War Horse

They say let's leave the heavy stuff to the horse because he has a bigger head. And a world war? And what if he's only seemingly mute? A stunning gelding with four white kneecaps and a striking cross on his forehead has become the centrepiece of Narracott Farm in Devon. The local farmer is a poor man, but his son Albert makes up for everything to the animal whose confession we listen to. She names him Joey, gets him out of the foal's rebellion and shows his father that the elegant half-breed can handle field work. But then the First World War breaks out, and with it the emergency, so Joey has to leave home. He is sold to the British Expeditionary Corps bound for France and meets other kindred spirits and rough treatment. The exuberance of the recruits, who planned to be home by plum, soon takes its toll in the trench phase of the fighting, in which more than one hope has already bled out. Looks like Joey won't be seeing Albert anymore either. After all, what could be worse for a cavalry horse than an order to run: transporting the wounded to the infirmary, or fighting the first tank? Has anyone thought of the animal in the fog between the front lines, in which the gentlemanliness of the golden age has dissolved? Thank God they are not all villains - English, German or French. In the most famous prose of the living classic of British literature, his interest in the fate of animals in the world of human pride culminated. The 2011 film adaptation of the book, directed by Steven Spielberg, won five Tony Awards and six Academy Award nominations. "It does not take the soaring conference speeches of UN peacemakers to understand the general belief that war is inhumane. Even a horse is enough to alert us." - The Guardian "Michael Morpurgo is a national treasure. As long as his creative passion for showing why the world needs compassion continues, young people will still have a compelling reason to read." - The Independent "The exceptional hero and the no less idiosyncratic conception of this humanist appeal remind us that in 1918 there were six million fallen horses as well as ten million fallen soldiers. (...) Without lecturing, the author tells the youth what their great-grandfathers' generation sacrificed in the battle against the tyranny of the powerful. The desire for freedom is in us regardless of nationality or number of limbs." - Fantasy Book Review "A simple, straightforward, compelling confession. Probably because it's told through horse eyes, which don't tend to embellish things. Or to digress into irrelevant details and turn down roads that lead nowhere." - blogspot.com "It was the hope that we would go back to our stable tonight and that Emilka would be there to encourage and comfort us with her love. We had something to look forward to and something to long for. Every horse has an instinctive love for children, because children speak more quietly and their size excludes any threat..."