This is the moving story of four friends - Will, Lacey, Billy and Freddy - who join the infantry in 1914 to fight with their countrymen in the First World War. The lads soon find themselves in the front-line trenches, faced with gunfire, rats and freezing weather. Their enemies were supposed to be German soldiers, but both armies soon find that their real enemies are the bitter cold, the mud, hunger and the cramped conditions.
On Christmas Day the firing stopped, and one by one, the soldiers emerge from the trenches. At first, they exchange gifts and talk of life before the war, but then a football is produced, and soon they are involved in an energetic match, played across the wastes of No Man's Land, with no referee, and using greatcoats and helmets for goalposts.
Michael Foreman describes the conditions of the trenches and the heroism of the young soldiers, who suffered together on the front line, with great sensitivity. His illustrations depict every detail - the weapons and uniforms, the construction of the trenches and the bleak landscape of the battlefields. His watercolours are complemented by reproductions of posters and other ephemera of the time, making this not only a compelling story but a marvellous source book for children to learn about the First World War.
