Author(s): Ray Grover

Historical Fiction

This is a novel of insights, bold assessments and revelations told by four contrasting characters from the generation whose adult lives were affected forever by World Wars I and II, the Depression, the Spanish Civil War and the domestic upheaval that accompanied the waterfront lockout and protests against the war in Vietnam. It is an account to treasure, not simply because of its narrative power, its superb interweaving of the real and the imagined, and its huge and contrasting canvases, but because of its brilliant and meticulous archival research and its compassionate yet rigorous re-evaluation of some of New Zealand¿s most bitter and wounding military, social and political battles, and of the officers, soldiers, nurses, trade unionists, conscientious objectors and political leaders involved. No New Zealand novel about the harrowing experience of our growth towards nationhood has a broader sweep and more detailed grasp of events. It is a masterpiece of times that must never be forgotten - Kevin Ireland The war to end wars ended in 1918.