War Game

Terry Deary, the author of the Horrible Histories series, turns to the First World War in this story set in Flanders in the winter of 1914. It follows two soldiers on the British side, a veteran and a young recruit, as they spend Christmas in the trenches. Across no-man's land, the men hear the enemy singing carols and see Christmas trees placed along the opposing trench. Greetings begin to be shouted back and forth, and an unofficial truce takes shape. It ends with an international football match between the two sides. The game is hard-fought, but there are moments of generosity and sportsmanship on both sides, and the soldiers come to see the men they are meant to fight as vulnerable people like themselves. Their officers are furious. Further unofficial truces are banned, and the war carries on with bullets in place of footballs. For young Albert, though, the day becomes a memory that stays with him long after the fighting is over. The book is aimed at readers aged 7 and up.