The Englishman's Daughter: A True Story of Love and Betrayal in World War I - Hardcover

MacIntyre, Ben

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 158724232X ISBN 13: 9781587242328

Publisher: Wheeler Pub Inc, 1900

Synopsis

"I have a rendezvous with death, at some disputed barricade." Alan Seeger, 1916In the first days of World War I four soldiers, left behind as the British army retreated through northern France under the first German onslaught, found themselves trapped on the wrong side of the Western Front, in a tiny village called Villeret. Just a few miles from the Somme, the village would be permanently inundated with German troops for the next four years, yet the villagers conspired to feed, clothe and protect the fugitives under the very noses of the invaders, absorbing the Englishmen into their homes and lives until they could pass for Picardy peasants. The leader of the band, Robert Digby, was a striking young man who fell in love with Claire Dessenne, the prettiest maid in the village. In November 1915, with the guns clearly audible from the battlefront, Claire gave birth to Digby's child, the jealous whispering began, and the conspiracy that had protected the

About this title

From the Inside Flap

In the first terrifying days of World War I, four British soldiers found themselves trapped behind enemy lines on the western front. They were forced to hide in the tiny French village of Villeret, whose inhabitants made the courageous decision to shelter the fugitives until they could pass as Picard peasants.

The Englishman's Daughter is the never-before-told story of these extraordinary men, their protectors, and of the haunting love affair between Private Robert Digby and Claire Dessenne, the most beautiful woman in Villeret. Their passion would result in the birth of a child known as "The Englishman's Daughter," and in an act of unspeakable betrayal, a tragic legacy that would haunt the village for generations to come.

Through the testimonies of the villagers and the last letters of the soldiers, acclaimed journalist Ben Macintyre has pieced together a harrowing account of how life was lived behind enemy lines during the Great War, and offers a compelling solution to a gripping mystery that reverberates to this day.

From the Back Cover

“Remarkable.”
-- The New York Times Book Review

“This poignant reconstruction...has all the tensions of a contemporary mystery.”
-- The Philadelphia Inquirer

”Wrenching...thoroughly captivating...reminds one of the novels of Michael Ondaatje.”
-- The Washington Times

About this edition

• Publisher: Wheeler Pub Inc
• Publication date: 1900
• ISBN 10: 158724232X
• ISBN 13: 9781587242328
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 354