The first book to concentrate on what actually happened when enemies met face to face as human beings in the First World War, whether on the battlefield, as prisoners of war or as relatives of the fallen after the fighting was over

Excellent and even-handed Daily Telegraph on Boy Soldiers of the Great War A compelling work Independent on The Soldier's War One could not ask for a more dramatic and entertaining selection on a little known area of Great War history by an experienced chronicler and anthologist of that cataclysmic event Spectator on Tommy's Ark A terrific book. If ever you are in doubt about the devastation and universal suffering that war brings to us, and to all creatures, great and small, then read Tommy's Ark Michael Morpurgo, author of War Horse

Richard van Emden has interviewed over 270 veterans of the Great War and has written fourteen books on the subject including Boy Soldiers of the Great War and The Last Fighting Tommy. He has also worked on more than a dozen television programmes on the First World War, including Britain's Last Tommies, Britain's Boy Soldiers, the award-winning Roses of No Man's Land, and most recently, War Horse: The Real Story. He lives in West London.