Brothers in War

Title: Brothers in War
Author: Michael Walsh
Ebury Press, 2006

This work of non-fiction is based on the masses of letters that the Beechey family wrote during the Great War. Mrs. Amy Beechey saw all of her eight sons go off to war. Five were lost forever and a sixth came back crippled for life. Naturally, this is a gripping story and Walsh' prose complements the letters well. It is also an interesting historical document since the eight brothers between them fought at several of the major theaters of war: the Western front, Turkey and North Africa are all covered as well as many of the major battles: Gallipoli, Somme and Ypres. Since two of the brothers had emigrated to Australia before the war, we also get the colonial perspective. This is a good read for anyone interested in the Great War and also for people looking for an introduction to it.