We Review | Silent Night (book review)
Written by: JP

The European winter of 1914 was not the coldest nor
the wettest.  The winter of 1914 was during the Great War. 
It didn't occur to anyone it should have a number.  Lines
were at a stalemate.  Rains caused trenches to fill with
water and create mud slides.  There was cold, mud, rain,
and bullets to make life miserable.

     Along the western front, during the Christmas of 1914,
the fighting stopped.  It was not part of any plan.  At
different places, at the same time, the soldiers suggested
a cease fire.  Often against orders, the combat units spoke
to the other side, exchanged talk, trinkets and food.  They
also agreed not to shoot for Christmas.

     Stanley Weintraub has collected many accounts of the
unofficial truce of Christmas in 1914.  The stories, photos
and research make up "Silent Night," a book published by Plume.
The research is well done.  Weintraub avoids making
judgment calls and uses caution in accepting as truth
any story associated with the Christmas Truce of 1914.  He
chronicles many of the events that surround the event of
the truce.  The exchange of gifts between enemy soldiers,
the soccer games that occurred, the singing, and that no one
took advantage of the festivity to cause more carnage.
     
     To many who study World War I, the Christmas truce
is sometimes a footnote, a casual story from a saved letter
or a summary of a news article.  It really happened and
was more widespread than most people understand.

     You do not have to be a student of history to appreciate
the book.  It is a good book for evidence that people can
stop fighting and be friendly.  If only for a few days!  After
the truce, the war continued for four years.

     If you were in a cold muddy trench, watching people get
shot if they advanced toward the enemy lines.  You watch the
enemy get shot as they advance toward your lines. Imagine the
surprise learning your unit and the enemy unit have decided to
stop the war for Christmas.  What would you do?  You can
read "Silent Night" to learn what men did.  It is a wonderful
insight of a single event of World War I.