About the Author

Nicholas Best is the former fiction critic for the Financial Times and the author of a number of novels, travel and history books. He lives in Cambridge, England.

Reviews

"Booklist," July 1, 2008
.,."exceedingly well-crafted panoramic overview of the last week of World War I..."

"Library Journal," July 15, 2008
"[adds] a new dimension to our understanding of World War I"

"Minneapolis Star Tribune," November 7, 2008
""The Greatest Day in History: How on the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month, the First World War Finally Came to an End" is a wonderful kaleidoscope of European conditions, people, groups and leaders during the last week and the last day of the war."

"Philadelphia Inquirer," November 11, 2008
"The message of "The Greatest Day "comes across direct as a rifle shot: War is hell, right to the last moment."

"Booklist," July 1, 2008
.,."exceedingly well-crafted panoramic overview of the last week of World War I..."

"Library Journal," July 15, 2008
"[adds] a new dimension to our understanding of World War I"

"Minneapolis Star Tribune," November 7, 2008
""The Greatest Day in History: How on the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month, the First World War Finally Came to an End" is a wonderful kaleidoscope of European conditions, people, groups and leaders during the last week and the last day of the war."

"Philadelphia Inquirer," November 11, 2008
"The message of "The Greatest Day "comes across direct as a rifle shot: War is hell, right to the last moment."

Historian and novelist Best, former fiction critic for the Financial Times, offers a sophisticated presentation of the effects of the Great War's final week on its military and civilian participants. Day by day, he presents firsthand accounts from a spectrum of familiar and unfamiliar sources. On November 5, 1918, Scots Guards Pvt. Stephen Graham took part in an attack with an elite British division, while American artillery Capt. Harry Truman picked flowers to send his fiancee and contemplated running for Congress when--and if--he got home. On November 8, Evelyn Blucher, an Englishwoman married to a German prince, feared an outbreak of riots or revolution in Germany. And on November 11, Armistice Day, a crowd of Australians celebrated by storming Boulogne's red light district to the battle cry of "let's fuck 'em free!" What might have been merely a kaleidoscopic series of vignettes is given shape and focus by Best's skill at paraphrasing the narratives and synergizing the experiences of those who lived through "the greatest day in history," knowing they had survived the deadliest war up to then--and suddenly asking, "What happens now?" 16 pages of b&w photos. (Nov.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.