Age 10+

This new book by the Children’s Laureate has already been in the news because Morpurgo has called for the government to grant posthumous pardons to the 300 British soldiers who were shot for cowardice by British firing squads during the first world war. This injustice, passionately felt, inspired Morpurgo’s powerful novel, the narrative of a young soldier who spends the night before an execution recalling his rural childhood, the girl he loved, and the spirited elder brother who was his best friend. He describes the villainous local squire and the stoicism of his gentle mother, protecting her family as best she could from the tyranny of the Big House. He relates the events that led to his enlisting, the cruelty and otherwise of commanding officers, and the horrors of the trenches at Ypres. The book has a surprise twist and is full of warmth as well as grief, conveying vividly how precious it is to be alive, but it is a painful read. The French and Australian governments have already pardoned soldiers from their own countries in similar circumstances. This book could not persuade us more movingly that we should follow suit.

PRIVATE PEACEFUL by Michael Morpurgo
(Collins £10.99)

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