- Published: 19 September 2019
- ISBN: 9781473555969
- Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 928
Staring at God
Britain in the Great War
- Published: 19 September 2019
- ISBN: 9781473555969
- Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 928
A brilliant history: The first serious and really wide-ranging history of the Home Front during the Great War for decades. Scholarly, objective and extremely well-written. A masterclass . . . that ought to be taught in schools. It is filled with surprising revelations . . . and empathy. Heffer’s eye for the telling detail is evident on almost every page. A remarkable intellectual and literary achievement.
Professor Andrew Roberts, 5*, Telegraph
Gloriously rich and spirited . . . colourful, character-driven history . . . it zips along, leavened by so many wonderful cultural and social details.
Dominic Sandbrook, The Sunday Times
Fresh insights, vast scope and caustic judgement. Possibly the finest, most comprehensive analysis of the home front in the Great War ever produced. Compelling reading.
Literary Review
Enlightening . . . Robust opinion, an eye for telling detail and a gift for bringing historical figures alive . . . An epic, ambitious book.
History Books of the Year, Daily Mail
Staring at God is a vast compendium of atrocious political conduct. Refreshing . . . [The book]’s length is due to the author’s enormous enthusiasm. A trenchant history.
The Times
A magisterial history.
Melanie McDonagh, Daily Mail
The book stands out for its humanity as well as its breadth and detail
Allan Mallinson, Books of the Year, The Spectator
The book I read with the most profit this year was the absorbing Staring at God: Britain in the Great War . . . A particular strength of the book is Heffer's understanding - as befits a former deputy editor of the Daily Telegraph - of the role of the press; this was the great age of newspaper proprietors
Brendan Simms, Books of the Year, The Spectator
An epic history of Britain. It is every bit as good as its two predecessors. Illuminating. *****
Daily Express
[An] admirable book . . . ambitious in its scope, content and approach . . . Heffer's understanding of the personalities and the issues is comprehensive
Charles Vyvyan, Standpoint
Fascinating stuff.
Spectator
Simon Heffer’s latest hefty volume of 20th-century history tackles the high politics and muddy misery of the First World War.
The Times, 50 Best Books for Autumn
This is a very detailed and well-researched book about the First World War . . . The author graphically describes the austerity of life at home.
Country Life