Goodreads asked Darrell Duthie:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Darrell Duthie Malcolm MacPhail's Great War really came about through a combination of factors. As the WW1 centennials kicked off the airwaves and papers were filled with stories about it. But what struck me the most was that (unlike WWII with its tales of heroism, derring-do, and a fight against evil), people's perceptions of the First World War were invariably one-dimensional: a futile slaughter in the mud being the most prevalent. I noticed this even in questions about the war from my son, and from what my children were learning at school. As I read about the war, it was clear that there was much more to it: of how it was fought, and ultimately won. Yet much WW1 literature treats the war as little more than a backdrop. Therefore, in my own book, I set out to tell the tale of the Great War itself during a particularly dramatic period (late 1917-1918), when old stereotypes fell by the wayside. Through the eyes of my fictional hero I hope to inform, and perhaps even surprise, readers about one of history's most important events.

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