Silent Night

The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce

De: Stanley Weintraub

Narrado por: Edward Holland

In the early months of World War I, on Christmas Eve, men on both sides of the trenches laid down their arms and joined in a spontaneous celebration. Despite orders to continue shooting, the unofficial truce spread across the front lines. Even the participants found what they were doing incredible: Germans placed candlelit Christmas trees on trench parapets, warring soldiers sang carols, and men on both sides shared food parcels from home. They climbed from the trenches to meet in "No Man's Land" where they buried the dead, exchanged gifts, ate and drank together, and even played soccer.

Throughout his narrative, Stanley Weintraub uses the stories of the men who were there, as well as their letters and diaries, to illuminate the fragile truce and bring to life this extraordinary moment in time.©2001 Stanley Weintraub; (P)2001 Books on Tape, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Weintraub has brought an obscure and bizarre incident to life with a flair that gives the reader a detailed glimpse of a unique Christmas story."—The Seattle Times

"Deeply moving."—The Boston Globe

"Reveals [Weintraub's] skill as a researcher and deftness as a narrator."—Publishers Weekly

"Weintraub does an excellent job of preserving for posterity this remarkable wartime truce."—The New American

Inspiring

Disobey so called authority and you shall now peace. Follow your own conscience and reason and you will know peace.

Good book

The Christmas Truce is one of my favorite events in history. This book brought to life new information about it that I never knew. While I've heard better narration, I would recommend this book

Incredible Story on a Lesser Known Topic

This is a well researched book on an aspect of WWI that historians have largely forgotten, namely, that love for ones neighbor can spontaneously arise in the most unexpected places. The narrator does a great job, with the various accents. The story is very compelling and should never be forgotten. My only complaint with the story is that it is hard to follow chronologically. The book transitions back and forth between days during the last two weeks of 1914. Other than that, I highly recommend reading this book!

Just okay.

An amazing & fascinating historical event. Well-researched, but the telling of the story is just okay.

Silent Night: a hope and prayer

A. true story of the meaning of Christmas, demonstrating the goodness that dwells in the heart and soul of man. In the last chapter the author posits of what might have happened if the world took the small embers of the Christmas Truce 1914 and carried it's spirit and light to brighten the world with the first and true message of the first Christmas...Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Man!

Everyone needs to read this book

I just finished this on Christmas. In a world where my county has been at war most of my life this book opened my mind to the insanity of war.

Remarkable story remarkably told

This retelling of a remarkable event in the history of our world is impeccably written and brilliantly narrated.

That might be a good enough recommendation, but it does little justice. It is difficult to describe the detail that must have gone into the research. You must listen to appreciate the blending of poetic colour with historical fact that went into the writing. The author clearly loves the romantic elements of the story and, at the same time, considers himself a guardian of historic truth and verifiable fact.

Perhaps sometimes without meaning to, although several times with a clear intent, the author provides sublime insights that apply to our world today. The story itself is full of joy and sadness and raw human emotion that the author displays for the listener with perfect timing, yet without unnecessary embellishment.

The narrator’s careful and respectful use of German, English, Scottish, French and other accents give a voice to personal letters of the men involved.

Whether you come for a heart-warming Christmas story, interesting historical details, or something more profound, you’ll find it. For me, listening to this is now an annual experience that will be part of my Christmas traditions for years to come.

Excellent!

Ever since I first heard of the 1914 Christmas truce, it has captivated my imagination of “what if”it had gone on indefinitely. Well worth listening to.

Soso Christmas Story

Heartwarming story, just hard to follow because it follows the same event from anothers point of view.

Everyone should know this history

I’ve read this book a couple times and have frequently been moved to tears by this event. Weintraub sets us smack into the trenches of French, German and English soldiers who, disobeying orders, set aside their differences and their guns and got to know each other on Christmas 1914.

As he says, the event was larger in scale than we are lead to believe. All along that front peace broke out spontaneously, gifts were exchanged, and even a few games of footy took place.

Why didn’t the truce continue? What could have been avoided by the next four years of war being avoided? He goes into that too.

Sleep in heavenly peace… oh, the damage that war did that we are still paying the price for.