The Truce - the day the war stopped. Chris Baker.

[John_Hartley]

This is, first and foremost, a good read. It's well researched and well written. There's a good pacing in the first eight chapters which lead you through the events of December 1914 in a broadly chronological order. These chapters are mainly narrative, with little inclusion of the extracts from men's diaries and letters that we sort of expect in the modern Great War history. There's a reason for that - they are pretty much confined to the lengthy Chapter 9, appropriately titled "In Their Words". This chapter discusses the truce itself - starting on Christmas Eve and running through to Boxing Day.

In a shift in the pacing of the book, Chris moves along the front line, division by division and battalion by battalion. There will be information from the war diary, supplemented by those extracts from letters home that lend the personal interest to the story.

So, the big question. Was football played on Christmas Day? We've discussed this on other threads and it's no secret that there is no official record of a game. But does Chris conclude that football was indeed played? You'll have to buy the book - it's well worth having on your shelves..

[David Filsell]

We really must decide how we are going define football - a match, a kickabout or what. I go for kickabout which would have called "a game of football" as matter of course when I was a kid.

[John_Hartley]

Ernie Williams, 6th Cheshires, described it as a kickabout in an interview he gave late in his life. That said, his account has been rubbished by some because of perceived false memories in the details.

[Anneca]

I think that discussing whether or not football was played on Christmas Day is taking away from the significance of Chris' book as he examines the events leading up to the truce and what was happening behind the lines. I was particularly struck by how Chris moved along the front line, division by division, battalion by battalion before coming to the 9th Chapter which was a brilliant read. I agree the book is well worth reading and keeping on your shelves to read again, but why does he need to be asked if football was played on Christmas Day, starting yet another discussion on whether it was a match or a kickabout - this subject has been discussed so many times on the forum in the past. Some say it was a match, others a kickabout, does this really matter in the context of this particular book?

Anne

[John_Hartley]

but why does he need to be asked if football was played on Christmas Day,

Simply because, in the public mind, it is the symbol of the truce. Folk want it to have happened.

I would think it completely impossible for any author to write in such detail about the truce and not devote a handful of pages to football.

[Chris_Baker]

Thank you for your review, John. Much appreciated. I'm not going to comment on the football as I am sick to death of the subject!

[nigelcave]

Well, I suppose it makes a change from Haig: good/bad/indifferent. That will be a dubious pleasure to come in about the early summer of 2016, I suppose.

Enjoyed the book, by the way!!

[Bernard_Lewis]

What time's kick off?

Bernard