Private Ryan and the Lost Peace - A Defiant Soldier and the Struggle Against the Great War - Douglas Newton

Private Ryan and the Lost Peace - A Defiant Soldier and the Struggle Against the Great War

By: Douglas Newton

Hardcover | 1 April 2021 | Edition Number 1

Sorry, we are not able to source the book you are looking for right now.

We did a search for other books with a similar title, however there were no matches. You can try selecting from a similar category, click on the author's name, or use the search box above to find your book.

Imagine the Great War ending early, in 1915, or 1916, or even 1917. Imagine round-table negotiations and a compromise peace, ending what seemed to be an unbreakable military stalemate. Had peace come in this way, perhaps there would have been no Communism, no Fascism, no Nazism, no Great Depression, and no Second World War. During the Great War, many urged such a peace.

Private Ryan and the Lost Peace is the story of one soldier who rebelled against the war and urged a mediated settlement. He happened to be Australian, but his could be the story of many an 'everyman' at the front. Private Ted Ryan, originally from Broken Hill, sent an angry letter to Britain's famous anti-war politician, Ramsay MacDonald, urging him to keep pushing for peace. Ryan denounced the war as the herding of men to a hideous 'abattoir' of industrialised killing! He blasted talk of fighting on to 'the knock-out blow'.

Eventually, Ryan's revolt landed him in four courts martial. He even received a death sentence. Were secret diplomatic deals prolonging the war? Were promising opportunities for peace callously rebuffed? From what we know now about the squashing of peace initiatives, Ted Ryan's instincts were dead right. The Great War was a protracted catastrophe, unnecessarily prolonged. Those who rebelled against it - even in the trenches - deserve to have their story heard.
Industry Reviews
“An arresting story about an Australian boy who believed that just because he became a Digger, it did not mean he gave up the high office of being a free citizen. I hope the spirit and ethos of Private Ryan still resonates in modern Australia, for no one believed in the dignity of the individual more passionately than he.”
Thomas Keneally, eminent Australian novelist and historian, author of Australians: Eureka to the Diggers (2011)

“A profoundly moving and timely reflection on one war and all war.”
Professor Frank Bongiorno, author of The Eighties

“... essential reading for anyone wishing to broaden their understanding of the great catastrophe with ‘the nationalist blinkers’ removed.”
Professor Henry Reynolds, author of Unnecessary Wars

“Two interwoven and shocking narratives of World War I.”
Professor Emerita Joan Beaumont , author of Broken Nation: Australians in the Great War

More in First World War History

Night : Penguin Modern Classics - Elie Wiesel

RRP $24.99

$23.75

Fromelles and Pozieres : In the Trenches of Hell - Peter FitzSimons
Monash's Masterpiece - Peter FitzSimons

RRP $36.99

$33.25

10%
OFF
Storm of Steel : Penguin Modern Classics - Ernst Junger

RRP $22.99

$21.35

The War Poems Of Wilfred Owen : Vintage Classics - Wilfred Owen

RRP $19.99

$17.90

10%
OFF
The World War I Book : Big Ideas Simply Explained - DK

RRP $42.99

$36.50

15%
OFF
Krithia : The Forgotten Anzac Battle of Gallipoli - Mat McLachlan
More than Bombs and Bandages - Kirsty Harris

RRP $32.99

$30.25

Monash : The Outsider Who Won A War - Roland Perry

RRP $34.99

$31.75

Farewell, Dear People : Biographies of Australia's Lost Generation - Ross McMullin
Monash - Grantlee Kieza

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$33.25

10%
OFF
The Brilliant Outsider - Robert Wainwright

$29.25

Miners in the Great War - Brian Elliott