Miner's son David Powlett-Jones returns from the carnage of the Western Front in 1918, shell-shocked and bitterly hardened by the violence of war. ...
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Jun 22, 2011
Whitney
rated it: 
Very rarely do I find a book that captures so much of my mind that I read every word. This was one of those books! It embraced a heart for teaching, a passion for history, a draw to love, and a strength through hardship all in a landscape of a prep school in England. Looking at life between the two wars that both engulfed the world, from the perspective of a small, secluded, and hidden piece of the earth was one of the most interesting perspectives I have been immersed in! It challenged my mind
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Aug 19, 2011
Michaelbert
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Some joker of a professor once told me that Wagner's music is much "better than it sounds." I think he meant people get side-tracked by all the crap surrounding the music, German nationalism and Wagner's anti-semitism being the most egregious distractors, and they fail to actually listen to the music, evaluating it purely as a work of art. When netflix told me I should like the mini-series made from this book, I was highly skeptical, thinking: oh no, not another Dead Poets' Society;
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Apr 28, 2011
Wally
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Read this last year along with Delderfield's trilogy A Horseman Riding By, now he is one of my favourite authors.
Behind all the stories is the larger theme of the beautiful Western Civilisation as it manifested itself in country life in Wales and Southwest England before the Great War and how the tremendous loss of life and morals impacted on that previously sheltered world.
As a Jew I notice that RFD includes at least one, usually of foreign origin, Jewish character in each of his bo More...
Behind all the stories is the larger theme of the beautiful Western Civilisation as it manifested itself in country life in Wales and Southwest England before the Great War and how the tremendous loss of life and morals impacted on that previously sheltered world.
As a Jew I notice that RFD includes at least one, usually of foreign origin, Jewish character in each of his bo More...
Jun 14, 2009
Alan
rated it:
We saw the 1980 Masterpiece Theatre series compliments of Netflix. Then I wanted to read the book. The series followed the storyline almost completely. Reading the book after seeing hours of the characters on the film, made it seem like visiting old friends. Below is from the end flaps of the 1972 first printing of the book (obtained on order from the local library).
"... an England emerging from the horrors and bloodshed of the 1914-18 war into the twenty years of change, uphea More...
"... an England emerging from the horrors and bloodshed of the 1914-18 war into the twenty years of change, uphea More...
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Sep 22, 2009
Tripp
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My views of British primary and secondary education are probably a little off. Like many of my peers I watched Pink Floyd's the Wall a few too many times and had it in my head that all the teachers were like the "Stand still laddie" guy in this clip from the movie. Thanks to my infatuation with the Victorian period, I'd gotten the sense that the public (private in the American sense) schools were factories for creating the foot soldiers of empire.
While Floyd made have overs More...
While Floyd made have overs More...
Feb 08, 2009
Trisha
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A British boys' boarding school, in the period between the two world wars provides the setting for this lengthy novel about a shell shocked young man who takes on a temporary job as a teacher and ends up spending the next 22 years gradually learning to love everything about his life as a school master, housemaster and eventually the headmaster. For those of us Anglophiles who loved Hogwarts School of Wizardy, Bamfylde is the next best thing and actually goes a long ways to helping us understand
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Apr 30, 2009
Melanie
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I simply wallowed in this book almost smelling the lavender polish on the wood of the school. I was taught by men who were probably the pupils in this sort of school. To them your own achievement and sense of self worth was more important than exam results that the current age is obsessed with. The boys in the book radiated decency and honesty deep down. There were clear boundaries of good conduct and morals which carried the characters in good stead throughout life.
The battered she More...
The battered she More...
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Oct 18, 2009
Jessica
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Towards the end of World War I, David Powlett-Jones is discharged after being in the hospital, injured and shell-shocked, for months. He is sent to Bamfylde, a private school in Devon, to teach history to boys who are less than ten years his junior. He has no experience as a teacher, and does not even have a degree, but the doctor felt that this would be the best remedy for the soul-sickness that David suffers from after spending three years in the trenches. And soon David comes to realize that
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Aug 18, 2009
Rebecca
rated it:
Twenty plus years in the life of a British schoolmaster, from the end of the first World War to the start of the second. Davy Powlett-Jones arrives at Bamfylde as a shell-shocked young man without the social background or degree to survive in the world of a privileged public (i.e. private) school. The headmaster, however, sees something in him that makes him hire Davy, who gradually comes to love the school and its students.
This is a perfect book for those who love British school sto More...
This is a perfect book for those who love British school sto More...
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Jan 07, 2010
Mary
rated it:
What a wonderful, beautiful book. I was so sad when its 400+ pages were done - they had flown by. It explores the period spanning from the end of WWI into the beginning of WWII with grace, sensitivity, and a very sympathetic protagonist. The reader comes to appreciate Bamfylde as much as PJ does. Near the end of the book, I had a moment when I set it down because the approach the author took to explaining what was happening historically and what the experience of that was actually like gave me a
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Aug 02, 2011
Terri
rated it:
Re-reading this novel always makes me even more sure that teaching is the most undervalued profession in our world. David Powlett-Jones' story is always a source of renewed faith for me - in more ways than one. In no other profession, except possibly a religious vocation, is the gift of oneself so important and so rewarding. For all those who offer their knowledge, experience, and core beliefs to others I give my utmost gratitude. Whether we teach in a classroom, at a kitchen table, or in ou
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May 30, 2011
Winnie
rated it:
I decided to re-read this book because my sister-in-law was re-reading it. I had read it in the early 70s and enjoyed it. The book follows a young man returning from WWI. After being injured, he finds "recovery" and "sanctuary" as a teacher in an English boys' boarding school. He goes on to become the headmaster. The author makes you feel that you are right there at the school. The book is an enjoyable romp through the English countryside where you feel that you know all the
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Jan 01, 2012
Frederick
rated it:
David Powlett-Jones is a former british soldier who served three years in the trenches of World War I. After being removed from the army due to shell shock, he is given a job as a history teacher at a boys boarding school way out in the country of northern England. He spends the next 30 years at this job, eventually becoming headmaster of the school. The book chronicles the changes in british society between the World Wars.The book was read by Christian Rodska. He is a master at speaking with di
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Sep 03, 2011
Richard
rated it:
I enjoyed this book quite a lot. It was was centered on the experiences of David Powlett Jones and his growth and recovery over the years between the wars. It was filled with many short episodes and vignettes that all together made up a broad perspective of life. There was not a single central plot; it was more a collection of several story lines and scenes. The characters were well developed and the descriptions were rich and entertaining. What I missed was a more detailed understanding of
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Aug 25, 2010
Debbie
rated it:
The first 60 pages were a bit of a grind for me, but the last 534 were wonderful and I will definitely read this author again. This is a saga about a boy's school and a particular teacher that spans about twenty years. I enjoyed the perspective and how the history of the time period that begins in 1914 is woven through the story. This story feels very personal and although it is fictional, it reads as if it were non-fiction. I have ordered the BBC miniseries from my library and am looking forwar
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Oct 05, 2009
Lila
rated it:
My dream profession had always been teaching. I got my degree and then I did work as a teacher in Poland for a period of two years and even now, ten years later, I look back at it as my best times working. Somehow, life didn’t work out the way I wanted and while living here I gave up teaching and became a translator instead. But I still do look back with nostalgia and sentiment at the time when I felt most fulfilled spending time in a classroom with my students. Therefore, reading To Serve Them
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Dec 09, 2008
Janet
rated it:
I had read a previous R.F. Delderfield novel years and years ago ("God is an Englishman") but nothing since then. But one of the kids (probably Lindsay) put this on my Netflix list so I watched it first. I loved the characters and wanted the more in-depth picture you often get with actually reading the book, so I found it at my local library. In the end I am glad I watched it first--it was extremely well cast and I enjoyed having the voices of the characters and their accents in my
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Aug 22, 2008
Kathy
rated it:
This book is a sympathic look at the British system of residential schools for boys. It is set between the world wars, and follows the career of a young teacher who comes to the school as a shellshocked veteran.
It's very much a Man's book, which explains why it's one of my husband's favorites. The few female characters are only seen from the point of view of the main character.
There is an excellent BBC TV series (nine episodes) based on this book. The series is so successful at captu More...
It's very much a Man's book, which explains why it's one of my husband's favorites. The few female characters are only seen from the point of view of the main character.
There is an excellent BBC TV series (nine episodes) based on this book. The series is so successful at captu More...
Apr 30, 2009
Beth
rated it:
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, although it got long towards the end. This is a story about a young man who returns from WWI a shell-shocked soldier, and is placed as an English teacher in a boys' boarding school in the country, as as way to heal. He ends up making this his career. I loved the plot, characters, descriptions of the time and place, etc.
It's interesting - I never could get into the author's better known book: God is an Englishman.
It's interesting - I never could get into the author's better known book: God is an Englishman.
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Sep 28, 2011
C
rated it:
hello all
friend told me to try this book
thought to myself
my grandparents escaped the slums
of Victorian London
to live in Canada
don't want to read book about training
the English upper class
grabbed hold of me
when it ended
it was as if a small part of the world died
another books as ships story
ship that takes you away to another
time and place
took me to another time another place
friend told me to try this book
thought to myself
my grandparents escaped the slums
of Victorian London
to live in Canada
don't want to read book about training
the English upper class
grabbed hold of me
when it ended
it was as if a small part of the world died
another books as ships story
ship that takes you away to another
time and place
took me to another time another place
Jul 20, 2010
Ed
rated it:
Not a great novel but an interesting epic about the healing of a shell shocked former front line Welsh soldier from the First World War who becomes a school teacher in a remote boarding school. Tells his story through the period 1918-1940 and covers much of the political and then military background to this period. Notable for its attention to the emotional lives of his boys as well as the slow process of healing the mental scars of war.
Sep 05, 2010
Rebecca
rated it:
A beautiful novel set in a boarding school between the World Wars. Lt. David Powlett-Jones arrives in the countryside, suffering shell-shock and looking to find a way back into the land of the living. Along the way, he finds love, friendship, hope, and tragedy. Terrific novel, made into a great BBC miniseries.
For the longer review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/content_12100688...
For the longer review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/content_12100688...
Mar 08, 2011
Guido
rated it:
A school book if ever I read one, and not one bit boring at that. Delderfield tells the story of the Great War soldier who is discharged with shellshock, and recuperates by teaching in a school on the moors of Devon. Pupils and teachers are characterised vividly, with drama, tragedy and humour dished out in equal measures. Time appears to repeat itself when the Second World War arrives - and the Headmaster who served in WW1 is now doing what his predecessor did at that time. Keeping track of his
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Nov 12, 2010
Jim
rated it:
My favorite book. Bought it at a book sale for fifty cents, then discovered it was made into a miniseries on Masterpiece theater. I bought that for considerably more than fifty cents, but loved it anyway. There should be some great words of wisdom to impart from those two events, but alas none. I still love the book. I may buy it for my Kindle.
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Jan 13, 2012
Krisette
rated it:
Davy Powlett-Jones is a shell-shocked veteran from the first World War who finds healing through becoming a teacher at a British boarding school for boys. The novel follows his life up until the onset of WWII. Although, the book is a work of fiction the characters are so richly drawn that I found myself laughing and crying with them. I also enjoyed a look at world events during the years that led up to HItler's mad invasion of Europe. It really must have been so frustrating to those WWI vete
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Dec 09, 2008
DiNovia
rated it:
I sometimes still wake up in the morning and look forward to reading more about P.J. and Bamfylde. The book could have gone on another thousand pages as far as I'm concerned and I would have been riveted. Very English. A great tutorial on the British Boys' School and how that effects their society.
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Jul 15, 2010
Sue
rated it:
David takes a post in a boys' boarding school. The two novels in this volume ('Late Spring' and 'The Headmaster') chart his career. Amusing incidents, fascinating educational philosophies for the time. Well-written, and while not terribly thrilling there are some moving moments.
Jan 18, 2011
Julie
rated it:
An oldie but goodie. I loved this story of an unlikely headmaster of a boy's boarding school in England between the wars. I have ordered his other series to start on right away. I also watched a little of this on DVD- was a Masterpiece series. Lovely.
Jan 25, 2009
Robert
rated it:
FANTASTIC. Far superior to Mr Chips, It works on many levels - as a teacher, student story, as an anti-war novel, as an insight into an overshadowed period of British History and as a sprawling, epic novel.
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Sep 27, 2011
Eileen
rated it:
Not the time period I need, but a good breakdown of the British boarding school. Recommended to me by Mr. Garrison (I had read it in the 70s, but a refresher helps!)
Awesome explanations of the idea of first form, etc., plus Hilary Term, Michaelmas Term, and so on.
This is a charming book.
Awesome explanations of the idea of first form, etc., plus Hilary Term, Michaelmas Term, and so on.
This is a charming book.
