Customer Reviews
Remember - it's the LIFE of Harry Patch! - By: Capt John Rowlands, 29 Jul 2008 
This is the story of a man who is as remarkable for his longevity as for his position as one of the last WW1 veterans. Don't misread the title, though - it's a story of one man's life, not a detailed account of WW1. Many people have made this simple mistake.
The book is brilliantly lucid, & I took only three nights to read it where I normally read several books very slowly. I'd agree that the chapter on Harry's working life 'goes on' a bit, but it's not much of a distraction.
What annoyed me, if I am at liberty to be so, is Harry's reluctance - refusal even - to engage or take interestin politics of whatever era, despite having been subject to politics' most terrible failings. But who am I to judge? Who are any of us to judge?
It's clear Harry, like very many soldiers who survived, has suppressed a great many emotions & memories from WW1. It's a pityin many ways that this is so, for it surely must also have suppressed a great many details of that experience. But it's hardly surprising, & is of course something still happening with today's soldiers.
A great & eminently readable account of what isin most ways a very simple, unremarkable life. Apart, of course, from those four months at Ypres, & over 110 years of life - so far.
Well worth a read - By: P. Turgoose, 20 Mar 2008 
Forget all the fuss about the last living tommy bit, this is a really nice snap shot of one mans ordinary life which happened to include a spellin the trenches of WW1.
The book gives anyone of my age (42) a snapshot of what it was like to live through 2 world wars & the simple rural life that Harry has enjoyed.
His in-sites into life before the war & then during & after are both well written & interesting, he comes across as someone who was "lucky" to survive the war & is grateful for that but also a little bitter to have been put through thatin the first place.
If you read autobiographies of the rich & famous this is a good book about a normal life with some lovely stories & some horrific experiences.
First rate - By: R. Davies, 10 Feb 2008 Sometimes, I reach the end of a book & wish that it had been much longer, & this was one of them. It was compelling.
Harry Patch's story is interestingin that he is so very ordinary yet he has achieved iconic status by virtue of his longevity. A flawed individual (stubborn, unworldly, apparently incapable of being single, unhealed rifts with his children) who represents the stoicism, courage & sacrifice of a generation. He is an everyman, a typical tommy.
I would have liked more insight into what he thinks about the changing face of the world since the Great War; the huge social changes, mass immigration to Britain, the creation of the welfare state, Mrs Thatcher, Diana, 9/11, the prospect of a black/female President. But that's probably because I loved the book so much, I want more!
I'll be buying more of v. Emden's books, that's for sure.
The Last Voice - By: A. J. King, 05 Feb 2008 In many respects Harry Patch is an unremarkable man - after all he has probably lived more quiet & uneventful years than any of us ever will. Even the terrible fate that befell the 19 year old Harry was shared by millions of other soldiers. But then of course Harry is the last of them, & after eighty years of hiding his grief, he has reluctantly & finally told of his experiences, almost as a catharsis & a tribute to his comrades who never returned & whom he still misses.
Richard Van Emden has written the book perfectly, by ensuring that we see Harry as an ordinary man, not as a solder, & the first section of the book is Cider with Rosie revisited & setin the Mendips. When Harry tells his war tale, Van Emden gently & unobtrusively informs Harry's incredibly vivid memory with background information, although Harry's mind remains remarkably sharp. Moreover, Paschendaele is not the climax of the book, but rightly keptin its chronological place so we, like Harry sense its horror receding but never quite disappearing. Mr Patch comes across as a feisty but chivalrous man,with a stubborn streak that has probably helped to carry him to his 110th year. I read this book partly to learn about Harry, but also as homage to the tragic modesty of a lost generation that now has no other voice but his, & I was not disappointed.
A superbly rounded book on one man's 109 year old life - By: John Glubb, 22 Jan 2008 I read & loved this book but was not going to post a review as plenty of other people had & I would only be echoing the thoughts of other readers who had given this five stars. However, Hedley's review is so weird that I feel I must write some sort of defence. It seems most strange to complain that Harry's life (including his plumbing career) is coveredin detail when it is clear that the book is his life story & not just a study of his WW1 service. He only spent a few monthsin the trenches - this is a small percentage of his life & it seems fair to me that he is tired of talking about those few months. After all, he has had a remarkably long life that 99% of people never want to speak to him about. I thought his memories of a childhoodin Edwardian Britain were fascinating & well-told. If readers are solely interestedin Harry's war service then I would recommend Britain's Last Tommies or Veterans, both very good books by the same author which give this detail. However, if you want a much more rounded view on this fascinating man then I would heartily recommend this book. As for Harry's view on criteria for who should be considered "the last veteran", I would prefer to ask his view than someone who wasn't even born when that conflict ended. Surely he has earned the right to express his opinion?
