfather's Great War. The son of a Glasgow shop-keeper, he volunteered to join the 5th Scottish Rifles in Oct 1914 as a Private, and was commissioned into the 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers in Jan 1916 as a 2nd Lieutenant, ending the war as a Captain. Wounded three times (a bullet through the arm at St Eloi, buried-alive by a howitzer-shell but dug up badly bruised and shell-shocked on the Somme, badly gassed and temporarily blinded 10 days before the end of the war) he later became a doctor, and died aged 92.
The junior British infantry officer suffered higher casualties than virtually any other class of soldier in any army during WW1, and this book has given me a unique insight into the day-to-day duties and life of unimportant junior officers such as my grandfather, who has consequently greatly risen in my estimation: I highly recommend it.
That quibble apart, this is a well-researched, well-written book, and it is amazing that The Great War, the most written-about war of all time surely, should have a huge gap that this book is able to fill: namely the role, life and (sadly mostly) death of the junior officer on the Western Front.
I came to this book whilst researching my grandfather's Great War. The son of a Glasgow shop-keeper, he volunteered to join the 5th Scottish Rifles in Oct 1914 as a Private, and was commissioned into the 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers in Jan 1916 as a 2nd Lieutenant, ending the war as a Captain. Wounded three times (a bullet through the arm at St Eloi, buried-alive by a howitzer-shell but dug up badly bruised and shell-shocked on the Somme, badly gassed and temporarily blinded 10 days before the end of the war) he later became a doctor, and died aged 92.
The junior British infantry officer suffered higher casualties than virtually any other class of soldier in any army during WW1, and this book has given me a unique insight into the day-to-day duties and life of unimportant junior officers such as my grandfather, who has consequently greatly risen in my estimation: I highly recommend it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
One book everyone should read about WWI
The wonder is of course: why has no-one tackled the subject before? An extraordinary omission. So congratulations to the author for making good the deficit and writing about the... Read more
Published 2 days ago by Mike Murray
Good but ?
After reading this book, I was slightly disapointed with the flow. There seams to be far too many accounts about the same thing. Read more
Published 23 days ago by Colin S. Taylor
The real Blackadder
I can remember standing in one of the First World War graveyards and hearing a (British) child, obviously one of a school party ask his teacher why there were so few officers... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mike
My husband loved it
Ordered as last minute present for my husband's birthday and was delivered as per advertised time. He enjoyed it immensely and I was a book widow for the weekend
Published 3 months ago by Suzi Finch
A Great Book about the Great War
I'm a bit of WW1 trainspotter and approached this book with some trepidation. I am pleased to say that it was as good as it is cracked up to be. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Neil Robinson
Incomplete
If you're looking for a book which seeks to establish a link between the Public School system and the success of the British Army in the Great War, then look no further. Read more
Published 4 months ago by D. Jones
outstanding but sad
I bought this book on the strength of reviews on Amazon and found the book a very poignant reminder of the destruction of youth and the futility of war. Read more
Published 4 months ago by olicanatim
Read with hankerchiefs at the ready
I enjoyed this book very much but spent most of the time in tears. The Six Weeks of the title refers to the average survival time of a young officer in the trenches in WW1. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Imelda
6 weeks, the life expectancy of an officer in ww1.
I have just finished reading this book, a very good read about the lives of junior officers in WW1.
We all think of the officers who served in the trenches of WW1 as jumped up... Read more
We all think of the officers who served in the trenches of WW1 as jumped up... Read more
Published 5 months ago by road nomad
Julian Fellowes likes it and so do I!
I was interested by what Julian Fellowes said about this book and how it influenced him and Downton series II - and accordingly bought it. I was far from disappointed. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Pete Bowman
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