Hell on Earth my life in the trenches 1914-18

[Black Maria]

Not seen this book mentioned on the forum,i think that anyone who is interested in first person accounts will find it a fascinating read.The Reverend Burder was a chaplain to the English community in Argentina when the War broke out.,he returned home to try and become an Army chaplain.When this failed he joined the Artist rifles as a private soldier and was sent to France and found himself helping to guard G.H.Q. at St Omer.Pulling a few strings he managed to gain a commision as a 2nd Lieut in the 1/8 Middlesex ,in which he fought through every major battle from Loos to Cambrai(where he was wounded).He won the M.C and became a Captain along the way.

This is a very detailed and interesting memoir,written by the author in 1918 and found by his son in 2009, who has edited it into the finished book.

(Published by Big Ben books 2010)

[Black Maria]

Apparently, according to an article in the Daily Mail, Mr Burder's son has sold his house to help fund the reprinting of this fine memoir. Originally published in just 500 copies ,

he wants to publish a further 10,000 copies and hopes to supply some to schools and colleges, and I for one would like to wish him luck.

[WilliamRev]

I have just looked on Amazon, and found that it is currently unavailable - the single review praises the book's content, but is disappointed at the large number of typos. I would certainly buy a copy, especially if his son, in editing it, has resisted the temptation to embellish it with the hyperbole that editors so often feel the need to add to memoirs.

William

[Dust Jacket Collector]

There's a copy on ABE for around £18

[WilliamRev]

Yes, in fact there are copies at £11.95 including postage, so I have ordered one - can't resist WW1 memoirs which were written during/soon after the war (see my thread Autobiographies Anonymous)

William

[Moonraker]

There was an item on my regional TV news this evening about this publishing venture, and after some Googling I came to the article that Blackmaria refers to in post 2.

Mail on Line

I'm concerned at the author's optimism in having 10,000 copies run off - they are going to take some shifting.

There's a very nasty comment at the end asking who cares, though there's another implying the author was downsizing anyway - I confess I had wondered if this was the case.

Moonraker