Line of Fire Diary of an Unknown Soldier August - September 1914

LoveReading4Kids Says

Line of Fire is one of the most extraordinary -  and beautiful - books about the First World War. This diary of an unknown French soldier tells of his experiences in the very early days of the fighting at the Front. Told as a matter-of-fact catalogue of events, it records the strange journey from normal civilian life into the life of a solder with all the hardship that brings.

While there is no wallowing in all the unpleasantness that he sees, its impact is strongly felt. Through Barroux’s wonderful illustrations readers emphasise absolutely with the soldier’s experience.

Astonishingly, the book was found completely by chance on a Paris street by author-illustrator Barroux. He rescued the diary from the rubbish, took it back to his studio and, moved and inspired by the soldier’s story, adapted the soldier’s diary into a striking and unforgettable black and white graphic novel.

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.’

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About Line of Fire Diary of an Unknown Soldier August - September 1914

The diary begins in August 1914 with the outbreak of World War 1. The last entry is 12th September the same year. We don’t know what happened to the soldier. We know that he was an infantryman. We know he had a wife and children. We know he narrowly escaped death on 28th August 1914. The rest is a mystery. The diary was discovered with a medal and a song book that postdates the diary by over a year. There is no name in the diary.

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