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Trail of Poppies is the true story of an Englishman’s journey to commemorate the dead from both sides during World War One. He intended to do this by leaving 2015 poppies along the route of the battlefields which stretched from Asiatic Turkey to the English Channel in Belgium. The story starts at the planning stage and details the setbacks and lack of interest the proposed journey attracted. Phil decided to go ahead and do it anyway, as he had planned for it to be a personal quest as well as appealing to a wider audience. The journey itself started in Asiatic Turkey, cycling a couple of hundred miles to a lesser known battlefield of the Gallipoli campaign in time for the centenary. The main Gallipoli battlefields followed this, before heading west towards the start of the Macedonian Front in Northern Greece. Here started a long and tortuous journey along the length of that nearly unknown battlefield. The high snow capped mountains ultimately stopped him in his tracks and a slightly alternative route had to be found. After Macedonia, he had intended to go through Serbia, but terrorist activity in Northern Macedonia meant another change of his plans by heading through Albania instead, where he encountered nearly impassable roads and an attempted mugging on a very remote road. Montenegro followed this with a climb to the summit battlefield of Mt Lovcin, before heading north on the long hot road through Croatia. The trenches and battlefields were once again reached in Italy, with Phil tracing their route north through Italy and Slovenia and west on the mountainous Italian/Austrian border, before following them back through the Italian mountains until they reached the Swiss border. By this time, Phil had run out of money and food, but he didn’t deviate from his plans. The journey had become a pilgrimage to the dead and the next week, details his daily struggle to live off the land whilst continuing with his quest. His journey along the Western Front started off badly due to hunger and a lack of energy, but despite the suffering, he endured as long as he could before becoming ill and having to contact his family who transferred him some money so that he could complete his journey. After leaving his last poppy at the Cenotaph in London, Phil completed his journey by riding back home to Yorkshire. Trail of Poppies is an epic story full of conflicting emotions which accurately details the events which took place on those battlefields a century ago.
Genre: HISTORY / Military / World War INot great, as I don't know how to market a book, although I have had a great deal more interest in France & Serbia, than I have had in the English speaking world.
The ossuary in the centre was built as an 8.5m high octagonal tower with a single door and narrow slit like windows high upon the walls. Because of those, the interior was as gloomy as the fog outside as I slowly stepped into the short entrance tunnel. On a bright day, the sun probably streamed through the small windows, lighting up the walls, carvings and central altar, but all I saw were primeval shadows inside that castle of the dead. The atmosphere felt stifling at first, only softening slightly when I lit a candle that stood upon the central altar. The flickering light from the candle meant that I could explore further. Wreaths of flowers adorned the bare stone walls along with rough carvings of figures depicting German soldiers, whilst above these on a second floor, a balcony encircled what lay below. I can’t bring myself to describe the interior of an ossuary as a place of beauty, but it was very striking and an extremely well thought out memorial to the men who lay there in their everlasting sleep. Before I entered, I had wished that the sun had been out to brighten the mood, but as I left, I was glad for the gloom, for it meant that I was alone as I held my head, with nobody to see the English tears, mourning the Germanic dead.
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Portuguese
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Already translated.
Translated by Juliana Scheffer
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Author review: I can't obviously read Portuguese (or I wouldn't need a translator!) But a friend who can, has read the finished translation & it's spot on. He said that it is a very good read, so I would like to take this opportunity to thank Juliana for all of her hard work. I wouldn't hesitate to use Juliana again. Thank You. |
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Spanish
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Already translated.
Translated by Lia Garcia
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