Private Peaceful

by Michael Morpurgo

Heroism or cowardice? A stunning story of the First World War from a master storyteller. Told in the voice of a young soldier, the story follows 24 hours in his life at the front during WW1, and captures his memories as he looks back over his life. Full of stunningly researched detail and engrossing atmosphere, the book leads to a dramatic and moving conclusion. Both a love story and a deeply moving account of the horrors of the First World War, this book will reach everyone from 9 to 90.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, War, Historical, Novels, School

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Sir Michael Andrew Morpurgo, OBE, FRSL is the author of many books for children, five of which have been made into films. He also writes his own screenplays and libretti for opera. Born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1943, he was evacuated to Cumberland during the last years of the Second World War, then returned to London, moving later to Essex. After a brief and unsuccessful spell in the army, he took up teaching and started to write. He left teaching after ten years in order to set up 'Farms for City Children' with his wife. They have three farms in Devon, Wales and Gloucestershire, open to inner city school children who come to stay and work with the animals. In 1999 this work was publicly recognised when he and his wife were invested a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to youth. In 2003, he was advanced to an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 2004. He was knighted in the 2018 for his services to literature and charity. He is also a father and grandfather, so children have always played a large part in his life. Every year he and his family spend time in the Scilly Isles, the setting for three of his books.

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Words can't even describe how much this book means to me.

I would recommend it to anyone, especially to other history 'nerds' like me. As it is the type of book that lives on even after you turn the last page. No matter how many times I've read it, it never seems to lose my interest. It is a very popular book used in schools, but I think people of all ages can relate and feel connected in some way to this story and the characters within it, not just children.

After reading I can't help but think about the characters and I feel sympathy for them, particularly Tommo. I imagine him still fighting for survival at the front, still grieving. Did he survive? I would like to 'yes' for his family's sake, so that he can live out a final dying wish. However with a war like that he has a lot to live up to.

A very interesting issue is raised by the Author, and that is the unfairness of war. This was shown particularly in Charlie's unjustified death. As reading it I couldn't help but feel helpless, just like Tommo. It just goes to show, there are no good guys or bad guys in war, just some very innocent people.

[Rayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sadest book I have ever read.
I would reccommend this to you all who like to cry over a book, but I warn you to have a tissue when your near the end, because you'll cry your heart out.
This book is passionate and brings you deep, letting you know how the characthers feeling and wishing it could change to a happy ending, but it also tells you what war and true love and brotherly friendship is about.
It tells you how Charlie and Tommo Peaceful come to at the end, and I wish I have never read this book because my heart aches over it, but I am also glad.

[Dem · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bookclub read which I really enjoyed. Set against the backdrop of World War One, the story follows brothers Charlie and Tommo as they grow up and enlist in Britain's army to fight in the war. Each chapter begins sometime during a long night as Tommo recalls all the adventures and trials he and his family endured together. This book is aimed at 10-14 year olds however adults seem to really enjoy it and it is a great discussion book.

[Katie.dorny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always finish this boom with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. Definitely an all time favourite.

The life of Tommy peaceful and his brother Charlie are documented in this 187 page book. It’s a very quick read as well. I’ve read this many times throughout my life and will continue to do so as it is so well written and it isn’t just a kids book but a book for everyone.

The novels follows their childhood up to their conscription into the army to fight in World War 1 and the difficulties of surviving and finding fleeting happiness together in their lives as soldiers.

It’s a beautifully written book that will make you emotionally. But I highly recommend to everyone

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am crying, you're crying, we're all crying

[Kate]

Im 13, and we read this book in my english class. Before I read this I never understood WW1 and WW2 but it opened my eyes to the suffering and sadness of it all. I think the author was brilliant to not go straight to the trenches, but go through Tommo's whole life first. I became to love Tommo alot as he grew up, and Charlie too. When they go to war it is just so miserable and sad and I now think all soldiers in the war, and ww2 were complete heroes and dont get enough credit for what they did for us! If you know a soldier, knew one, or were one, thankyou so much! Private Peaceful opened my eyes. Infact I couldnt stop crying over war and those brave soldiers :( I find it sad how Private Peaceful was a real person! He had a life, he wasnt just a guy who died. Right before he died in world war 1 he probably remembered his first day of school, all the loves and losses he experienced. And before this book was written he would never have been remembered, like the thousands of other soldiers that are now just a grave. I will always remember them.

Tommo is such a nice character, he and Charlie are both so brave. Because you follow them from such a young age it is hard to imagine them as young men fighting for their country. This inspired me to learn more about war. I went on to watch Saving Private Ryan about WW2 which is so sad and horrific. Its strange because you only hear about it in books and watch movies about it but this actually happened to good people. Some were only 16. They had their whole life ahead of them, but they were just shot down :) I dont think we should ever forget the bravery and pain. So the next time you see an old man walking really slow down the street.. Dont underestimate him, just think of what he might have went through :)

[Chelsea SWATCHSEA · Rating 1 out of 5]

• review also posted on Wordpress! • rating: 1.5 stars *warning: review contains spoilers!*

Don't let my new rating system fool you: this is not an awful book. However, at times, I really disliked reading it. That's why I could only rate this one star.

I had to read this for college, but didn't have time to post a review yet. I had to evaluate whether this could be used in the classroom and create an activity based on the book. Please note I am going to review my own enjoyment (or lack thereof), not its usefulness during an English lesson.

The main character's voice seemed targeted towards young children. Therefore, I could not connect to him, the other characters and the story. At the beginning, Thomas is still a boy. I'd say he's twelve years old, tops. And you can definitely tell. When Thomas gets older, I didn't even notice it. His voice remained childish.

Thomas claims he loves Charlie and Molly, but actually complains about them most of the time. He puts them on a pedestal, but is constantly jealous of them.

The author felt the need to confirm how straight Thomas actually is. By no means am I saying that children cannot realise their sexuality at a young age. Neither do I claim that kids don't get crushes. However, there was only one female character (besides his mother) and of course, Thomas 'loves' her. His attitude towards her really bothered me. When he thinks he is going to die, he wants Molly to be his last thought. This girl is married to his brother and pregnant with his child! Do I even need to explain how disturbing this is? Thomas never gets over his childhood crush and it is creepy. Furthermore, he never once explains why he 'loves' Molly. We know nothing about her personality. One might think the only reason he likes her, is because she is a girl.

Either the characters are portrayed as saints or they were evil villains. That is not realistic. Every person does both good and bad things. I am not even talking about the war here. I know people where capable of doing terrible things then. But let's talk about Colonel for example. The reason why he hates the Peaceful's is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. He wants to evict them because a boy with special needs blows raspberries at him?! He actually murders his dog?! Someone call Days of Our Lives and The Bold and the Beautiful, they are missing one of their writers! It was so dramatic, I couldn't take it seriously.

I even came across a plot hole: Molly was not allowed to see any of the Peaceful's anymore. Yet she meets Thomas in secret in the woods, to give him letters he has to hand over to Charlie. Why don't Charlie and Molly just meet instead? She isn't allowed to see Thomas either, so this doesn't make any sense.

If I don't like a character, I won't enjoy the story. So, when Charlie died, I did not feel bad for him. I don't want to blame the victim, but he really could have avoided things getting too far. But no, he chose to be arrogant and insult his sergeant instead. I do think the postcript's message was beautiful. Unfortunately, this book focussed much more on Thomas' childhood instead.

conclusion: I was excited to start this, because a lot of people ended up feeling heartbroken after finishing it. Sadly, I did not feel the same, as I did not care about any of the characters and the plot.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I have read of Michael Morpurgo and I loved it. I love it just like the first book. It has left a mark on me, a very deep that will stay with me forever.

The writing was amazing and the plot was just so good.

When reading this I felt all the feelings and I felt extremely attached to all the characters, maybe not the horrible ones but all the nice ones. It has certainly made me feel that what they did and how the soilders were being treating during the first world war. It was horrendous and disgraceful. It really makes me think about my life and how lucky I am. All those soilders who died for us. True Heroes.

This book made me laugh, cry, feel angry, hurt, betrayed. It truly was a breathtaking novel. I feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest and thrown on the floor.

Thanks Michael. 😭😢

I look forward to reading more of his books.

They have not let me down.

If anyone is looking for a heart wrenching story to read. I recommend this one.

[Book Concierge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adapted from the book jacket: Private Thomas Peaceful has lied about his age and left his family behind to follow his older brother, Charlie, to France to fight in the First World War. Now, Tommo has one almost unendurable night, alone, fighting sleep, to reflect on his life. As the minutes slowly tick by, his memories are full of his childhood in the English countryside. His father, mother, brothers, and first love, Molly, come vividly alive in his mind. But every moment Tommo spends thinking about his life means another moment closer to something he cannot bear to think about – a time when the war and its horrific consequences will change his life forever.

My Reactions
This is a gut-wrenching tale of brotherhood, loyalty, duty, love, courage and forgiveness. I loved the close bond between the brothers, both Tommo and Charlie, but also their brain-damaged brother Big Joe. I applauded their mother’s moral courage in the face of adversity. I felt uncomfortable with the actions of the Colonel, but recognized the British class system at work in the early 20th century. (Thank you, Downton Abbey.) This is not the first book about World War I that I have read, so I was familiar with the horrors of trench warfare and the brutal realities of a long siege, but I still cringed with fear and anxiety as I read about these young men (hardly older than boys) and what they faced. My heart about broke for Tommo and Charlie; I certainly didn’t see that end coming.

I was very glad that Morpurgo added a Postscript and Author’s Note explaining some of the realities of this period in history and how the governments of Britain, New Zealand, Australia and the United States had such different responses to the soldiers who suffered psychological trauma on the battlefields.

This is the third novel I’ve read by Morpurgo, after War Horse (also set in WWI), and An Elephant in the Garden (Dresden, during WW2). My reaction to the former was lukewarm, but I loved the latter. Private Peaceful is closer to “elephant” than “horse.”

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A British teenage boy follows his brother into the army during World War I and is sent to the trenches in France. Describes how men who broke under the stress of war were shot as deserters. Pair this with Marcus Sedgwick's The Foreshadowing for a grim picture of the realities of war.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read "Private Peaceful" when I was about ten years old and I remember that it had a great impression on me. I borrowed it from the school library without particularly high expectations. I had read some of Morpurgo's work before and although I had enjoyed it I recall thinking that this book looked decidely dull. However, when I began to read the story I found it to be both historically interesting and fantastically gripping. It was the first book that really made me cry which just goes to show how effective it was emotionally. It also sparked off a fascination with World War One which continues to this day as I prepare to take my History GCSE. For a long time after reading the book I continued to name it as my favourite ever book. Unlike many other books that have had a large effect on me I have only read "Private Peaceful" once because I am worried that if I reread it I will be disappointed and that my memories of this wonderful book will be tainted by an underwhelming second reading. However, I would definately recommend the book to anyone and I will always remember the enjoyment it provided for my ten year old self.

[domduclos · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐ Deux frères, une guerre et tellement d'injustices... une magnifique histoire de solidarité, de complicité et de détermination. Une histoire déchirante qui doit être lue 💖

[Oziel Bispo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tommo e Charlie são dois irmãos, apaixonados pela mesma garota, que vivem em um pequeno vilarejo da Inglaterra no princípio da primeira guerra mundial. Ambos se alistam para a guerra deixando para trás o amor de suas vidas.
Esse livro teve grande influência , pois através do seu autor , que mostrou os efeitos psicológicos da guerra, do campo de batalha, fez com que o governo britânico perdoasse postumamente os que foram acusados de covardia. Aproximadamente 300 Britânicos foram levados à corte marcial e condenados com fuzilamentos. Os julgamentos eram feitos em menos de uma hora sem nenhuma chance de defesa...na verdade um julgamento viciado, injusto.
Um livro emocionante!

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book. i left me sobbing at the ends, just me in the bathroom with this book in my hands. and the dynamic, the relationship, of just two brothers is so heart shatteringly beautiful.

and like, we often overlook WWI, it's not that talked about in my life. and this book under goes a very overlooked thing in this war. and it's just so messed up.

like i say for so many other books, everybody should read this book. it really is beautiful.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous book and very moving. I think it should be compulsory reading for children in schools so that the horror of war is never forgotten.

[Cerys · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is one of my favourite childhood books ever, I’ve even read it in welsh aswell lol.

[beth perrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love to read this over and over again. It’s my comfort book- I cry every time I read it.

Seem to have lost my original copy though which is devastating😖

[Danny Gould · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not very peaceful mate, he gets bloody shot

[aika ౨ৎ (semi-hiatus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book was a fever dream

[shushan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Private Peaceful, a sixteen-year-old boy by the name of Thomas Peaceful lies about his age and goes to fight in the war with his older brother Charlie. There, all they have is each other, even if they have to often be careful what they say around each other. Many unwanted emotions could come up if one of them mentions their mother, who is still back at home, or Thomas's first love, Molly, who ended up marrying Charlie. However, they soon start to worry endlessly about their futures. After all, this is war, and people get hurt and die. If something happens to one of them, how will the other one be able to move on?

Private Peaceful was seriously an amazing story. I feel like it really made me appreciate everything that I have in life, especially the things I would usually take for granted, such as good health, family, and a home. I hope this book helps others appreciate the simple things in life, just like it did for me.

Prior to reading this book, I had always thought that in order for something to be beautiful, it had to be something that made people happy. However, after reading Private Peaceful, I have realized that so many thing in life can be beautiful, yet sad at the same time. This is evident all throughout the story, but especially at the end of it.

[Mehul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Private Peaceful is a very emotive book. The book is full of jealousy, grief, joy and anger . I Michael Morpurgo has done a very good job of hooking the reader into the book and making them read on and on.

This book is a flashback describing the whole of Thomas Peaceful's life up until the present day and the aftermath of a tragic ending. This novel is set just before the start of world war one and leads into it.
The book is about the calm, peaceful and tranquil life of Thomas Peaceful and his life in the countryside. However, then the war starts and Thomas and his brother Charlie are forced to go to France to fight. When he reached there, he experienced the most devastating things like pain, grief and the death of his fellow friends; however he also finds love.

This book is a great read for anyone above 6 year olds as it contains some hard vocabulary.

[Nathaniel_E1]

This book is a realistic historical fiction novel about a man called Thomas Peaceful. He and his brother are called to fight in WW1, and this book is about the horrors of war and the disasters that destroy Thomas Peaceful's life. I think you would like this book if you like historical fiction and learning about other's lives.

[inès ˚｡⋆౨ৎ˚ · Rating 1 out of 5]

{ 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 }

i had to read this book for english class and honestly it was great.

the problem is that historical stories aren’t really my thing. but, to be honest, apart from this fact, the book was pretty good and the characters were really moving and lovely.

a fast read to do if you’re bored.

[MAPS - Booktube]

Un roman vraiment touchant qui aborde les relations familiales, mais plus particulièrement la fratrie. On ressent l’évolution de l’enfance à l’adolescence entre eux. L’aspect de la guerre prend une place particulièrement à la fin. On ne peut faire autrement qu’être touché, outré, insurgé contre la vie et ses injustices.

[Alec · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is punishment to read I could be the most effective modern torture method

[Roselle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic story insight into the war my favourite as a child.

[Suting · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.6
Beautiful story, got me thinking a few times. Not a usual book I would pick up, but definitely intrigued to read more.

[Rob Twinem · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most tragic events of the 20th century was the senseless slaughter and sacrifice of many young men on the battlefields of the Somme,Verdun and Passchendaele. The iconic 1914 recruitment poster of Lord Kitchener, wearing a cap of a British Field Marshall, stares and points at the viewer pleading to their sense of allegiance and responsibility by declaring..."Your country needs you" The specially constituted "pals battalions" resulted in friends, neighbours and colleagues enlisting together at local recruiting drives with the promise that they could serve alongside each other. However many of these battalions sustained heavy causalities and this had a significant impact on their communities at home.

In the small Devon town of Hatherleigh lives young Tommo Peaceful with his brother Charlie and the girl they both adore, Molly. This is family life, village life, captured in the idyllic Devon countryside before the encroachment and black clouds of world war 1 destroys the dreams and aspirations of so many in pointless sacrifice ensuring that life would never be the same again....."We'd lie amongst the grass and buttercups of the water meadows and look up at the clouds scudding across the sky, at the wind-whipped crows chasing a mewing buzzard"....Tommo and Charlie are gripped in the romantic notion of helping to eradicate the threat of the Hun who were attempting to grow their military might and realize their imperialistic ambitions. So the two brothers and close friends from the village march blindly off to war where the initial patriotic enthusiasm dies tragically amidst pointless butchering when the reality of war is revealed...."I could no longer pretend to myself that I believed in a merciful god nor in a heaven, not anymore, not after I had seen what men could do to one another. I could believe only in the hell I was living in, a hell on earth and it was man-made, not God-made"......."the terror that is engulfing me and invading me, destroying any last glimmer of courage and composure I may have left. All I have left now is my fear"....

Michael Morpurgo expertly portrays the senseless slaughter and sacrifice of world war 1 to a young impressionable adult audience. This is achieved by comparing the beauty and peacefulness of the English countryside with the shell ravaged mud filled trenches of France....this was the raw reality of war. Private Peaceful is a sombre novel to be read by young and old. It's simplistic language is very effective in creating an image of a time when the romantic notion of war quickly became a vision of hell and where the loss of millions was seen as an acceptable price for the march of imperialism and the misguided ambitions of WW1 military leaders. Highly Recommended.

[Deb Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a bookclub choice that I listened to on Spotify. It’s billed as a children’s book and I suppose children do learn about the First World War in school. However, the backstory of the Peaceful brothers’ childhood, while not idyllic, makes the unfairness of war so much more real. They have been victims of unfairness as children, where keeping on the right side of the local landowner, at whatever cost to their family, was paramount. The same can be said of life in the trenches. I know we view the events of over a hundred years ago through 21st century eyes, but even then, there were people in positions of authority who treated the soldiers as human and not an endless supply of cannon fodder who would do their bidding for king and country.

There’s a scene in the early part of the story, where Tommo is caught up in the jingoistic rhetoric and considers enlisting, even though he’s underage, because he doesn’t want to be thought a coward. When he later thinks about deserting, the old woman’s question about whether he is a coward comes back to him.

The hardest bit to listen to (and read) is Charlie’s really unfair ending. No representation in a trial for his life, his word against a superior who had it in for him. The post script says that 290 soldiers were shot for cowardice, desertion or for two, just for falling asleep at their post. The British government has still not given post-humous pardons for men suffering PTSD (shell shock as it was known then)

I wonder if Tommo made it through the Battle of the Somme and was able to go home and keep his promise.

It’s a good story, made accessible by the author’s simple language. I can imagine it would be a good part of the curriculum for school children

[rain · Rating 5 out of 5]

spoilers, i think.

first read: Five stars
reread: Five stars
reread, again: Five stars

"here there are no folds in the fields, only wide open planes, scarcely a hill in sight. and instead of church towers they have spires that thrust themselves skyward like a child putting his hand up in class, longing to be noticed. but god, if there is one, notices nothing here. he has long since abandoned this place and all of us who live in it."


picking up this book for the first time a couple months after it won its second award is a memory i still hold dear to me, i must've been eight years old, maybe nine, but i remember hearing about this book and racing to get my hands on it. there was something about the title that fascinated me, and the cover edged me even further to want to purchase it. of course i didn't really comprehend the emotional weight of the book, and i feel as though i only found out the true meaning of its title many years after it had been payed for and dragged home. i never actually read it until a couple years later, but it sat gloriously on my shelf waiting until i had enough maturity to make sense of it and the message it contained within. i can scarcely remember the first summer that i actually decided to start reading it, i didn't get much farther than page twenty, but there was something about those twenty pages that enticed me to want to read it sometime in the future. i kept thinking about it though, attempting to silence yet feed my curiosity, and every time i looked at my shelf i would just see it gazing at me from its little podium.

the first time i actually ever sat down to read it, i was completely blown away by everything; from the writing style to the story to the relationships to the characters to the descriptions. there was not one thing about this book that let me down, not even the ending that still hangs over me and keeps me thinking about what might have happened to tommo. of course, i always like to believe he survived the battle of somme and managed to make it back to his mother and to molly and to big joe, who would happily welcome him back by loudly singing oranges and lemons, with that same big and joyful grin that tommo so incessantly spoke about and adored. i always like to think big joe believed that charlie was in heaven, watching from above the highest tower of the church, where big joe once curled up into a ball and slept through a haunting night when bertha was taken from him.

the second time i sat down to read it, despite already knowing the story and how devastated the ending would leave me, and how empty i would feel after i closed the book and was forced to exit a world that had captivated me and drawn me in from beginning to end, i was still blown-away. the characters still surprised me and i found myself falling in love with them all over again, i found myself mourning and suffering and feeling the tender happiness that would soon be replaced by sorrow or pity, for a second time. and i already knew what i had signed up for when the last chapter blinked up at me at three in the morning on a school night, but the feeling of loss hit me like it was the first time i had ever read this book.

there is something about this work that keeps you thinking about it, even after you're finished and already have a new book in your hands, settling down infront of a fireplace and getting ready to flip the first page and dive into a new world. the thought of tommo fighting in the battle of somme in an attempt to avenge a brother that was unfairly taken from him, and hating the man who passed down the sentence despite having already been killed the day after charlie himself was executed, with burning eyes because he knew if the english won this he could go back home and see his mother and big joe and molly. to see the brook where him and charlie and molly would go poaching and talk for hours under the night sky, to remember the night when they saw the yellow plane and spoke to the pilot and recieved a bag of humbugs that he would always brag about at school, to recall all those moments where he passed letters from charlie to molly and from molly to charlie. to remember everything, to feel and smell and see everything.

and what keeps me thinking the most is the knowledge that i'll keep coming back to this book, no matter what (which just keeps happening).

"the next day, the regiment is marching up the road towards the somme. it is late june, and they say there's soon to be an almighty push and we're going to be a part of it. we'll push them all the way back to berlin. i've heard that before. all i know is that i must survive. i have promises to keep."