‘One of them shouted “A Merry Christmas English. We’re not shooting tonight.” . . . [then] they stuck up a light. Not to be outdone, so did we. Then up went another. So, we shoved up another. Soon the lines looked like an illuminated fete.’ Rifleman Leslie Walkington On Christmas Eve 1914, a group of German soldiers laid down their arms, lit lanterns and started to sing Christmas carols. The British troops in nearby trenches responded by singing songs of their own. The next day, men from both sides met in No Man’s Land. They shook hands, took photos and exchanged food and souvenirs. Some even played improvised football games, kicking around empty bully-beef cans and using helmets for goalposts. Both sides also saw the lull in fighting as a chance to bury the bodies of their comrades. In some parts of the front, the truce lasted a few hours. In others, it continued to the New Year. But everywhere, sooner or later, the fighting resumed. Today, the Christmas Truce is seen as a poignant symbol of hope in a war that many people regard as unnecessary and futile. But what was the real story of those remarkable few days? In this fascinating new book, historian Anthony Richards has brought together hundreds of first-hand reminiscences from those who were there – including previously unpublished German accounts – to cast fresh light on this extraordinary episode.

• Includes revealing first-person accounts of how the truce unfolded and the amazing interaction between enemies • An exhaustive work of comprehensive research and study in various files and paperwork • Beautifully illustrated with many rare and unpublished photographs • A must-have for military historians, enthusiasts, academics, students, scholars and those interested in the First World War The Christmas Truce of 1914 remains a moment of enduring fascination more than a century after the day the First World War guns fell silent. Now for the first time, hundreds of first-person accounts of this most extraordinary period of history have been gathered together telling the story in their own words of the soldiers who met in peace in No Man’s Land. The stories of men from English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh regiments who played and joked, sang and danced, swapped gifts and shared food and drink with the enemy before returning to war on the Western Front. Christmas Truce by the Men Who Took Part: Letters from the 1914 Ceasefire on the Western Front is the largest collection ever drawn together of letters sent home by the officers and soldiers who laid down their guns and shook hands with their foes. The eye-opening accounts of the unofficial armistice between German and British forces capture the trepidation and exhilaration, the curiosity, anger, joy and despair of that first Christmas on the unforgiving battlegrounds of the Great War.

Front cover -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Foreword -- 1 "A Candle Lit in the Darkness" -- 2 "Absolute Hell" -- 3 "A Great Day with Our Enemies" -- 4 "No War Today" -- 5 "One Day of Peace at the Front" -- 6 "That Unique and Weird Christmas" -- 7 The Curious Christmas Truce" -- 8 "The Famous Christmas Truce" -- 9 "The Legendary Christmas Truce" -- 10 "Memories of Christmas 1914 Persist" -- 11 "It Was Peace That Won" -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Permissions -- Index.

Business is business until someone changes the rules of the game… Emma Singleton has one goal when she travels to Chicago: take down Miles Almeida. The bossy, egotistical man might be CEO of his wildly profitable communications company, but he acts like he runs the world. For the past few months, Miles has been a pain in her butt with his around-the-clock demands for perfection. But that stops now. She’s ready to prove that she’s not a pushover, finish their business deal, and leave. Dealing with Miles and Christmas has her counting down the days until she flies home to Virginia, away from the lights, sounds, and painful memories of the holidays. Miles Almeida wants to finalize the merger with Emma’s company and move on with his life. But one glimpse of the beautiful, stubborn woman changes his plans. The hard-nosed businesswoman meets him toe-to-toe at every turn, never giving an inch and driving him absolutely crazy in the process. And when she ends up sick, Miles’s protective instincts kick into high gear, and the boardroom is forgotten. He only has one weekend with Emma. Finding ways to help her celebrate Christmas, showing her around his Chicago, is the best gift he can give. Can the two of them call a truce long enough to spend one incredible weekend together? The Christmas Truce is a standalone holiday novella about two people who go from enemies to lovers over one unexpected, steamy weekend. Part of the Brewing Chemistry series: 1) Ava 2) Reese 3) Frankie

After four months of intense fighting, the war in Flanders between German and British soldiers fell silent on Christmas Eve 1914. The soldiers started singing instead of shooting. On Christmas Day they came out of their trenches and met in No Man's Land. Some chased rabbits. Some played football. This true story is about two footballers and soldiers, one Saxon and one Scot, who were in units that played a match in a field between the French villages Houplines and Frelinghien. Scotsman Jimmy Coyle had played professional football before the war. Saxon Albert Schmidt played in the third team for his local club. On Christmas afternoon they each got the chance to defeat their opponents without weapons. Pehr Thermaenius has tracked both Jimmy's and Albert’s stories through military archives; from mobilization in August to the hard frozen mud in that field in Flanders that became a football field on Christmas Day. The story of the football match is a light in the darkness as the world remembers the tragic waste of a hundred years ago.

In some respects, the contrasts of Christmas are what make it the most delightful time of the year. It is a time of generosity, kindness and peace on earth, with broad permission to indulge in food, drink and gifts. On the other hand, Christmas has become a battleground for raging culture wars, marred by debates about how it should be celebrated and acknowledged as a uniquely Christian holiday. This text argues that much of the animosity is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the holiday's core character. By tracing Christmas's origins as a pagan celebration of the winter solstice and its development in Europe's Christianization, this history explains that the true "reason for the season" has as much to do with the earth's movement around the sun as with the birth of Christ. Chapters chronicle how Christmas's magic and misrule link to the nativity, and why the carnival side of the holiday appears so separated from traditional Christian beliefs.

Looks at the origins and impact of World War I, discusses the premiere of Stravinsky's ballet, and analyzes public opinion of the period.

The British army was almost unique among the European armies of the Great War in that it did not suffer from a serious breakdown of discipline or collapse of morale. It did, however, inevitably suffer from disciplinary problems. While attention has hitherto focused on the 312 notorious "shot at dawn" cases, many thousands of British soldiers were tried by court martial during the Great War. This book will be essential reading for military and Irish historians and their students, and will interest any general reader concerned with how units maintain discipline and morale under the most trying conditions.

"What would happen, I wonder, if the Armies suddenly and simultaneously went on strike and said some other method must be found of settling the dispute?" --Winston Churchill, November 1914 This much, at least, is true: In December of 1914, soldiers along the battlefront laid down their arms and observed a Christmastime truce. That much is true. They buried their dead, sang and drank together, roasted pigs and rabbits they had caught, and had bicycle races. And there was more than one football game. The first part of The Christmas Mutiny is as close as I can manage to what really happened, allowing for dramatic license. I wanted to have a diverse cast of young characters, so I allowed an American pilot to be forced down near the front, a Turkish observer to be present among the Germans, and so on – they weren’t there, but they could have been. The second part of the book is something very different. It tells a story of what might have happened. It’s not the only way things might have happened, and maybe I’m wrong and it couldn’t possibly have happened the way I describe. You may certainly feel free to disagree. If you feel so strongly that you want to write your own version, I’d be very happy to read it.