” We need the voice of a witness to tell the unadulterated truth. We have it in the remarkable book.”
- MICHAEL MORPURGO. One winter`s morning, illustrator Barroux was walking down a street in Paris when he made an extraordinary discovery: the diary of a soldier in the First World War. Barroux rescued the diary from the rubbish heap, took the diary back to his studio & subsequently illustrated the soldier`s words. The result is a striking graphic novel adaptation of the soldier`s moving & powerful account of war. The diary was discovered along with a medal & a song lyrics in the back of the diary that continue until 1917. But there is no name in the diary
- the name on the cover has long faded. He remains the unknown soldier. We just have his words, & it is in his own words & Barroux`s extraordinary pictures that his story his told. The diary recounts the first few months of the First World War, from the moment France declares war & mobilisation is announced, until early September 1914. Our soldier`s diary tells of the long journeys & endless nights; the search for food & wine; the friendships & the courage in the trenches; the sound of gunfire & the pain of swollen feet; & a narrow escape. In the words of Michael Morpurgo, who has written a special introduction to the book, this is `a witness statement, the untrammelled, unedited voice of someone who was there.` This is one man`s story silhouetted against the great backdrop of history & the events of 1914 that formed & transformed the world we live in today.
- REVIEWS
- ” This book should be (and will be) in every school library.” -- TEACHING ENGLISH. ” Line of Fire is one of the most extraordinary
- & beautiful
- books about the First World War. Through Barroux`s wonderful illustrations readers emphasise absolutely with the soldier`s experience.” -- LOVE READING. ” Amongst the many commemorations of The Great War, Line of Fire truly stands out as a remarkable piece.” -- PAUL GRAVETT. ”A timely & very different read about the hell of war, suitable for primary up.” -- OBSERVER. ” Children`s Book of the Week` in the SUNDAY TIMES -- Feb 2014.” An unusually personal view of World War I`s early days.” -- KIRKUS REVIEWS. ” An unforgettable reading experience for readers of all ages.” -- KIDS READS. ”A truly remarkable graphic novel... Line of Fire is a brilliant & devastating account of one man`s part in the war, all the more poignant because it is told in his own words... It is a book for all.” -- THE ILLUSTRATED FOREST.