Truce: The Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Murphy, Jim.
2009. Truce: The day the soldiers stopped fighting. New York, NY: Scholastic
Press. ISBN 9780545130493
- PLOT SUMMARY
Truce tells the story of the first world
war focusing on the truce that happened during the Christmas of that first year
when hundreds of soldiers stopped fighting and spent Christmas together in
peace. It begins by describing the events that led up to the war. It shares
many moments that the war could’ve been avoided but wasn’t. Propaganda, suspicion,
and pressure were all mentioned and accounted for. The next section described
the brutality of fighting a twentieth-century war with nineteenth-century
tactics. The fleeting optimism and terrible conditions for all involved were
highlighted with pictures to support the information shared. Moving the war to
the trenches and the struggles with the rain, disease, and raiding parties were
also described. This set the stage for the conditions that made the truce possible.
Soldiers were tired of the conditions they were found in and they were beginning
to see the humanity of the other side. Some areas didn’t partake in the truce,
and others extended it into the spring. The end of the war was also briefly
described along with the reasons WWII began 20 years later.
- CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Murphy is a well-known and credible author in
his own right, but he also includes a variety of notes and sources for each
section and photo/ illustration in this book. The sections include a preface
and six other sections that highlight a different part of the war. Two sections
(four and five) specifically talk about the truce. The other sections are important
background for the reader to understand in order to know why the truce was so monumental.
The timeline in the end is another great text feature that can be explored to
better understand the events of this war. Murphy’s writing is well-organized
and captivating. There are personal accounts intertwined with big historical
events making the information shared more meaningful. This is a nonfiction book
that is difficult to put down once it’s begun.
Murphy
includes beautiful photographs and paintings that really help the reader to
understand some of the concepts, ideas, and events he is describing. The maps
are also clear and helpful.
- REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
ALA
Notable Children's Book
Starred review
in Booklist: “Well organized and clearly written, this presentation
vividly portrays the context and events of the Christmas Truce.”
Starred
review in Horn Book Guide: “This historical background gives the truce emotional
resonance; the subsequent carnage is all the more sobering in contrast. Plentiful
photographs and period illustrations convey the paradoxes well.”
Starred
review in Kirkus Reviews: “the author gracefully moves to the horrific
conditions of battle that established the static madness of trench warfare--a
madness that, oddly enough, led to enough fraternization across No Man's Land
that both British and German High Commands feared what eventually happened.
Drawing on a wealth of primary sources, from letters home, diaries and
recollections of combatants to archival photographs and prints, the author
allows the principles to speak”
Reviewed
in Library Media Connection: “This book explains the whole situation in
a clear, straightforward manner that middle school students can easily
understand.”
Reviewed
in Publishers Weekly: “Instead, its focus-the Christmas truce that
occurred along Western Front trenches in 1914-leaves readers with hope in the
human spirit and a sense of the folly and futility of the Great War.”
Starred
review in School Library Journal: “Accessible and engaging, this is a
detailed chronicle of life on the battlefield and the political machinations
that fueled the war.”
Voice of
Youth Advocates (VOYA)
- CONNECTIONS
*Invite
students to write letters to the soldiers that partook in the truce asking them
any questions or stating any comments they have about that time.
*Invite students to find information about the truce
online and compare the information they find with the information in the book.
*Other nonfiction books written by Jim Murphy:
Murphy, Jim. An American plague: The true and
terrifying story of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. ISBN 9780395776087
Murphy,
Jim. The long road to Gettysburg. ISBN 9780618051571
Murphy,
Jim. The boys' war: Confederate and Union soldiers talk about the Civil War.
ISBN 9780395664124
Murphy,
Jim. The great fire. ISBN 9780439203074
Comments
Post a Comment