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Ronald Skirth

Duncan Barrett

The Reluctant Tommy - Ronald Skirth's Extraordinary Memoir of the First World War Hardcover – Unabridged, 16 April 2010

by Ronald Skirth (Author), Duncan Barrett (Editor), Jon Snow (Foreword)

49 ratings

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'Ella darling, There are things I have concealed from you up till now that I think you ought to know; things that have turned me from a different person from the Ronald you know.' So, in April 1918, Ronald Skirth, a non-commissioned officer in the Royal Artillery, wrote to his sweetheart, back in England. A year before, Skirth, then just nineteen years old, had been sent to fight on the Western Front. This is his story, the story of a young man who went to war a devoted servant of King and country and returned utterly convinced that war, all war, was wrong and who acted upon his convictions, making a pact with God that he would not kill. This riveting memoir was written fifty years after the end of the war, drawing on his own contemporary diary entries and letters home. Never published before, it affords a vivid, moving and surprising insight into that most dreadful of conflicts.

Print length

384 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Macmillan
Publication date

16 April 2010
Dimensions

13.5 x 3.1 x 21.6 cm
ISBN-10

023074673X
ISBN-13

978-0230746732
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Macmillan; Main Market edition (16 April 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 023074673X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0230746732
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.5 x 3.1 x 21.6 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 1,341,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 1,612 in British Historical Biographies from 1901 Onwards
- 1,650 in World War I Biographies (Books)
- 6,138 in 20th Century Britain History

Customer reviews:
49 ratings

Product description

Review

'An important contribution to the literature of the war. I would certainly buy this book even if I had not been sent a review copy, and whenever I get too misty-eyed about officer-man relationships I shall reread it to remind me of how badly things could go wrong. And of just how vital it is, for any democratic society seeking to use war as an instrument of policy, to ensure that the connection between war's means and its political ends is crystal clear.' -- Richard Holmes, The Evening Standard

Book Description

A moving and surprising memoir of an ordinary soldier in the First World War

5 star		66%
4 star		13%
3 star		6%
2 star		12%
1 star		3%

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world war one books

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 October 2018

Verified Purchase

I have not heard of Reginald Skirth so when I llloked him up on google I thought that would be a good read

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papa

Three Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 November 2017

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nil

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Clifford Ian Jenkins

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 January 2015

Verified Purchase

Great item.

One person found this helpful

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William Fairbanks

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 September 2015

Verified Purchase

I liked both book and the material they provided.

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Johnny Shawlands

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 July 2014

Verified Purchase

good

One person found this helpful

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Chris Hill

Two Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 November 2014

Verified Purchase

I did not enjoy the book. His personality is an unpleasant mixture of arrogance and piety. Not very believable.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Audrey

The Reluctant Tommy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 February 2013

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed the book very much - it makes one realise the terrible situation that these mostly young boy soldiers had to endure. My father enlisted for the l914-l918 war when he wasn't really old enough but I presume times were desparate and he was taken on. He was gassed (mustard gas) in that war and suffered with a bad chest for the rest of his life. He was also awarded the Military Medal.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

ROBERT WORLEY

VIEWS OF A FORMER GUNNER

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 February 2014

Verified Purchase

I have read Ronald Skirth's 'memoir' with more than a cursory eye. I bought this book having served my National Service with the Royal Artillery also the Honourable Artillery Company. Having read the book, I sent a letter to the 'Gunner' magazine assuming that Skirth's account is a correct account of his military service . On this basis, had Skirth's alteration to the gun sights been discovered, should he have been executed for treason - or hailed as a pacifist hero? Nobody bothered to reply! As a former member of the Western Front Association, I have my doubts but I am willing to try and stand in Skirth's shoes and ask, What would I have done in his position? I should also mention that my father served for over three years in the trenches of France and Flanders - including the carnage of Messines Ridge. He volunteered for a London TA regiment - the Queen's Westminsters - and was transferred having been wounded - to 15th Bn. Royal Irish Rifles (36th Ulster Division). He was discharged in 1918 suffering from 'severe neurasthenia and sent to the then hutted Maudsley Hospital in south London. In short, he was half mad. So whether Skirth's memory is accurate or not, he commands my respect as a sensitive young man.

2 people found this helpful

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