This fascinating look at World War I has the heartening 1914 Christmas truce bartered by individual soldiers on both sides along the front as its focal point, but author Jim Murphy spends considerable time laying the groundwork for that event. Murphy describes the politics and propaganda that led to the war, and how the soldiers and civilians on both sides and in many countries were victims of both. Murphy also discusses how the First World War was a war of change, when military leaders discovered that nineteenth-century strategies and twentieth-century technologies were not compatible. Many firsthand accounts of soldiers on both sides are incorporated into a narrative that ultimately emphasizes the human story of this time and place in history. Photographs, a detailed timeline, source notes for each chapter, and suggestions for additional information round out this compelling work. (Age 12 and older)

Two-time Newbery Honor Book author Jim Murphy writes a stunning nonfiction masterpiece about a Christmas miracle on the Western Front during World War I.

On July 29th 1914, the world's peace was shattered as the artillery of the Austria-Hungary Empire began shelling the troops of the country to its south. What followed was like a row of falling dominoes as one European country after another rushed into war. Soon most of Europe was fighting in this calamitous war that could have been avoided. This was, of course, the First World War. But who could have guessed that on December 25 the troops would openly defy their commanding officers by stopping the fighting and having a spontaneous celebration of Christmas with their "enemies"? In what can only be described as a Christmas Miracle, this beautiful and heartrending narrative will remind everyone how brotherhood and love for one another reaches far beyond war and politics.