How I Filmed the War

De: Geoffrey H Malins

Narrado por: Felbrigg Napoleon Herriot

FNH Audio presents a complete and unabridged audiobook covering the war-time activities of the British Empire's official military Cinematographer. Follow him as he sets out from Britain, crosses the channel and enters the domain of trench warfare, chemical weapons, explosive shells and constant danger.

Lieutenant Geoffrey Malins became famous for his films taken during actual attacks on the Somme. This book narrates how he took those films. Yet his other films were both ground breaking and astounding and he relates how he took those too.

The Lieutenant, took his camera up in the air and flew over the trenches, and down into the trenches themselves. To get his films, he had to crawl through the mud, facing the bullets and high explosive shells along with the men he was filming.

This book is full of simply astounding scenes of bravery. In one scene Malins sprints across a road under direct fire from machine guns. In another he stands up in a trench while being sniped in order to film the men going over-the-top. In yet another he finds himself blown out of a bunk and in amongst the dead. The narrative is also sprinkled with occasional melancholy, such as when Malins passes time with an artillery officer, but when he returns a few hours later, it is to find his new friend dead. This book gives you an insight into the blood, bravery and hell that was WWI from a different view point.

©2010 Geoffrey H. Malins (P)2011 FNH

Extraordinary Eye Witness Account

At a time when tanks were unheard of (he describes his encounter with them as they are first deployed) and the real possibility of failure in the Somme faced the British, Geoffrey H Malins entered the war to film battles as they happened. A time of such naivety and yet one of the most brutal episodes in our history, this story provides a unique (and highly biased as is to be expected) point of view of WW1. The narrator does a wonderful job of bringing the character of our hero to life adding real warmth to the narrative. If you are at all interested in WW1, The Somme battles, early film making or just early 20thC history this is well worth a listen.