Tagged with war fiction

The White Company (1892) by Arthur Conan Doyle

Book review by George Simmers: In 1891, at the same time that the first Sherlock Holmes short stories were appearing each month in the Strand Magazine, Doyle’s The White Company was being serialised in the Cornhill Magazine, a rather more staid and traditional publication. Sherlock Holmes made Doyle famous and made him money, but The … Continue reading

The Ship (1943) by C.S. Forester

Book Review by George S: The Ship was first published in 1943, when the outcome of the war was still uncertain, and it bears the marks of a book composed for the purposes of propaganda. It is the story of the Artemis, a light cruiser accompanying a convoy of merchant ships to the besieged island … Continue reading

The Charioteer (1953) by Mary Renault

Book review by Alice C: The book has lain unread on my bookshelves for several years, so during lockdown I decided to shake it out and open it up. I haven’t read any books by Mary Renault so The Charioteer was my first. I expected it would be all sandals and togas and Greek gods. … Continue reading

The Woman of Knockaloe (1923) by Hall Caine

Review by George S: This novel comes with two forewords, one by Newman Flower, the head of Cassell’s publishing house, and one by the author. The gist of each is that this book will disturb and offend some, but that it is a story that needs to be told.

The Amazing Summer (1941) by Philip Gibbs

Review by Sylvia D: Philip Gibbs’ The Amazing Summer (1941) is a good example of his journalistic novel-writing, set as it is against a backdrop of the hot and sunny summer of 1940, the Battle of Britain and the early months of the Blitz. It has resonances with Elizabeth Goudge’s The Castle on the Hill … Continue reading

1944 (1926) by the Earl of Halsbury

Book review by George S: The Earl of Halsbury’s novel, 1944 (published in 1926) is a very readable example of the ‘Future War’ genre’. Before 1914, such books had mostly been grim warnings about possible German invasions. After 1918,  they still proliferated, though with a change of emphasis. My favourites are the ones where Bolshevik … Continue reading