RNIB Branded Word Template s13

First World War Fiction A selection of titles available RNIB Talking Books

Barker, Pat Regeneration. 1997. Read by Michael Tudor Barnes, 10 hours 15 minutes. TB 11448. The Regeneration triology; book 1. This novel is not only a vivid evocation of the agony of the First World War, it is a multi-layered exploration of all wars, challenging assumptions about the relationship between doctors and patients, between men and women, and between men and men. It centres on a real-life encounter that occurred at Craiglockhart in 1917 between W H R Rivers, an army psychiatrist and Siegfried Sassoon. The third book in this trilogy was the 1995 Booker Prize winner. TB 11448.

Barry, Sebastian A long long way. 2005. Read by John Cormack, 9 hours 20 minutes. TB 14367. A Long Long Way evokes the camaraderie and humour of Willie and his regiment, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, but also the cruelty and sadness of war, and the divided loyalties that many Irish soldiers felt. Tracing their experiences through the course of the war, the narrative brilliantly explores and dramatises the events of the Easter Rising within Ireland, and how such a seminal political moment came to affect those boys off fighting for the King of England on foreign fields - the paralysing doubts and divisions it caused them. Contains strong language. TB 14367.

Faulks, Sebastian Birdsong. 1996. Read by Peter Firth, 15 hours 41 minutes. TB 10988. Amiens, 1910, and young Stephen Wraysford has been sent by his employer to study the textile trade. His host, Azaire, is a prosperous manufacturer. Stephen and Isabelle, Azaire's second wife, are immediately aware of a bond between them which oversteps any considerations of propriety. The Somme, 1916, and Stephen is now a lieutenant in the British Army, lonely and

RNIB – supporting blind and partially sighted people Registered charity number 226227 brooding and France has become a bloody battlefield. In 1978 a woman finds a diary and begins to relive the horrors of trench warfare with the writer. Unsuitable for family reading. TB 10988.

Harrison, Sarah The flowers of the field. 1980. Read by Carol Marsh, 32 hours 8 minutes. TB 4885. A family saga of the Great War and its effects on the lives of three women: intellectual Thea, beautiful Dulcie and the proud and ambitious maid Primmy. TB 4885.

Hasek, Jaroslav The good soldier Svejk and his fortunes in the World War. 1973. Read by Andrew Timothy, 27 hours 23 minutes. TB 5161. A new and unexpurgated translation of a classic Czech comic novel: Svejk is Everyman caught up in the bureaucratic cogwheels of the First World War. His own brand of resistance against tyranny makes him a national hero: he acts the fool and makes authority look foolish. The author points up the absurdities brought about by the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire and rejoices in the capacity of the individual to survive, live off his wits and mock pomposity. Contains strong language. TB 5161.

Morpurgo, Michael Private peaceful. 2004. Read by Peter Kenny, 4 hours 36 minutes. TB 14821. As young Thomas Peaceful looks back over his childhood from the battlefields of the First World War, his memories are full of family life deep in the countryside. But the clock is ticking, and every moment Tommo spends remembering how things used to be, means another moment closer to something which will change his life forever. TB 14821.

Perry, Anne Shoulder the sky. 2005. Read by Cornelius Garrett, 10 hours 49 minutes. TB 17208. World War I series; book 2. Sequel to: No graves as yet, TB 16498. In April 1915 Joseph Reavley is serving as chaplain on the Front Line at Ypres. The war that should have been 'over by

rnib.org.uk Christmas' has already decimated the British Expeditionary Force. To Joseph's sector comes an ambitious young war correspondent determined to expose the horrors of trench life. But before he can dispatch his piece, he is found dead in no-man's-land. Still seeking the man behind his parents' murder, and to protect his sister Judith from the pain of an impossible romance, Joseph must find the truth. TB 17208.

Remarque, Erich Maria All quiet on the western front. 1980. Read by Robert Gladwell, 7 hours 41 minutes. TB 5771. In 1914, at the age of 18, the author went straight from school into the army and was sent to the Western Front. During the course of the war, his mother died and all his friends were killed. At the end of the war, he found himself alone in the world. This book tells of the sacrifice of a generation. TB 5771.

West, Rebecca The return of the soldier. 1980. Read by Pauline Munro, 3 hours 10 minutes. TB 5243. A shell-shocked soldier returns from the First World War. There are three women who love him and who are waiting for him. But he can only remember two of them as they were years ago, and he cannot remember his wife at all. The three women have a choice - to leave him or to "cure" him. TB 5243.

Young, Louisa My dear I wanted to tell you. 2011. Read by Dan Stevens, 10 hours 50 minutes. TB 19802. London, April 1916, Riley Purefoy was walking across Kensington Gardens in the sun, coming up from Victoria station, going home. He hadn't been in London for two years. It seemed very peculiar to him. There were no shells going off. No one was shooting. No gas gong. It was quiet and there were women. TB 19802.

rnib.org.uk