- Paperback: 512 pages
- Publisher: The History Press Ltd; New Ed edition (24 Oct 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0750930578
- ISBN-13: 978-0750930574
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 4.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 190,537 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
As a 24-year-old lieutenant in the King's Own Scottish Borderers, Peter kept an unauthorised journal of his regiment's advance through the Low Countries and into Germany in the closing months of the war in Europe. Forbidden by his commanding officer from doing so for security reasons, Peter's boyhood habit of diary keeping had become an obsession too strong to shake off. In this graphic evocation of a soldier at war, the images he records are not for the faint hearted. There are heroes aplenty within its pages, but there are also disturbing insights into the darker sides of humanity - the men who broke under the strain and who ran away; the binge drinking which occasionally rendered the whole platoon unable to fight; the looting, the rape, and the callous disregard for human life that happens when death is a daily companion. Hidden away for more than 50 years, this is a rare opportunity to read an authentic account of the horrors of war experienced by a British soldier in the greatest conflict of the 20th century.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Peter White, a lieutenant of the kings own scottish borderers kept a diary of events in his company during their push through Belgium and Holland through Germany to the end of the war.
Thank god he did... because it provides such a fantasic glimpse into the hearts and minds of the men thrust into a nightmare world. Peter's humanity shines throughout his account... villains, heroes and cowards alike....he is totally unjudgemental of his colleagues and of the enemy. You can feel the tensions, pains, joys and disapointments with Peters Company...as he takes you into his world and you travel with him to the end.
This book is a must read!
Thank god he did... because it provides such a fantasic glimpse into the hearts and minds of the men thrust into a nightmare world. Peter's humanity shines throughout his account... villains, heroes and cowards alike....he is totally unjudgemental of his colleagues and of the enemy. You can feel the tensions, pains, joys and disapointments with Peters Company...as he takes you into his world and you travel with him to the end.
This book is a must read!
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having slowly become addicted to military history, I've particularly enjoyed the grunt's eye view of battle, or more accurately, hanging around and waiting to be killed. The Sorrow of War, snippets in Stalingrad from diaries and Band of Brothers. However, it always seemed that such social histories were written about others. Glamourous Americans fighting across Europe, Exotic Vietnamese in guerilla engagements. In comparison my knowledge of the poor old British Tommy, or Jock, was poor. Did we have a boring regulation war? Did any turn their hand to recording the realities and horrors. White's book is an answer, an emphatic yes. It is is a diary, not a considered retrospective, so it does just give surnames and his officer-eye view. But his descriptions of huddling the earth in a scrape are incredibly evocative. It brings it home the mud, the sweat and the wasteful blood spilt as brave men battled.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
the astonishing thing is the brief period of time the book covers - september 44 till the end of the war in may 45. The reader knows when the war is to end but White and his Jocks do not and they go on dying until that bitter end. Other war histories treat the period covered here as an inevitable roll on to victory. This books makes clear the real costs of that time with casualty rates of over 100% in many front line infantry units. How the soldiers stuck it is beyond our modern imaginings. A book written in a clear straightforward style by a man with a painter's eye as well as a gift for narrative and character. The renditions of Scottish speech catch the cadence and style very well - speaking as a Scot. Buy this and contrast it with more conventional historical narratives eg Keegan or Hastings.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Dinnie shoot its just Coo's Sur
I have just finished this book and i really loved it. I have read a fair few WW2 books in the past wee while and was looking forward to reading this. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Bally
Feedback Virginia Bank Books
Virginia Bank Books managed to produce my book the day after I ordered it and this was the 22 Dec. The product was brand new and just what I ordered. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Barrie
Reality
I can only agree with all those who have praised the great description of how a platoon of Border Jocks (and others) would have coped with the horrors of that last winter of the... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Highlander
A MUST read
Firstly, I must say that this book is very well written and wondefully descriptive. I geuinely felt a sense of apprehension with him as he was waiting to go into action. Read more
Published on 16 May 2010 by Combover
Unput-downable WW2 memoir
A gripping military memoir of a young English officer in a territorial (reserve) lowland Scots Battalion in the closing (and freezing) months of WW2 in Europe. Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2009 by Patrick D. Russell
Honest sweat, toil and tears
I have read much about war. Many books focus on the boredom, or the terror or the downright futilty. This book however, with its almost detached prose, moved me like no other. Read more
Published on 26 Dec 2008 by Ian Sinclair
with the jocks
Having read this excellent book..im from the scottish borders..i gave it to my father to read and he was able to identify two or three of the men mentioned in the book. Read more
Published on 1 Sep 2008 by A. murphy
Compelling
This is a disturbing and compelling read. It is the diary of a young conscripted officer (and artist) who was thrust into battle in Europe in 1944. Read more
Published on 11 July 2007 by nmacleod
A harrowing journey
Anyone wishing to experience at first hand the horrors and mental strain of combat should delve into Peter White's fascinating personal archive. Read more
Published on 14 Feb 2007 by R. Fraser
a traditional british officer's memoirs
i approached this text having read a description of it as different from the others. unfortunately i discovered that, althought the dramatic events were as well described as anyone... Read more
Published on 25 Oct 2001 by JBS
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