This short book looks at the famous Christmas truce of 1914, when soldiers of both sides in the First World War trenches temporarily stopped fighting and greeted each other with gifts and handshakes, and even played football. It's probably the single most well known incident from the early part of the First World War, and has been much celebrated and mythologised in the century since. Boyle's book looks out the facts from contemporary accounts and emphasises the important point that how it was seen at the time is crucial, not just how it has been interpreted in later years. In sum, the truce (including the football) happened in many places up and down the line, but was not universal. There were similar incidents leading up to Christmas and in some places going through until the new year. But there was still fighting and death in places throughout this period - the first air raid in British history, a German bomb dropped on Dover, took place on Christmas Eve, and on the same day nearly 100 British soldiers were killed, many by sniper fire. Even on Christmas day itself, German gunners shelled the headquarters of the Belgian army in Furnes, British seaplanes attacked Cuxhaven, the German supply port for U-boats, and a Norwegian steamer was mined and sunk in the North Sea. There was also some opposition to the truce on both sides where it did happen, and not just from the high command. Some saw fraternisation as disloyalty to their fallen comrades, as destructive of the fighting spirit needed to win victory, or as a potential cover for intelligence-gathering operations. At the same time, local officers often supported the truce as a valuable breathing space to bury the dead and take stock of the situation at a time of stalemate when it was becoming increasingly clear, at least on the ground, that the tactics of 1914 were not working. But it must be said there is no evidence of the truce being motivated by a political or pacifist upswelling, as has sometimes been implied since. The author concludes that: "The Christmas truce was not political. It wasn’t a demonstration or a planned event. But it derived from a fear about what the war had become, and about the competence of the men who led it, and – as such, and paradoxically – it provided a source of inspiration for those who took part". A good and useful short book. ( )

The first time I heard about the 1914 World War I Christmas Truce I was struck with wonder and disbelief. Could it really have happened? "Peace on Earth: The Christmas Truce of 1914" describes in some detail how it came about, the details of the various truces up and down the line, how it originated with the Germans, the exchange of souvenirs in the midst of No Man's Land and, of course the football games and singing.

It also views the truce from the different levels of command and why it was acceptable to some and not to others. From the point of view of officers on the ground it gave them an opportunity to bury their dead, clean up their trenches and take as much of a look as possible at the other sides’ trenches. Just a little spying!

For those in the higher levels of command they were horrified and wanted it stopped. As the English Infantry talked to Germans, who had been waiters in London or taxi drivers in Birmingham just months ago, it brought the war down to a level too close to home. You don’t shoot your neighbours. Two people opposed for similar reasons were Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler, a German infantryman, familiarity does not always breed contempt.

The sources in many cases are letters written home to family and friends describing this unusual and unexpected Christmas of 1914. ( )