I will be honest up front - this book is about my Grandfather Wallace and his brother Harold, their uncle Bill and a mate of theirs Arthur. However until last year I never knew this book existed - in fact because of family issues I never knew my Grandfather Wallace. My Father's cousin has edited this book and it is skillfully blended.

The book is really a whole bunch of letters from the boys from Argyle (the 1200 acre Campbell property near Wellington NSW). It provides a brief overview of the family as well as updates at the end and is a chronological acount of there experiences during WWI - at Gallipoli, in France, on leave, their experiences of authority and the subtle way that things changed for them. The letters are written from the boys to the rest of the Campbell family and friends - so you get to see what was on everyones mind during this terrible time

I would recommend spending a whole day to read this book in one go because it is too dis-jointed if you break in up over a period of few days or weeks. The editors have provided commentary where it is needed and as they say it is not their book but the book belongs to the boys from Argyle of which 3 returned alive.

I found it strange to read letters addressed by my kith and kin whom I never had the chance to meet - but a work such as this has keep the memory of 4 very ordinary Australians alive. There are photographs through the book of various characters family friends and the like which makes it a very personal book for any one that reads it.

IT IS A SHAME THAT IT IS CLASSED AS A REMAINDERED BOOK BY THE NEW OWNERS OF KANGAROO PRESS AS A REPRINT WILL MOST LIKLEY NOT BE FORTHCOMING.