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A Distant Field: A Novel of World War I
2019 Winner, Military Fiction, Independent Press Awards
2019 Gold Medal Winner, Historical Fiction, Military Writers Society of America
2019 Finalist, Military Fiction, American Fiction Awards
This harrowing journey through World War I begins aboard the RMS Lusitania and ends on the edge of the world.
For the Scots-American McReynolds brothers, World War I began with a German torpedo that slammed into the Lusitania. Despite frantic rescue efforts, they watch their family drown in front of their eyes. Having escaped the doomed ship in frigid waters off Ireland, they are rescued by four young Irishmen and together they vow to strike back in the war that was cutting a bloody swath through Europe in 1915. Searching for a unit that was bound to see action, they enlist with the vaunted Seaforth Highlanders, a Scottish regiment with a fearsome reputation.Soon they are tossed into the bloody cauldron of Gallipoli, where they must learn to fight and struggle to survive in one of the most ill-conceived and brutal campaigns of the war. Under a baking Aegean sun, surrounded by dead and maimed comrades, and facing a brutal and determined enemy sworn to Jihad, the brothers discover crucial differences in their reactions to the carnage of infantry combat. In the reeking, bloody trenches of Gallipoli, war becomes a very ugly school—where few live long enough to graduate.
“To fans of the genre of military fiction, RJ MacDonald’s, ‘A Distant Field’ might well be the book of the year." World War Media
It's straight in at the deep end, as it opens with two brothers and their family on board the Lusitania when it gets torpedoed. This is breathless stuff...It’s all well written and a good yarn...” Militaria & The Armourer Magazine UK
“...the battle sequences are both horrifying and exciting. This is a well-written novel, and if you are a collector of books on the First World War, I suggest you add this novel to your collection.” Historical Novel Society
“From the sinking of the Lusitania to the battlefield cauldron of Gallipoli, RJ MacDonald weaves an action-packed story that leaves the reader breathless.” Military Writers Society of America
2019 Gold Medal Winner, Historical Fiction, Military Writers Society of America
2019 Finalist, Military Fiction, American Fiction Awards
This harrowing journey through World War I begins aboard the RMS Lusitania and ends on the edge of the world.
For the Scots-American McReynolds brothers, World War I began with a German torpedo that slammed into the Lusitania. Despite frantic rescue efforts, they watch their family drown in front of their eyes. Having escaped the doomed ship in frigid waters off Ireland, they are rescued by four young Irishmen and together they vow to strike back in the war that was cutting a bloody swath through Europe in 1915. Searching for a unit that was bound to see action, they enlist with the vaunted Seaforth Highlanders, a Scottish regiment with a fearsome reputation.Soon they are tossed into the bloody cauldron of Gallipoli, where they must learn to fight and struggle to survive in one of the most ill-conceived and brutal campaigns of the war. Under a baking Aegean sun, surrounded by dead and maimed comrades, and facing a brutal and determined enemy sworn to Jihad, the brothers discover crucial differences in their reactions to the carnage of infantry combat. In the reeking, bloody trenches of Gallipoli, war becomes a very ugly school—where few live long enough to graduate.
“To fans of the genre of military fiction, RJ MacDonald’s, ‘A Distant Field’ might well be the book of the year." World War Media
It's straight in at the deep end, as it opens with two brothers and their family on board the Lusitania when it gets torpedoed. This is breathless stuff...It’s all well written and a good yarn...” Militaria & The Armourer Magazine UK
“...the battle sequences are both horrifying and exciting. This is a well-written novel, and if you are a collector of books on the First World War, I suggest you add this novel to your collection.” Historical Novel Society
“From the sinking of the Lusitania to the battlefield cauldron of Gallipoli, RJ MacDonald weaves an action-packed story that leaves the reader breathless.” Military Writers Society of America
358 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 11, 2018
8 people are currently reading
12 people want to read
About the author
R.J. MacDonald
2 books7 followers2019 Winner, military fiction category, Independent Press Awards
2019 Gold Medal Award, historical fiction, Military Writers Society of America
2019 Finalist, military category, American Fiction Awards
RJ MacDonald is an award-winning part-time author. He grew up in a small coastal fishing village in Scotland. He crossed the Atlantic and attended Cate School before studying both military history and social science at the University of California at Berkeley, where his dissertation professor was Stephen Ambrose (Band of Brothers). After graduating with two BAs, he enlisted in the US Marines as a reservist. Boot camp in San Diego went well for five days until the drill instructors read his personnel file and discovered not only a ‘Berkeley hippy freak infiltrating their Marine Corps’, but also one with an accent, ‘You speak funny private, are you Russian?’ Meritoriously promoted to sergeant, he served in a helicopter support squadron at NAS Miramar and as an expert marksman and marksmanship instructor, before returning to Scotland to complete two masters degrees and joining the Royal Air Force Reserves- ‘You speak funny sir, are you Canadian?’
Parachute qualified with jump-wings from Holland, the Czech Republic and US Special Operations Command Europe, he deployed as an intelligence officer with a Puma helicopter detachment during the war in Iraq, and then again to Cyprus during the conflict in Libya. Now a director within a small research company, he also serves on a Royal National Lifeboat Institute volunteer lifeboat crew tasked with a 24/7 all-weather search and rescue role in some of the roughest seas in the world. He lives with his wife, three children, and a very cute but equally stupid cocker spaniel, in the East Neuk of Fife, where he grew up. He can often be found tapping away on his laptop while waiting for various after-school clubs to finish.
A Distant Field is his debut novel and the first in The Seaforths series. His second novel, The Chosen Heroes, is almost complete (just needs a bit of tinkering). Off on a tangent, his third book, a murder-mystery set around a lifeboat crew, The Brotherhood of the Sea, is underway.
2019 Gold Medal Award, historical fiction, Military Writers Society of America
2019 Finalist, military category, American Fiction Awards
RJ MacDonald is an award-winning part-time author. He grew up in a small coastal fishing village in Scotland. He crossed the Atlantic and attended Cate School before studying both military history and social science at the University of California at Berkeley, where his dissertation professor was Stephen Ambrose (Band of Brothers). After graduating with two BAs, he enlisted in the US Marines as a reservist. Boot camp in San Diego went well for five days until the drill instructors read his personnel file and discovered not only a ‘Berkeley hippy freak infiltrating their Marine Corps’, but also one with an accent, ‘You speak funny private, are you Russian?’ Meritoriously promoted to sergeant, he served in a helicopter support squadron at NAS Miramar and as an expert marksman and marksmanship instructor, before returning to Scotland to complete two masters degrees and joining the Royal Air Force Reserves- ‘You speak funny sir, are you Canadian?’
Parachute qualified with jump-wings from Holland, the Czech Republic and US Special Operations Command Europe, he deployed as an intelligence officer with a Puma helicopter detachment during the war in Iraq, and then again to Cyprus during the conflict in Libya. Now a director within a small research company, he also serves on a Royal National Lifeboat Institute volunteer lifeboat crew tasked with a 24/7 all-weather search and rescue role in some of the roughest seas in the world. He lives with his wife, three children, and a very cute but equally stupid cocker spaniel, in the East Neuk of Fife, where he grew up. He can often be found tapping away on his laptop while waiting for various after-school clubs to finish.
A Distant Field is his debut novel and the first in The Seaforths series. His second novel, The Chosen Heroes, is almost complete (just needs a bit of tinkering). Off on a tangent, his third book, a murder-mystery set around a lifeboat crew, The Brotherhood of the Sea, is underway.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 4, 2019
I'm not used to reviewing fiction stories so I'll do my best to avoid any spoilers!
A Distant Field was an entertaining read. Following the path of a section of Seaforth Highlanders during the Great War, this book isn't for the faint of heart. However, those willing to bear the gruesome descriptions of the carnage wrought by this conflict will find a cast of likable characters and an interesting story supported by a vast amount of historical detail and research.
In particular, I enjoyed the various backgrounds of the main protagonists. I felt like these characters resembled the patchwork make-up of the British army of the time - full of volunteers, both domestic and foreign, colonials, well-off public school students and worn-down workers. The diversity of characters also allows the author to highlight lesser known aspects of the army, which made for some interesting information to learn. I do wish the characters would have been developed more. I suppose there wasn't that much space to, but at the very least I would have liked to see more of Stuart's thoughts and more of his relationship with his brother.
The strongest parts of the book were its action scenes and the historical detail. The sinking of the Lusitania, the recounting of the Quintinshill Disaster, and the trenches on Gallipoli were all rendered in horrifyingly descriptive detail. The futility and relentless nature of trench warfare were excellently portrayed, and had me wincing at the brutality. It's one thing to read a detached non-fiction account of World War I, and another entirely to read one like this which, while fictional, epitomizes the violent experiences of the soldiers.
There were a few times where aspects, such as dialogue, seemed a little too modern or where the characters’ knowledge felt too omniscient. These occasions weren’t major distractions though.
Overall, this was a great debut novel. Informative without detracting from the story, readable, and entertaining, I had fun following Stuart and his section's harrowing baptism of fire, and I look forward to their next journey.
A Distant Field was an entertaining read. Following the path of a section of Seaforth Highlanders during the Great War, this book isn't for the faint of heart. However, those willing to bear the gruesome descriptions of the carnage wrought by this conflict will find a cast of likable characters and an interesting story supported by a vast amount of historical detail and research.
In particular, I enjoyed the various backgrounds of the main protagonists. I felt like these characters resembled the patchwork make-up of the British army of the time - full of volunteers, both domestic and foreign, colonials, well-off public school students and worn-down workers. The diversity of characters also allows the author to highlight lesser known aspects of the army, which made for some interesting information to learn. I do wish the characters would have been developed more. I suppose there wasn't that much space to, but at the very least I would have liked to see more of Stuart's thoughts and more of his relationship with his brother.
The strongest parts of the book were its action scenes and the historical detail. The sinking of the Lusitania, the recounting of the Quintinshill Disaster, and the trenches on Gallipoli were all rendered in horrifyingly descriptive detail. The futility and relentless nature of trench warfare were excellently portrayed, and had me wincing at the brutality. It's one thing to read a detached non-fiction account of World War I, and another entirely to read one like this which, while fictional, epitomizes the violent experiences of the soldiers.
There were a few times where aspects, such as dialogue, seemed a little too modern or where the characters’ knowledge felt too omniscient. These occasions weren’t major distractions though.
Overall, this was a great debut novel. Informative without detracting from the story, readable, and entertaining, I had fun following Stuart and his section's harrowing baptism of fire, and I look forward to their next journey.
Read
February 28, 2019MWSA Review
Living through the hell: bullets, bayonets and artillery
From the sinking of the Lusitania to the battlefield cauldron of Gallipoli, RJ MacDonald weaves an action-packed story that leaves the reader breathless. Meticulously researched, the author traces the lives of two brothers from the moment the Lusitania is struck by a torpedo in 1915 to their dramatic rescue at sea off the coast of Ireland by four teenage O’Connell friends who rowed eleven miles to help survivors to the hell of World War I.
The brothers are Scots-Americans—Stuart and Ross McReynolds—bent on getting revenge from the Germans who killed their parents, enlisting in the British Army along with the O’Connells. After a week of basic training, mostly in sharpshooting, their small unit leaves for France but the trip is interrupted by the worst rail disaster in Great Britain’s history. Hospitalized by injuries from the train wreck, they missed the boat to France, but are shipped instead to Gallipoli, a battle in faraway Turkey that is not going well for the Allies. Crammed on a small peninsula, the boys join waves of brave soldiers rushing to the jaws of murderous machine guns, the rain of deadly artillery shells, the stench of rotting corpses, and inept field commanders who send thousands to their deaths.
The author brings to life the horror of trench warfare, of devastating artillery barrages that wipe out brigades charging on open ground, of the life and death struggle of hand-to-hand combat, of the thirst and constant hunger, of the heat and flies, of seeing your friends killed and wounded without being able to help them. In vivid detail, MacDonald tells the story of a section of the Seaford Highlanders and their relationships with the Royal Scots, the Scottish Rifle Brigade, the 52th Lowland Division, and the French, Australian, and New Zealander divisions, all suffering horrific casualties in one of the bloodiest and least successful campaigns of the First World War.
A Distant Field is not for the squeamish, but there are tender moments as Stuart and Ross meet young ladies who pine for them after they leave Scotland. The attention to detail of time and places, coupled with an intimate understanding of soldiers in combat, makes me wait anxiously for its promised sequel.
Review by Joe Epley (February 2019)
Living through the hell: bullets, bayonets and artillery
From the sinking of the Lusitania to the battlefield cauldron of Gallipoli, RJ MacDonald weaves an action-packed story that leaves the reader breathless. Meticulously researched, the author traces the lives of two brothers from the moment the Lusitania is struck by a torpedo in 1915 to their dramatic rescue at sea off the coast of Ireland by four teenage O’Connell friends who rowed eleven miles to help survivors to the hell of World War I.
The brothers are Scots-Americans—Stuart and Ross McReynolds—bent on getting revenge from the Germans who killed their parents, enlisting in the British Army along with the O’Connells. After a week of basic training, mostly in sharpshooting, their small unit leaves for France but the trip is interrupted by the worst rail disaster in Great Britain’s history. Hospitalized by injuries from the train wreck, they missed the boat to France, but are shipped instead to Gallipoli, a battle in faraway Turkey that is not going well for the Allies. Crammed on a small peninsula, the boys join waves of brave soldiers rushing to the jaws of murderous machine guns, the rain of deadly artillery shells, the stench of rotting corpses, and inept field commanders who send thousands to their deaths.
The author brings to life the horror of trench warfare, of devastating artillery barrages that wipe out brigades charging on open ground, of the life and death struggle of hand-to-hand combat, of the thirst and constant hunger, of the heat and flies, of seeing your friends killed and wounded without being able to help them. In vivid detail, MacDonald tells the story of a section of the Seaford Highlanders and their relationships with the Royal Scots, the Scottish Rifle Brigade, the 52th Lowland Division, and the French, Australian, and New Zealander divisions, all suffering horrific casualties in one of the bloodiest and least successful campaigns of the First World War.
A Distant Field is not for the squeamish, but there are tender moments as Stuart and Ross meet young ladies who pine for them after they leave Scotland. The attention to detail of time and places, coupled with an intimate understanding of soldiers in combat, makes me wait anxiously for its promised sequel.
Review by Joe Epley (February 2019)
February 23, 2019
Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers/Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues meets Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharp. While the former are set in World War II, and the latter is set during the Napoleonic Wars, the fabric R.J. MacDonald chooses for his tapestry is World War I. It is very much worth noting that the author studied under Mr. Ambrose while attending U.C. Berkeley.
The characters are a group of young men - boys really - who are swept up by circumstance early in the war to serve God and Country, or are at least seeking out an alternative to less appealing immediate futures.
Instead of the iconic Western Front, Mr. MacDonald focuses on British training centers in Scotland, and Mr. Churchill's ill-fated Gallipoli Campaign. There's also a noted Scottish rail disaster and the sinking of the RMS Lusitania expertly woven in without seeming forced or stilted.
These sorts of details add historical grounding and believability to what otherwise might be a yarn that could get a bit out of hand while the reader keeps track of the various characters' individual backgrounds, motivations, and circumstances that lead to their being thrown together in the same immediate section of the greater British Army. As another reviewer notes, you will find yourself becoming intrigued by "the history involved every 5th page, and that just pulls you deeper into the story".
Good historical fiction allows the reader to identify with characters who inhabit very different places and circumstances in a light that highlights the timeless aspects of basic human motivations and quest for meaning in life's journey.
Mr. MacDonald's novel succeeds both in this regard and in entertaining the reader with a ripping good yarn. Bravo!
The characters are a group of young men - boys really - who are swept up by circumstance early in the war to serve God and Country, or are at least seeking out an alternative to less appealing immediate futures.
Instead of the iconic Western Front, Mr. MacDonald focuses on British training centers in Scotland, and Mr. Churchill's ill-fated Gallipoli Campaign. There's also a noted Scottish rail disaster and the sinking of the RMS Lusitania expertly woven in without seeming forced or stilted.
These sorts of details add historical grounding and believability to what otherwise might be a yarn that could get a bit out of hand while the reader keeps track of the various characters' individual backgrounds, motivations, and circumstances that lead to their being thrown together in the same immediate section of the greater British Army. As another reviewer notes, you will find yourself becoming intrigued by "the history involved every 5th page, and that just pulls you deeper into the story".
Good historical fiction allows the reader to identify with characters who inhabit very different places and circumstances in a light that highlights the timeless aspects of basic human motivations and quest for meaning in life's journey.
Mr. MacDonald's novel succeeds both in this regard and in entertaining the reader with a ripping good yarn. Bravo!
January 11, 2019
Excellent debut!
Rich’s first novel is excellent historical fiction. You’ll find yourself Googling the history involved every 5th page, and that just pulls you deeper into the story. Highly recommended.
Rich’s first novel is excellent historical fiction. You’ll find yourself Googling the history involved every 5th page, and that just pulls you deeper into the story. Highly recommended.
October 12, 2019
Read and scored as part of MWSA review program. See mwsadispatches.com for details!
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October 25, 20192019 Winner, military fiction category, Independent Press Awards
2019 Gold Medal Award, historical fiction, Military Writers Society of America
2019 Finalist, military category, American Fiction Awards
A Distant Field is my debut novel, the first in a series. It begins with the torpedoing of the RMS Lusitania off the Irish coast in 1915. On board Stuart and Ross McReynolds struggle for their lives as the ship rapidly sinks and only survive thanks to four young Irishmen who row to their rescue. Together, with a Canadian and a young English officer, they go on to join the Seaforth Highlanders, the remotest of all Scottish regiments in the British Army. On the way Stuart falls deeply in love with Nell, a friend of his cousin who lives in a small coastal fishing village on the east coast of Scotland.
Their initial training is hurried, and they set off for France, only to become ensnared in the Quintinshill Disaster, the worst train crash in British history, which kills or wounds hundreds of Scottish soldiers. After recuperating, they receive new orders to sail for Gallipoli, where they face their baptism of fire and must learn to fight and survive under the blazing Aegean sun against Turkish soldiers, Jihad-sworn to push them back into the sea.
I hope you enjoy the read, and please leave your own review and rating (I felt it would be wrong to rate my own book!)
2019 Gold Medal Award, historical fiction, Military Writers Society of America
2019 Finalist, military category, American Fiction Awards
A Distant Field is my debut novel, the first in a series. It begins with the torpedoing of the RMS Lusitania off the Irish coast in 1915. On board Stuart and Ross McReynolds struggle for their lives as the ship rapidly sinks and only survive thanks to four young Irishmen who row to their rescue. Together, with a Canadian and a young English officer, they go on to join the Seaforth Highlanders, the remotest of all Scottish regiments in the British Army. On the way Stuart falls deeply in love with Nell, a friend of his cousin who lives in a small coastal fishing village on the east coast of Scotland.
Their initial training is hurried, and they set off for France, only to become ensnared in the Quintinshill Disaster, the worst train crash in British history, which kills or wounds hundreds of Scottish soldiers. After recuperating, they receive new orders to sail for Gallipoli, where they face their baptism of fire and must learn to fight and survive under the blazing Aegean sun against Turkish soldiers, Jihad-sworn to push them back into the sea.
I hope you enjoy the read, and please leave your own review and rating (I felt it would be wrong to rate my own book!)
May 11, 2020
A very well written and researched novel, encompassing several major historical events while following the progress of a diverse WW1 band of brothers. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, despite the grim detail in parts, which felt very authentic. The author’s own military experience is apparent in the way he describes the action. I’m very much looking forward to the next instalment. Watch out Bernard Cornwall, R J Macdonald has you in his sights!
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