Book description
Pigeons carrying vital messages to and from the beleaguered city during
the Siege of Paris; horses and mules struggling through miles of fetid
mud to bring ammunition to the front in the Great War; dogs sniffing out
mines for the British invasion force in the Second World War - countless
brave animals have played their part in the long, cruel history of war.
Some have won medals for gallantry - like G. I. Joe, the American pigeon
who saved 100 British lives in Italy, and Rob, the black and white
mongrel who made over twenty parachute jumps with the SAS. Too many
others have died abandoned, in agony and alone, after serving their
country with distinction. Jilly Cooper has here written a tribute to the
role of animals in wartime. It is a tragic and horrifying story - yet it
has its lighter moments too: a hilarious game of musical chairs played
on camels during the Desert Campaign; and the budgie who remarked, when
carried from a bombed-out East End tenement, 'This is my night out'.
This is a vivid and unforgettable record of man's inhumanity to animals,
but also an astonishing story of courage, intelligence, devotion and
resilience.
Jilly Cooper is a well-known journalist, writer and media superstar,
and is the author of many number one bestselling novels, including
Riders, Rivals, Polo, The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, Appassionata,
Score!, Pandora and Wicked.
Jilly and her husband live in Gloucestershire. She was appointed OBE
for services to literature in the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours List.
