My Story: Boys Series by Bryan Perrett, Jacob Glatstein, Jim Eldridge

September 1854 It seemed like an age, lying there waiting for the order to continue our advance. All the while, from the heights beyond the river the Russian artillery fired upon us and from the front we heard the crackle of musket fire as our skirmishers pushed theirs back. Cannonballs passed over our heads with a sound not unlike tearing cloth, and struck the ground in front of us, throwing up earth... moreSeptember 1854 It seemed like an age, lying there waiting for the order to continue our advance. All the while, from the heights beyond the river the Russian artillery fired upon us and from the front we heard the crackle of musket fire as our skirmishers pushed theirs back. Cannonballs passed over our heads with a sound not unlike tearing cloth, and struck the ground in front of us, throwing up earth. At first I was not afraid, for the men talked and laughed among them selves, even when they were showered with soil. Then we began to suffer our first losses... less

Emil and Karl are best friends. Emil is a Jew; Karl isn't. When three men take Karl's mother away, who knows where, and the Nazis murder Emil's father, the two boys find themselves alone and scared, wandering in an increasingly hostile city. Who can they trust and where can they go?

Jack Fairfax is the 19-year old second son of Lord and Lady Fairfax. The Fairfaxes are steeped in the military tradition, and don't approve of Jack's volunteering for the Royal Flying Corps. New-fangled flying machines are nothing to do with 'proper' warfare. Nevertheless, Jack takes to the skies in his Bleriot plane, and faces the skills of the German ace pilots over the Somme. When his best friend is shot down by one of them, he vows to avenge him.

Sixteen-year-old Billy Stevens joins the military to "kick the Kaiser back to Germany", he lies about his age to join up, and is initially disappointed when he is assigned to the Royal Engineers. Soon enough, he is sent to the Front, and the terrible sights and sounds of the trenches.