Dad's War - Hardcover

Reid, Howard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0593051181 ISBN 13: 9780593051184

Publisher: Bantam Press, 2003

Synopsis

On 6th April 1943, Ian Reid, an officer in the Black Watch, was captured by the Germans in Tunisia and sent off to an Italian prisoner of war camp. Five months later, as the Germans took over the camp after the Italians pulled out the war, he escaped. So began a life or death game of hide and seek in the heart of the beautiful Italian countryside, living in barns, sleeping in ditches and scavenging for food. He was recaptured twice - and escaped yet again. Now, nearly 60 years later, Howard Reid quite literally follows in his father's footsteps, making the same journey across Italy - though in a rather more relaxed fashion. Starting near Modena, he travels to Florence and through Chianti, Siena and Orvieto to Rome and beyond, painting an intimate portrait of his extraordinary father and getting closer to the truth of his amazing escapades (which were the subject of a bestselling book in the 1950s). Along the way, as we take in the real, modern Italy, Howard muses on father-son relationships, and the deep but invisible scars which two World Wars have left on each of our personal histories.

About this title

About the Author

Howard Reid is an award-winning filmmaker, anthropologist and writer. He lived for two years with hunter-gatherers in the Amazon basin and spent several months with the Tuareg people of north Africa. His previous books are IN SEARCH OF THE IMMORTALS, about mummy cultures around the world, and ARTHUR THE DRAGON KING, which traced the roots of the King Arthur legend back to the nomadic warrior peoples of central Asia.

From the Back Cover

On 6 April 1943, Ian Reid, an officer in the Black Watch, was wounded and captured in Tunisia and sent off to an Italian prisoner-of-war camp. Five months later, when the Germans took over the camp as the Italians pulled out of the war, he escaped. So began a life-or-death game of hide and seek in the heart of the beautiful Italian countryside, living in barns, sleeping in ditches and desperate scavenging for food. He was recaptured - though heroically he was to escape from the Germans a total of five times.

Now, nearly sixty years later, Howard Reid quite literally follows in his father's footsteps, making the same journey across Italy - though in a rather more relaxed fashion. Starting near Modena, he travels to Florence and through Chianti, Siena and Orvieto to Rome and beyond, painting an intimate portrait of his extraordinary father and getting closer to the truth of his amazing escapades, which were the subject of a bestselling book in the 1950s.

Along the way, as we take in the real, modern Italy, Howard muses on father-son relationships, and the deep but invisible scars left by two world wars on each of our personal histories. This poignant and engrossing book is a must for everyone who has ever asked (or wanted, too late, to ask) the question 'What did you do in the war, Dad?'

Edition details

• Publisher: Bantam Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0593051181
• ISBN 13: 9780593051184
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288