An Onlooker in France 1917-1919

A vivid firsthand sketchbook walks listeners through the chaotic summers of 1917, when a solitary observer found himself amid the mud‑caked trenches and bustling headquarters of the Western Front. From the first hesitant steps onto the Somme to the tense moments in the Ypres Salient, he captures the texture of daily life—soldiers sharing a cigarette, a tank rumbling across Pozières, and the fragile humor that flickered in the trenches.

The narrative unfolds with gentle reverence, never slipping into grand strategy but instead highlighting intimate scenes: a wounded comrade’s quiet bravery, the stark loneliness of a night watch, and the surprising kindness of French villagers. As the war draws to a close, the manuscript shifts to the bustling halls of the peace conference, offering a thoughtful glimpse of the world trying to stitch itself back together.

Interspersed with the author’s own drawings, each episode feels like a pause to look closely at a moment that might otherwise have been lost, inviting listeners to share in both the horror and the humanity of a defining era.