What do you think?
Rate this book
The Human Kind
Originally Jonathan Cape, 1953.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1973
5 people are currently reading
160 people want to read
About the author
Alexander Baron
104 books38 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Alexander Baron (4 December 1917 – 6 December 1999) was a British author and screenwriter. He is best known for his highly acclaimed novel about D-Day entitled From the City from the Plough (1948) and his London novel The Lowlife (1963). His father was Barnet Bernstein, a Polish-Jewish immigrant to Britain who settled in the East End of London in 1908 and later worked as a furrier. Alexander Baron was born in Maidenhead and raised in the Hackney district of London. He attended Hackney Downs School. During the 1930s, with his schoolfriend Ted Willis, Baron was a leading activist and organiser of the Labour League of Youth (at that time aligned with the Communist Party), campaigning against the fascists in the streets of the East End. Baron became increasingly disillusioned with far left politics as he spoke to International Brigade fighters returning from the Spanish Civil War, and finally broke with the communists after the Hitler–Stalin Pact of August 1939.
Baron served in the Pioneer Corps of the British Army during World War II, experiencing fierce fighting in the Italian campaign, Normandy and in Northern France and Belgium. As a sapper, he was among the first Allied troops to be landed in Sicily, Italy and on D-Day. He used his wartime experiences as the basis for his three best-selling war novels. After the war he became assistant editor of Tribune before publishing his first novel From the City from the Plough (1948). At this time, at the behest of his publisher Jonathan Cape, he also changed his name from Bernstein to Baron.
Baron's personal papers are held in the archives of the University of Reading. His wartime letters and unpublished memoirs were used by the historian Sean Longden for his book To the Victor the Spoils, a social history of the British Army between D Day and VE Day.[3] Baron has also been the subject of essays by Iain Sinclair and Ken Worpole.
As well as continuing to write novels, in the 1950s Baron wrote screenplays for Hollywood, and by the 1960s he had become a regular writer on BBC's Play for Today, for drama serials like Poldark and A Horseman Riding By, and BBC classic adaptions including Jane Eyre, Sense And Sensibility, and Oliver Twist.
Alexander Baron (4 December 1917 – 6 December 1999) was a British author and screenwriter. He is best known for his highly acclaimed novel about D-Day entitled From the City from the Plough (1948) and his London novel The Lowlife (1963). His father was Barnet Bernstein, a Polish-Jewish immigrant to Britain who settled in the East End of London in 1908 and later worked as a furrier. Alexander Baron was born in Maidenhead and raised in the Hackney district of London. He attended Hackney Downs School. During the 1930s, with his schoolfriend Ted Willis, Baron was a leading activist and organiser of the Labour League of Youth (at that time aligned with the Communist Party), campaigning against the fascists in the streets of the East End. Baron became increasingly disillusioned with far left politics as he spoke to International Brigade fighters returning from the Spanish Civil War, and finally broke with the communists after the Hitler–Stalin Pact of August 1939.
Baron served in the Pioneer Corps of the British Army during World War II, experiencing fierce fighting in the Italian campaign, Normandy and in Northern France and Belgium. As a sapper, he was among the first Allied troops to be landed in Sicily, Italy and on D-Day. He used his wartime experiences as the basis for his three best-selling war novels. After the war he became assistant editor of Tribune before publishing his first novel From the City from the Plough (1948). At this time, at the behest of his publisher Jonathan Cape, he also changed his name from Bernstein to Baron.
Baron's personal papers are held in the archives of the University of Reading. His wartime letters and unpublished memoirs were used by the historian Sean Longden for his book To the Victor the Spoils, a social history of the British Army between D Day and VE Day.[3] Baron has also been the subject of essays by Iain Sinclair and Ken Worpole.
As well as continuing to write novels, in the 1950s Baron wrote screenplays for Hollywood, and by the 1960s he had become a regular writer on BBC's Play for Today, for drama serials like Poldark and A Horseman Riding By, and BBC classic adaptions including Jane Eyre, Sense And Sensibility, and Oliver Twist.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
May 20, 2021
I read The Human Kind because I had been blown away by the emotional power of the same author's novel From the City, From the Plough. I was initially sceptical of the short-story format, as it is not usually one that I easily engage with, but I had no reason to be worried. Alexander Baron is just as sharp, observant, unsentimental and just plain heartbreaking here as he was in that earlier novel.
In fact, it might even be said the short-story format allows him to be even more hard-hitting. It allows him to jump from one scene to another without worrying about providing a narrative linkage; I suspect that some of the stories here are little pieces that he just could not fit into the From the City, From the Plough narrative without disrupting its flow. That's not to say this is a dumping ground for half-baked ideas though; there is not a bad story among the lot and each of them aches with raw humanity. There is also a sort of thematic flow throughout the book which ties them all together. In one of the short stories, the main character is discussing Beethoven's symphonies with another soldier, noting how the music is a bunch of different pieces which are woven together into a grand harmony. It is the same with Baron's book. That might sound pretentious to some, but Baron is a master of the craft of storytelling just as Beethoven was a master of composing, and The Human Kind illustrates this just as well as From the City, From the Plough.
Every one of Baron's stories elicits an emotional response. His strength lies in his detached yet paradoxically intimate narrative voice, which somehow makes the heartbreaking moments even more heartbreaking. Baron isn't maudlin or morose. He isn't cynically trying to pull at the reader's heartstrings, and doesn't revel in the depressing side of his stories. He just doesn't filter out the bad stuff and the ugly stuff which arises out of war - he sees no need to, for it is as real as the good stuff about heroism and valour and suchlike - and so the gut-punches come along just as naturally as anything else. Sometimes this works because you aren't suspecting such a horrible thing to happen and so you are taken off-guard: for example, over the course of 'A Pal's a Pal' it becomes clear that a Jewish girl who has lost all her family to the concentration camps has meekly acquiesced to being pimped out as a prostitute by a British soldier. Other times you can guess what might happen, but it still requires a brave writer to actually go there and deliver the story without even the hint of artifice or pretension; the shooting of the mutt in 'Everybody Loves a Dog' is perhaps the best illustration of this.
You also have to remember that all of these stories are based on truth; experiences that Baron lived through as a soldier in World War Two, or which his comrades lived through. Baron takes these experiences and turns them into genuinely great literature. Each and all of them are thematically rich, and cover with great maturity a wide range of topics mostly regarding the standard war stuff, but also covering a lot of things that arise in war which most writers shy away from: racism, animal cruelty, sex and prostitution, and so on. There is little to no combat, which is a shame as one of From the City, From the Plough's greatest strengths was the intense and evocative combat scenes. But, that aside, Baron shows off the full range of his writing powers, powers honed through penetrating observation which means he has the consistently remarkable ability to get to the root of any given character in just one or two lines. It is truly astonishing writing, and thoroughly recommended.
In fact, it might even be said the short-story format allows him to be even more hard-hitting. It allows him to jump from one scene to another without worrying about providing a narrative linkage; I suspect that some of the stories here are little pieces that he just could not fit into the From the City, From the Plough narrative without disrupting its flow. That's not to say this is a dumping ground for half-baked ideas though; there is not a bad story among the lot and each of them aches with raw humanity. There is also a sort of thematic flow throughout the book which ties them all together. In one of the short stories, the main character is discussing Beethoven's symphonies with another soldier, noting how the music is a bunch of different pieces which are woven together into a grand harmony. It is the same with Baron's book. That might sound pretentious to some, but Baron is a master of the craft of storytelling just as Beethoven was a master of composing, and The Human Kind illustrates this just as well as From the City, From the Plough.
Every one of Baron's stories elicits an emotional response. His strength lies in his detached yet paradoxically intimate narrative voice, which somehow makes the heartbreaking moments even more heartbreaking. Baron isn't maudlin or morose. He isn't cynically trying to pull at the reader's heartstrings, and doesn't revel in the depressing side of his stories. He just doesn't filter out the bad stuff and the ugly stuff which arises out of war - he sees no need to, for it is as real as the good stuff about heroism and valour and suchlike - and so the gut-punches come along just as naturally as anything else. Sometimes this works because you aren't suspecting such a horrible thing to happen and so you are taken off-guard: for example, over the course of 'A Pal's a Pal' it becomes clear that a Jewish girl who has lost all her family to the concentration camps has meekly acquiesced to being pimped out as a prostitute by a British soldier. Other times you can guess what might happen, but it still requires a brave writer to actually go there and deliver the story without even the hint of artifice or pretension; the shooting of the mutt in 'Everybody Loves a Dog' is perhaps the best illustration of this.
You also have to remember that all of these stories are based on truth; experiences that Baron lived through as a soldier in World War Two, or which his comrades lived through. Baron takes these experiences and turns them into genuinely great literature. Each and all of them are thematically rich, and cover with great maturity a wide range of topics mostly regarding the standard war stuff, but also covering a lot of things that arise in war which most writers shy away from: racism, animal cruelty, sex and prostitution, and so on. There is little to no combat, which is a shame as one of From the City, From the Plough's greatest strengths was the intense and evocative combat scenes. But, that aside, Baron shows off the full range of his writing powers, powers honed through penetrating observation which means he has the consistently remarkable ability to get to the root of any given character in just one or two lines. It is truly astonishing writing, and thoroughly recommended.
April 23, 2024
This is the final book in Alexander Baron's War Trilogy. I haven't read the other two books in the trilogy, but now that I have read this powerful book I will be reading the other two books in the trilogy. The book is set out as 25 short stories, which can be read as one or a pick up and put down. Each story has an narrator, but not till the end that we are introduce as 'Alex' (Alexander Baron). Having military links in the family I found this book both interesting and emotional. I have to say there wasn't anything I didn't like about this book. At times I felt that Baron's was sitting with me telling me the stories, as he remembered them happening. I highly recommend that you read this book.
January 27, 2012
A series of contrived pieces about World war II, written in the semi-surrealist style of the period with a few bawdy scenes.
Purportedly autobiographical, the author sponges up all the prejudices of the dismal 1950s but glosses over the political or moral debates of the conflict.
Purportedly autobiographical, the author sponges up all the prejudices of the dismal 1950s but glosses over the political or moral debates of the conflict.
May 2, 2024
The novel is set out as a series of anecdotes and observations, created from the author's time in service, so well-crafted I was unable to split fact from fiction. Spanning the full period of the war, from the author’s call up, service in the Sicily and Normandy landings, to the end of hostilities. They run chronologically, though the emphasis if more towards the latter period and vary in length. The reader is given a sense of the waste and futility of war, without it becoming fervently anti-war, more it was something that had to be done at that time.
It begins with the period of the ‘phoney war’ period when the authors regiment could experience almost an idyllic summer in the English countryside; by the end there are men chastened or broken by their experiences. In between through his acutely observed stories we see how these young men are changed through a succession of events. These are young men of varying backgrounds who were forced together and somehow must get along. There is a broadening of cultural horizons for some, through David Copperfield and the music of Beethoven. There is the development of mutual respect for those whose working life is different, most evident in the mining story where they had to work alongside tough, flinty miners. Reflecting on the stories it is easy to see how being exposed to these experiences formed a determined, well balanced and fair-minded generation instrumental to the postwar creation of the NHS, welfare state and determination to clear slums. First-hand experience sharpens the mind and many of us are now insulated from much of what this generation witnessed.
The experience may have had a positive character forming effect on some soldiers, but it also damaged many mentally. There is a disturbing tale of a man breaking down in the heat of action but most of all it is the sense of men being used up. Men fighting themselves to a standstill, using up all their reserves of mental strength to the extension of becoming little more than a physical shell. This is sympathetically described, will some insight and certainly the treatment of sufferers appears to be much better than those suffering from shellshock in the previous war.
There is no appetite to gloss over the bad and shameful though. We like to believe that our armies were more humane than the German and Russian soldiers, and whilst we never fell to the level of depravity that some of their troops did, they were no angels. One attack on a pillbox shocked and surprised me, bad things happen in the heat of war, but this was too much. There are stories that touch on the abuse, both physical and sexual, of women and children as well as a callous disregard for animals, property and life. We see those who are desperate to cling onto their sense of humanity even when others descend into brutality.
It begins with the period of the ‘phoney war’ period when the authors regiment could experience almost an idyllic summer in the English countryside; by the end there are men chastened or broken by their experiences. In between through his acutely observed stories we see how these young men are changed through a succession of events. These are young men of varying backgrounds who were forced together and somehow must get along. There is a broadening of cultural horizons for some, through David Copperfield and the music of Beethoven. There is the development of mutual respect for those whose working life is different, most evident in the mining story where they had to work alongside tough, flinty miners. Reflecting on the stories it is easy to see how being exposed to these experiences formed a determined, well balanced and fair-minded generation instrumental to the postwar creation of the NHS, welfare state and determination to clear slums. First-hand experience sharpens the mind and many of us are now insulated from much of what this generation witnessed.
The experience may have had a positive character forming effect on some soldiers, but it also damaged many mentally. There is a disturbing tale of a man breaking down in the heat of action but most of all it is the sense of men being used up. Men fighting themselves to a standstill, using up all their reserves of mental strength to the extension of becoming little more than a physical shell. This is sympathetically described, will some insight and certainly the treatment of sufferers appears to be much better than those suffering from shellshock in the previous war.
There is no appetite to gloss over the bad and shameful though. We like to believe that our armies were more humane than the German and Russian soldiers, and whilst we never fell to the level of depravity that some of their troops did, they were no angels. One attack on a pillbox shocked and surprised me, bad things happen in the heat of war, but this was too much. There are stories that touch on the abuse, both physical and sexual, of women and children as well as a callous disregard for animals, property and life. We see those who are desperate to cling onto their sense of humanity even when others descend into brutality.
October 30, 2025
“We were billeted in Holland at the time, in a state of restless, desolate idleness. It was clear that the war in Europe was coming to an end, petering out in a remote, nightmarish way that none of us had foreseen in our daydreams. It was fairly safe to assume that our own part in it was finished: but we were too tired and morose to feel aware of victory or even of reprieve.”
This is a remarkable, harrowing and memorable collection of short stories, and completes Alexander Baron’s Second World War trilogy. While the stories are all fictionalised, most, if not all, of them appear to be semi-autobiographical, and we can see Baron in many of the protagonist characters. And while this is a collection of short and apparently unconnected vignettes, there is a common theme that runs through them all: what, actually, are we, and how is that nature refined and revealed by the crucible of war? Baron’s findings appear to indicate that our nature, while complex and multi-layered, is not good.
Most of the stories drip with authenticity, reflecting Baron’s wartime experience, combined with his talent for crafting a compelling narrative. Take this example, recounting the advance through Sicily: “A new world, as unreal as the world of the sea; a succession of broken dreams, good dreams and bad dreams; on the move all the time yet not feeling that we were going anywhere; unaware of the things we were doing, only feeling that things were being done to us, blinding sunlight, bright colours, mosquitoes, thirst, muffling, parching white dust; days that were quiet and drowsy and nights that were fearsomely alive, riven by the noise, the racking fear and the firework flashes of war.”
Many of the stories are brutal in their recounting of violence, and of its brutalising effect on those who trade in it. One particularly memorable example is “Old Beethoven,” recounting a working-class boy's exposure to Beethoven at a concert before leaving England. Again and again, he struggles to put into words the impact that such beauty and genius have had on him, before experiencing an epiphany: “ ‘I tell you what,' he resumed, 'You were right, what you said. About having a busy time when I get back. When I get back, do you know what I want to do?' His whole body came alive, and before I could restrain him he straightened up, all upright and shining with youth, looking out over the parapet as if beyond the dismal plain was appearing all the bright beauty of the world that he had never seen. 'When I get back I want to -' Those were his last words.” In some ways, even more grim is “Everybody Loves A Dog,” which is utterly unsparing in showing how ordinary men have become desensitised by what they have experienced.
One recurring character, who more than any seems to be based on Baron himself, is finally undone by overhearing a passing remark: “Frank turned away from the gate and began to walk back towards the billet. His head was ringing with the woman's last words. They had broken the seals he was trying to keep on his mind, and all his thoughts were pouring forth. The whole war came back to him, all the worst of it, all the stunned, uncomprehending eyes of wounded men, the sweet smell of dead flesh rotting in the sun, the light-headed, burning clarity of sleeplessness, fear's clutch at the bowels, the torturing weight of pack and weapons after hours of marching, the misery of dysentery and malaria, the deadness of legs knee-deep in icy Flanders water, the terrible discovery that six irrecoverable years of life had vanished like a day, and his old, always returning question, "What for, what for, what for?' And through it all, he could hear the drunken female voice, 'All good things must come to an end, worse luck!'”
Amidst much (understandable) lionising of the “Greatest Generation,” Baron’s writing stands as a necessary admixture and corrective, a reminder that the evil of Nazism was defeated at great cost to those who fought. It also reminds us that they were the same as us, displaying all the same virtues and vices that we do. Amidst the many excellent books reprinted by the Imperial War Museum, this stands out as a masterpiece, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
This is a remarkable, harrowing and memorable collection of short stories, and completes Alexander Baron’s Second World War trilogy. While the stories are all fictionalised, most, if not all, of them appear to be semi-autobiographical, and we can see Baron in many of the protagonist characters. And while this is a collection of short and apparently unconnected vignettes, there is a common theme that runs through them all: what, actually, are we, and how is that nature refined and revealed by the crucible of war? Baron’s findings appear to indicate that our nature, while complex and multi-layered, is not good.
Most of the stories drip with authenticity, reflecting Baron’s wartime experience, combined with his talent for crafting a compelling narrative. Take this example, recounting the advance through Sicily: “A new world, as unreal as the world of the sea; a succession of broken dreams, good dreams and bad dreams; on the move all the time yet not feeling that we were going anywhere; unaware of the things we were doing, only feeling that things were being done to us, blinding sunlight, bright colours, mosquitoes, thirst, muffling, parching white dust; days that were quiet and drowsy and nights that were fearsomely alive, riven by the noise, the racking fear and the firework flashes of war.”
Many of the stories are brutal in their recounting of violence, and of its brutalising effect on those who trade in it. One particularly memorable example is “Old Beethoven,” recounting a working-class boy's exposure to Beethoven at a concert before leaving England. Again and again, he struggles to put into words the impact that such beauty and genius have had on him, before experiencing an epiphany: “ ‘I tell you what,' he resumed, 'You were right, what you said. About having a busy time when I get back. When I get back, do you know what I want to do?' His whole body came alive, and before I could restrain him he straightened up, all upright and shining with youth, looking out over the parapet as if beyond the dismal plain was appearing all the bright beauty of the world that he had never seen. 'When I get back I want to -' Those were his last words.” In some ways, even more grim is “Everybody Loves A Dog,” which is utterly unsparing in showing how ordinary men have become desensitised by what they have experienced.
One recurring character, who more than any seems to be based on Baron himself, is finally undone by overhearing a passing remark: “Frank turned away from the gate and began to walk back towards the billet. His head was ringing with the woman's last words. They had broken the seals he was trying to keep on his mind, and all his thoughts were pouring forth. The whole war came back to him, all the worst of it, all the stunned, uncomprehending eyes of wounded men, the sweet smell of dead flesh rotting in the sun, the light-headed, burning clarity of sleeplessness, fear's clutch at the bowels, the torturing weight of pack and weapons after hours of marching, the misery of dysentery and malaria, the deadness of legs knee-deep in icy Flanders water, the terrible discovery that six irrecoverable years of life had vanished like a day, and his old, always returning question, "What for, what for, what for?' And through it all, he could hear the drunken female voice, 'All good things must come to an end, worse luck!'”
Amidst much (understandable) lionising of the “Greatest Generation,” Baron’s writing stands as a necessary admixture and corrective, a reminder that the evil of Nazism was defeated at great cost to those who fought. It also reminds us that they were the same as us, displaying all the same virtues and vices that we do. Amidst the many excellent books reprinted by the Imperial War Museum, this stands out as a masterpiece, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
August 26, 2024
I found this by accident, had never heard of the author, and then it turned into one of the most wonderful discoveries I have made in a bookshop for quite some time. The Human Kind is a a collection of short stories "based on the author's actual experience of war" and it really is excellent. If you like Graham Greene or Ernest Hemingway, you'll like this and if you're into good writing, craft and clarity in your prose, then you'll like this. It's so, so good.
The stories (vignettes? recollections? Snapshots?) are a handful of pages long at the most and reflect moments from across the war. The war in question here is the Second World War but in a way, this could be about almost any war because this is about people. The Human Kind of the title. It's such a deceptively complex book and one which makes you think about it in a thousand different ways. For me, I kept thinking back to ideas like "#bekind" (a ... particular sentiment at best but now! is! not! the! place!) and then I started to think about humans and how we fit into the world and how we don't fit and that is the gift of books like this because you start in one place and then you end up somewhere quite different and you never quite know how or why you got there but you know that it is good that you did.
One of the great strengths of Baron's work here is his trust in himself. He gives you just enough and lets you fill in the gaps. The page is bare at points (I do not mean here that it is literally blank but rather that it is not stuffed full of superfluous detail) and the speech tags will fade away (quite right too) and everything just kind of starts to hinge on the moment. It's not necessarily a good moment either. Sometimes it's pretty horrific. But Baron gives you that moment and sort of makes his point very clearly in the giving.
I have added pretty much his entire back catalogue to my list of 'things to read next' and I am very glad of it. What a good, smart, clever thing this is.
The stories (vignettes? recollections? Snapshots?) are a handful of pages long at the most and reflect moments from across the war. The war in question here is the Second World War but in a way, this could be about almost any war because this is about people. The Human Kind of the title. It's such a deceptively complex book and one which makes you think about it in a thousand different ways. For me, I kept thinking back to ideas like "#bekind" (a ... particular sentiment at best but now! is! not! the! place!) and then I started to think about humans and how we fit into the world and how we don't fit and that is the gift of books like this because you start in one place and then you end up somewhere quite different and you never quite know how or why you got there but you know that it is good that you did.
One of the great strengths of Baron's work here is his trust in himself. He gives you just enough and lets you fill in the gaps. The page is bare at points (I do not mean here that it is literally blank but rather that it is not stuffed full of superfluous detail) and the speech tags will fade away (quite right too) and everything just kind of starts to hinge on the moment. It's not necessarily a good moment either. Sometimes it's pretty horrific. But Baron gives you that moment and sort of makes his point very clearly in the giving.
I have added pretty much his entire back catalogue to my list of 'things to read next' and I am very glad of it. What a good, smart, clever thing this is.
April 23, 2024
The Human Mind by Alexander Baron published by the IWM
📚 5🌟review📚
I’ve read a significant number of non-fiction wartime books and novels but wasn’t aware of the Imperial War Museum classic – The Human Kind by Alexander Baron, and my first thought is that it truly is a classic. The prose is mature and insightful, and much in the way I find Le Carre writes, with an elegant and sophisticated style. It was an absolute pleasure to read, with clear and detailed images conjured by the text, the descriptions detailed but never over complicated and rich in colour, sound and smell.
The various subjects about which Baron writes, are varied, intricate and often far from the brutal conflict I expected. His recollections of events cover working as a miner’s assistant to build tunnels in a defensive fortification on the English coastline, the monotony of standing sentry and continuing as bombs fell around him, brief flirtations with the gentler sex in Europe and the harshest aspects of conflict in Europe.
Combat is, of course, encountered and recorded in all its horror. Cataloguing the inhumane destruction of an enemy pillbox in Sicily through to the D-Day landings and as I read on, I became more and more aware of the significance of the title, for it is from the human aspect that Baron brings his true insight. The sympathy, empathy and sheer violence of which humans are capable. How the environment in which you find yourself, be it comfortable lodgings or the filth and squalor of a rain filled foxhole, the noise of battle or birds singing at sunrise, influences your behaviour and how challenging it is to remain true to your morals and virtues.
A thoroughly enjoyable read, which I recommend to anyone who enjoys writing of the highest standard.
📚 5🌟review📚
I’ve read a significant number of non-fiction wartime books and novels but wasn’t aware of the Imperial War Museum classic – The Human Kind by Alexander Baron, and my first thought is that it truly is a classic. The prose is mature and insightful, and much in the way I find Le Carre writes, with an elegant and sophisticated style. It was an absolute pleasure to read, with clear and detailed images conjured by the text, the descriptions detailed but never over complicated and rich in colour, sound and smell.
The various subjects about which Baron writes, are varied, intricate and often far from the brutal conflict I expected. His recollections of events cover working as a miner’s assistant to build tunnels in a defensive fortification on the English coastline, the monotony of standing sentry and continuing as bombs fell around him, brief flirtations with the gentler sex in Europe and the harshest aspects of conflict in Europe.
Combat is, of course, encountered and recorded in all its horror. Cataloguing the inhumane destruction of an enemy pillbox in Sicily through to the D-Day landings and as I read on, I became more and more aware of the significance of the title, for it is from the human aspect that Baron brings his true insight. The sympathy, empathy and sheer violence of which humans are capable. How the environment in which you find yourself, be it comfortable lodgings or the filth and squalor of a rain filled foxhole, the noise of battle or birds singing at sunrise, influences your behaviour and how challenging it is to remain true to your morals and virtues.
A thoroughly enjoyable read, which I recommend to anyone who enjoys writing of the highest standard.
April 26, 2024
Based on the author’s own wartime experiences, and first published in 1953, this last volume completes the War Trilogy which began with From the City, From the Plough and There’s No Home. In this collection of twenty five short stories Alexander Baron focuses on what war meant to the ordinary people who were caught up in extraordinary events. It’s an interesting collection and perhaps not what I was expecting, as it reads a bit like a personal memoir however, each of the stories have a beautiful lyrical quality which bring into stark reality some unique war time experiences.
Some stories are quite difficult to read with emotional content which show the suffering, others are a little lighter but no less powerful. I was particularly impressed by The White Domain which shares the experiences of coal miners who were working alongside soldiers in constructing underground headquarters and on finishing Old Beethoven I have to admit to shedding a few tears. There are many of the twenty five stories which have stayed with me, particularly Chicolino which reiterates the vulnerability of children and their means of survival.
I have been particularly impressed by the stark power of these stories which linger in your mind even when you move onto the next one. Beautifully written, The Human Kind reminded me that although for us in the twenty first century these stories now read as historical fiction, for the author, this challenging time was his war-time reality and his powerful writing reminds us, quite forcibly, of that fact.
April 25, 2024
My thoughts: What a beautiful treat it is to read the first copy that is the combined series, in one print, and on an anniversary edition. This is such a unique book, with such deep insights into what it is to be at war, and how that creates a war within as well.
The series of stories, looking at the platoon and their days, is one that pieces together to create a very interesting look at things and does indeed have an insight that only one who was there and knew about it firsthand could r ally begin to explain. It takes on both a historical aspect, but also a hugely personal one. I found the whole of the book both very engaging and very moving.
Overall, this is a book that all adults should read as it will also provide prospective and give a way to look at the human mind and emotion, in very difficult times. Definitely a brilliant book.
The series of stories, looking at the platoon and their days, is one that pieces together to create a very interesting look at things and does indeed have an insight that only one who was there and knew about it firsthand could r ally begin to explain. It takes on both a historical aspect, but also a hugely personal one. I found the whole of the book both very engaging and very moving.
Overall, this is a book that all adults should read as it will also provide prospective and give a way to look at the human mind and emotion, in very difficult times. Definitely a brilliant book.
April 5, 2018
Vignettes of life with British army soldiers during WWII. What’s interesting is that Baron, who bases stories on his real experiences, has a balanced view, showing the compassion and camaraderie (enjoying Dickens and Beethoven) as well as the exploitation and brutality shown to natives (sexually abusing a child in return for food scraps, shooting pets for amusement)
September 16, 2025
Just an excellent book - from the first chapter I was hooked. The sense of energy and realism is unmatched.
It showed many of the harsher and unsavoury aspects of conflict, but not in a cartoonish way. Some of them really pulled heavy in the heartstrings.
It showed many of the harsher and unsavoury aspects of conflict, but not in a cartoonish way. Some of them really pulled heavy in the heartstrings.
August 24, 2025
Reading this book just makes me wish I could have sat down and spoke to Alexander Baron about his life
March 23, 2014
Between January 2014 and March 2014, and not through any design, I read two books about World War Two and both are, in my opinion, masterpieces.
The first was Sword of Honour by Evelyn Waugh, which I read in January, and after I'd finished it I doubted I'd read a better book all year. In March 2014, I read Alone in Berlin (aka Every Man Dies Alone) by Hans Fallada, which is another masterpiece, and absolutely superb.
I can now add a third book about World War Two to my growing list of masterpieces about the conflict. The Human Kind was Alexander Baron's third work, first published in 1953, and based on his World War Two experiences. It was republished by Black Spring Press in Autumn 2011.
Alexander Baron's first novel, From the City, from the Plough (1948), was a best seller. It was based on Alexander Baron's own war service, fighting across France from the Normandy D-Day beaches.
Baron went on to write many London novels which were similarly based largely on personal experience and observation.
This is the second book I have read by Alexander Baron (1917-1999), the first was the excellent King Dido (1969). I now intend reading everything he ever wrote.
The Human Kind is a fascinating little book, a sequence of unconnected though clearly autobiographical vignettes of life as a young soldier. The stories appear chronologically and chart the journey of the narrator from enthusiastic conscript to war-weary veteran. The beautifully written stories provide little glimpses of a wide variety of personalities. It's all here: the young, the old, cynics, idealists, corruption, depravity, wisdom, kindness, culture clashes, intolerance, violence, surprises, and the surreal. I cannot praise this book highly enough. It's extraordinary. Each tale has the ring of authenticity and each vividly illuminates an aspect of life during World War Two. The only caveat being the final story, which is an anomaly, however this does not detract from the magnificence of this short, punch, memorable collection.
5/5
The first was Sword of Honour by Evelyn Waugh, which I read in January, and after I'd finished it I doubted I'd read a better book all year. In March 2014, I read Alone in Berlin (aka Every Man Dies Alone) by Hans Fallada, which is another masterpiece, and absolutely superb.
I can now add a third book about World War Two to my growing list of masterpieces about the conflict. The Human Kind was Alexander Baron's third work, first published in 1953, and based on his World War Two experiences. It was republished by Black Spring Press in Autumn 2011.
Alexander Baron's first novel, From the City, from the Plough (1948), was a best seller. It was based on Alexander Baron's own war service, fighting across France from the Normandy D-Day beaches.
Baron went on to write many London novels which were similarly based largely on personal experience and observation.
This is the second book I have read by Alexander Baron (1917-1999), the first was the excellent King Dido (1969). I now intend reading everything he ever wrote.
The Human Kind is a fascinating little book, a sequence of unconnected though clearly autobiographical vignettes of life as a young soldier. The stories appear chronologically and chart the journey of the narrator from enthusiastic conscript to war-weary veteran. The beautifully written stories provide little glimpses of a wide variety of personalities. It's all here: the young, the old, cynics, idealists, corruption, depravity, wisdom, kindness, culture clashes, intolerance, violence, surprises, and the surreal. I cannot praise this book highly enough. It's extraordinary. Each tale has the ring of authenticity and each vividly illuminates an aspect of life during World War Two. The only caveat being the final story, which is an anomaly, however this does not detract from the magnificence of this short, punch, memorable collection.
5/5
March 3, 2014
Read a book only 9 other people have rated on goodreads - how cred is that! This is really an interconnected series of short stories or even vignettes about the second world war, rather than a novel. Its author (Alexander Baron is a pseudonym) began the war as a communist and ended it with a breakdown. Somewhere in between he lost his faith in 'big ideas' and replaced it with a conviction that it is the everyday behaviour of ordinary people that counts, in other words as some kind of humanist. The incidents recounted here give some explanation of the change, for they are the small details of how war brutalizes, with the odd incident of compassion shining through. Perfectly readable on their own merits, as well observed snapshots of life during wartime, I think they also gain if you've an interest in the politics of the period.
April 22, 2024
The Human Kind is a collection of 25 short stories which form a longer overall narrative following Baron and his platoon through their own personal war.
Baron goes into great detail and tell tales of his training, friendships and his comrades.
He tell stories of his postings abroad and the suffering the hardships of war.
The author's style Is impressive, as are his insights into the lives of typical British soldiers.
It's incredibly well written, interesting, insightful and I read this in two sittings.
4 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 's.
Baron goes into great detail and tell tales of his training, friendships and his comrades.
He tell stories of his postings abroad and the suffering the hardships of war.
The author's style Is impressive, as are his insights into the lives of typical British soldiers.
It's incredibly well written, interesting, insightful and I read this in two sittings.
4 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 's.
May 17, 2014
Snapshots of a soldier's life in World War Two told with a weary eye, it beautifully draws you into their world.
Read
October 3, 2015vdfgdg
March 17, 2026
This book was turned into the movie, The Victors in the 1960's. The book is more detailed than the movie.
June 27, 2022
This is a soldier's story - written by a soldier - superb.
April 6, 2018
exceptional read
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews