Peter Watt’s historical novel, The Ghosts of August, covers the years from 1914 to 1916. The settings are Sydney, Rabaul in Papua New Guinea, France, Germany and the Middle East.
David and Ben Steele, brothers from a wealthy Sydney family, join the Australian army to fight in the First World War. David is sent to France and Ben to the Middle East. David was in Germany visiting a friend before the War began and Ben was in Rabaul pursuing the family’s interests there. Peter Watt is one of those writers in the Michener mould who entertain while enlightening, and for me, having lived in Papua New Guinea but never having been to Rabaul, I was especially interested in that part of the book.
The fighting scenes in the two theatres of war, France and the Middle East, are graphic and at the same time gripping. War in any form, of course, is horrible, disgusting, terrifying, but hand to hand close combat between young men who in other circumstances would have no animosity towards each other is dehumanising as well as heartbreaking. That is how a lot of that war was fought and Peter Watt is unflinching in his representation of it.
The perfect balance for the horrifying reality of the brothers’ experiences in fighting for their country is the telling of the individual stories of their personal lives as well as those of their family and friends and the women they loved. There is equal depth and power in all aspects of the book.
This quote stayed with me: “It was ironic to think that the Kaiser was a cousin of the British King and Russian Czar. This was truly a war between royal European families that was dragging millions of men to their deaths…”
Well done, Mr Watt.
Published by Pan Macmillan
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