Tommy’s Ark: Soldiers and their Animals in the Great War

[J Banning]

I received my copy last week and have had time to give it a good read through. I knew all about the book last year as I had worked with Richard on it, gathering perhaps 40% of the material from archives, but hadn't seen the other extracts he had gathered from multiple sources or most of the pictures.

I am really impressed with what he has produced and perhaps most importantly, the sheer range of quotes covering a real multitude of animals. The quotes are cleverly woven together with a really good narrative to form a fascinating read. Well worth a read.

Anyone else read it?

[Pighills]

I've just ordered the book Jeremy, I'll report back once I've read it.

[squirrel]

.....I am really impressed with what he has produced and perhaps most importantly, the sheer range of quotes covering a real multitude of animals. The quotes are cleverly woven together with a really good narrative to form a fascinating read. Well worth a read.

Anyone else read it?

Couldn't agree more - excellent book.

[stu]

I have just finished this and really enjoyed it, I thoroughly recommend it.

Have a look at these reviews, also, if you buy from here the GWF gets a cut !

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tommys-Ark-Soldiers-Their-Animals/product-reviews/1408806118/ref=sr_1_1_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

[seaJane]

I know someone who is collecting details of RN animals aboard - can anyone tell me if "soldiers" in the title includes "sailors" ... ?

[Forton]

I know someone who is collecting details of RN animals aboard - can anyone tell me if "soldiers" in the title includes "sailors" ... ?

Hi seaJane

The answer is that there are no other animals from any other theatre of war other than the Western Front. There was a good reason for this. Such was the wealth of stories from France and Belgium that I decided to keep the book focussed on that area alone. It would have been easy, given the exotic nature of creatures in the Middle East and Africa, to have padded the book with stories from these alternative theatres of war, or indeed to add stories about Naval mascots etc. I wanted to drawn out themes and ideas about the relationship between soldiers and animals - and not just serving animals but wildlife and nature in general - that might otherwise have been dissipated had I gone 'elsewhere' for stories.

All best

[J Banning]

Good to see it get a good review in the FT too: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/adcf7478-ede9-11df-8616-00144feab49a.html#axzz15QkVp5e