Non-fiction club

Forgotten Voices by Max Arthur

Ciorstan, Glasgow, age 13

'Forgotten Voices' by Max Arthur is a book of personal accounts from people affected by the First World War. An extract I particularly liked was a story told by Captain Herbert Sulzbach from the German Artillery. Captain Sulzbach tells us about when he looked one way the Battle of the Somme was erupting, but when he looked the other way he could see peace and mountains and a French man singing. This was thought-provoking as it makes us think how war disrupted so much of everything, and also lets us feel the hope of the soldier when he saw that there was still optimism in the middle of a war. It was different because, for once, it was a German soldier talking, which shows us how human they really were, when the stereotype is that they were all evil. This was one story of many, from men, women, young and old, and I found the book very moving.