New and complete! Great Britain at War by Jeffery Farnol
Felbrigg Herriot narrates military history audio books. His first offering here is Great Britain at War by Jeffery Farnol:
The book follows Jeffery Farnol as he visits a number of key locations around Britain and on the continent, each demonstrating how members of English society have come together to work towards the goal of “defeating the hun”.
On a visit to a naval dockyard, he reports on how the ships are being constructed, takes us on a tour of a destroyer and introduces us to the crew. He also visits a machine gun factory, and discovers how the great guns are built. His tour continues onto the continent where he visits a hospital, a training camp, and artillery battery at the front in action.
While in France he discovers the horrors of war, learning that it’s more than just guns and glory, there’s blood and death close at hand.
A visit to an active aerodrome shows us the newly arrived aircraft, and from the people there we learn of their daring in combat. Finally the tour draws to an end at Ypres, knows simply as “wipers” to the troops. A place of great history and architecture now turned to ashes and rubble. Yet, despite the destruction, the author finds glory, honour and even hope for a better future.
May 22nd, 2011 at 10:21 pm
armament
June 11th, 2011 at 7:02 am
I was very excited to see this listed on PB.com. Non-fiction, especially history, is a welcome edition. The material presented is good, interesting content with a high level of credibility. The problem I had, and the reason I stopped listening, was the the book is improperly presented. For example, there is not context from whence the collection of individual pieces are drawn. Who is the narrator? Why was he making the factory tours? I’m not actually certain if the essays cover WW I or WWII – maybe both. Were I Mr Farnol, and in possession of this treasure-trove of information, I would labor to present it better. We cannot all be Simon Winchesters and David McCulloughs, but I would emulate their style of approaching this vault of data so as to present it more readably.
June 11th, 2011 at 9:41 am
Craig : Alas, Mr Farnol passed on in 1952 so I’ll answer in his stead. The book was first published in 1917 and this audio edition was based on the 1918 reprint. With those dates in mind we can safely assume this tour took place in during WWI. Of course at the time of printing there was no concept of “WWI & WWII so we’ll have to forgive his assumptions. I hope you will finish listening to the book, the latter chapters are very insightful into the public spirit of the time. If you’d like to know more about the author, you’ll find a page dedicated to him on Wikipedia.
June 14th, 2011 at 6:41 am
This book is a very important one to listen to. I learned many things i had never known about the war and was very touched by the stories of soldiers who lost their lives. It makes you question the necessity of war.
March 14th, 2012 at 11:39 am
I gave this book a rating of 5 stars. First, I am a fan of history and military history gives us a peek into what the social, economic, and geographic face was at that time in that region of the world. This book is really unique in it’s approach, to me it is like a news show IE.- 60 Minutes, 20/20, etc.. When the “reporter” is walking you through the factories, ship yards, shooting range (test facility), etc. and talking to those who are involved in building up the British Empire’s war machine.
The narration is excellent and the audio is very good. I wish to thank Felbrigg Herriot for giving new life to this book and all the time and effort it takes to record such a reading! Also, Thank You, the late but still influencing people Mr. Jeffery Farnol, and of course PodioBooks.com without that great site I might never have found this treasure of literature. Thank You, Joseph W. aka WaterRabbit, Cape Cod, MA, USA