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Letters from the trenches

A Soldier of the Great War

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Letters from the trenches

By: Bill Lamin
Narrated by: Geoff Annis
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Harry Lamin was born in 1877 and left school at thirteen to work in the lace industry, but by December 1916 he had been conscripted and eventually joined the 9th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment and was sent to war. Harry's letters home to his family describe the conflict with a poignant immediacy, detailing everything from the action in battle to the often amusing incidents of life amongst his comrades.©2009 Bill Lamin (P)2009 W F Howes Ltd World War
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Whilst the write up was promising - I was a little dissapointed by this. Not by the content in particular - just the narrator. When listening to something, it is important to have a voice that is engaging. I found the narrator to drone a little and there were parts of this reading that were incredibly repetative. I am aware that it is an 'unabridged' version- but when reading the book - you would not nessasarily read the address of each letter each time? This became very tiresome very quickly.The book reads like a 7hr version of 'Who Do You Think You Are'.

Aside form that - the story of Harry Lamin is a charming one,and the journey that the author, his Grandson, has made in his quest is obviously a personal one.

If you can ignore the addresses being read out at every turn - then it is an average listen.

Dissapointing

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Well read and put together, remember this was just an ordinary guy, don't know how this could have any negative comments

Great Listening

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This is an account of one man's experiences during the extraordinary events of the World War 1 trenches. Within minutes of starting to listen, you will feel that you know the subject, Harry.

This is NOT a history book. This is an engaging personal account of a Private soldier.

Geoff Annis has pitched his reading perfectly. He effortlessly adopts the correct east midlands accent when reading Harry's letters, returning to a simple South Yorkshire style for the narration - absolutely perfect.

A real account of a real person

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What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Extremely long winded and doesnt translate to an audio book. I was really disappointed. The narration is annoying as previously pointed by other reviewers. The letters themselves are fairly nondescript and repetitious, mainly concentrating on menial matters such as the weather and pay. I feel as the story is written by the grandson of the letter writer, it is more of a personal homage by Grandson to Grandfather. The author makes a few interesting technical points such as that General Douglas Haig commander in chief of the British Forces never actually visited the troops once during this tenure on the front line and was known as the eternal optimist as a whole generation of young innocent men were slain. This becomes fairly evident from the description of the letters, however, as was the norm of the day the front line private Harry Laplin never questions the futility of the tactics of this superiors. I would absolutely recommend " The Reluctant Tommy " by Ronald Skirth. Very moving and fair more detailed.

What was most disappointing about Bill Lamin’s story?

Tedious and the letters in questions are extremely repetitive never actually giving much detail.

Any additional comments?

More of an educational text to University students working on a thesis.

Letters from The Trenches

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