Short description
Harry Patch, born 17 June 1898, is the last British soldier alive to have fought in the trenches of the First World War. This title presents his Edwardian childhood, the horror of the Great War and fighting in the mud during the Battle of Passchendaele, working on the home front in the Second World War and fame in later life as a veteran.
Long description
Harry Patch, 110 years old, is the last British soldier alive to have fought in the trenches of the First World War. From his vivid memories of an Edwardian childhood, the horror of the Great War and fighting in the mud during the Battle of Passchendaele, working on the home front in the Second World War and fame in later life as a veteran, The Last Fighting Tommy is the story of an ordinary man's extraordinary life.
Review
'An extraordinary biography by the very last witness of a devastating four years in British history .. 'Patch is unique - living history on legs, articulate, with wonderfully vivid recall' ' Daily Mail 'Patch was not unique among millions of his comrades who endured that prolonged and supreme test of nerve and courage. But, uniquely, as the last survivor, he embodies them all' Sunday Express 'This articulate, modest and outspoken man not only remains one of the last living links with a traumatic event that has become part of the national consciousness, but is an unassailable witness of what the war was like for those who fought in it' Daily Telegraph 'A wonderful book' Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate