Train to Nowhere

ONE OF HAY FESTIVAL'S 100 BEST BOOKS WRITTEN BY WOMEN IN THE LAST 100 YEARS.*Train to Nowhere is a war memoir seen through the sardonic eyes of Anita Leslie, a funny and vivacious young woman who reports on her experiences with a dry humour, finding the absurd alongside the tragic.Daughter of a Baronet and first cousin once removed of Winston Churchill, she joined the Mechanized Transport Corps as a fully trained mechanic and ambulance driver during WWII, serving in Libya, Syria, Palestine, Italy, France and Germany. Ahead of her time, Anita bemoans 'first-rate women subordinate to second-rate men,' and, as the British Army forbade women from serving at the front, joined the Free French Forces in order to do what she felt was her duty. Writing letters in Hitler's recently vacated office and marching in the Victory parade contrast with observations of seeing friends murdered and a mother avenging her son by coldly shooting a prisoner of war. Unflinching and unsentimental, *Train to Nowhere is a memoir of Anita's war, one that, long after it was written, remains poignant and relevant.

A terse, keen reticence and the summing up of deadly situations in a line or two

Préface
'Train to Nowhere speaks of another mood, a different time and a grittier generation...This, surely, is the second world war we want to rediscover in print' Robert McCrum, Observer 'If Evelyn Waugh's Mrs Algernon Stitch had been possessed of a heart, a sense of humour, and a glorious prose style, it could be said that she was a dead ringer for Anita Leslie. Train to Nowhere is a glorious book, brought back to vivid life.' John Banville, Booker Prize winning author of The Sea 'Train To Nowhere is the most gripping piece of war reportage I have ever read: particularly affecting is Anita Leslie's account of the Battle of Colmar, where her descriptions are almost too unbearable to take in. What a writer! Her observations, mixed with dry humour and compassion, place her at the heart of the conflict and somehow apart from it, as a good historian should be. Remarkable.' Joanna Lumley

Auteur

Anita Leslie

Texte du rabat

ONE OF HAY FESTIVAL'S 100 BEST BOOKS WRITTEN BY WOMEN IN THE LAST 100 YEARS. Train to Nowhere is a war memoir seen through the sardonic eyes of Anita Leslie, a funny and vivacious young woman who reports on her experiences with a dry humour, finding the absurd alongside the tragic. Daughter of a Baronet and first cousin once removed of Winston Churchill, she joined the Mechanized Transport Corps as a fully trained mechanic and ambulance driver during WWII, serving in Libya, Syria, Palestine, Italy, France and Germany. Ahead of her time, Anita bemoans 'first-rate women subordinate to second-rate men,' and, as the British Army forbade women from serving at the front, joined the Free French Forces in order to do what she felt was her duty. Writing letters in Hitler's recently vacated office and marching in the Victory parade contrast with observations of seeing friends murdered and a mother avenging her son by coldly shooting a prisoner of war. Unflinching and unsentimental, Train to Nowhere is a memoir of Anita's war, one that, long after it was written, remains poignant and relevant.

Contenu
Introduction by Penny Perrick Part I: Middle East 1. Mechanized Transport Corps 2. Step Off 3. Cape to Cairo 4. Souls in Khaki 5. Desert's Edge 6. Eastern Times 7. Beirut Base 8. Syrian Kaleidoscope 9. Transjordania 10. Ladies of Lebanon 11. Good Works and Bad 12. Goodbye Middle East Part II: Italy 13. Spring in Italy 14. 'Air Evac' 15. 'Simple Soldat' Part III: France and Germany 16. My Kingdom for an Ambulance! 17. Debut in the Vosges 18. Le Repos 19. Alsace at Last 20. Beside the Rhine 21. Christmas 1944 22. Winter Wait 23. Hospital 24. Battle of Colmar - Snow 25. Battle of Colmar - Thaw 26. Aftermath 27. Home 28. Bullets in Our Bonnets 29. We Finish Pétain's Wine 30. The Murder of Lucette and Odette 31. 'Der Krieg ist Beendet?' 32. Occupation 33. Extermination Camp 34. And so to Potsdam 35. White Wine on the Moselle 36. All Change A Note on the Author Index