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Declarations of War

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Declarations of War by Len Deighton is a collection of short stories set during World War II, exploring the personal and psychological effects of war on both soldiers and civilians. Each story delves into different facets of the wartime experience, from the battlefield to the home front, highlighting the diverse challenges and emotions faced by those living through the conflict. This historical fiction vividly captures the tension and unpredictability of the era.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this gripping collection of short stories if you are intrigued by World War II tales that blend espionage, personal struggles, and the human condition. Written by an acclaimed author, this book delves into the complexities and moral ambiguities faced by ordinary people during wartime, providing a richly textured reading experience that combines historical context with thrilling narratives.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Declarations of War is Len Deighton's only collection of short stories, examining the experiences of soldiers across two millennia of war.

This collection of thirteen stories offers an inside view of fighting men poised at the edge of death. It is a dazzling array of stories that spans twenty-three centuries of warfare.

From Hannibal's march on Romeβ€”when strange, moving objects terrorise the troops of one of the toughest and most skilful armies in historyβ€”to the efforts of a belittled Civil War general trying to get his men to face the Confederate army; to the dawn skies above an artillery-blasted French battle-line where a dogfight unfolds, and to Vietnam; where two lost American soldiers stumble across an abandoned military airfield.

Each story in Declarations of War explores the effects of war upon man's character, illustrating how it pushes him to act in a dehumanised, machine-like way, often leading to extraordinary deeds, both good and ill. It portrays human conflict through a series of devastating experiences and shows how great deeds are often but the smallest thread in the large fabric of war.

Series: Penguin Modern Classics

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241505335

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 06 January 2022

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 11.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 145g

Pages: 192

About the Author

Len Deighton was born in 1929 in London. He did his national service in the RAF, went to the Royal College of Art and designed many book jackets, including the original UK edition of Jack Kerouac's On the Road. The enormous success of his first spy novel, The IPCRESS File (1962), was repeated in a remarkable sequence of books over the following decades. These varied from historical fiction (Bomber, perhaps his greatest novel) to dystopian alternative fiction (SS-GB) and a number of brilliant non-fiction books on the Second World War (Fighter, Blitzkrieg and Blood, Tears and Folly). His spy novels chart the twists and turns of Britain and the Cold War in ways which now give them a unique flavour. They preserve a world in which Europe contains many dictatorships, in which the personal can be ruined by the ideological and where the horrors of the Second World War are buried under only a very thin layer of soil. Deighton's fascination with technology, his sense of humour and his brilliant evocation of time and place make him one of the key British espionage writers, alongside John Buchan, Eric Ambler, Ian Fleming and John Le Carre.

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