A soldier fights for his soul in the trenches of France. A field hospital nurse battles death every day. Are duty and honor enough of a reason to go on in the hell of a world at war?A mere mile from the blood-drenched front lines, Russian refugee and nurse Charlotte Braninov encounters English Lieutenant Robert Fitzgerald, who helps her save the life of another soldier. Robert’s calm, courtly … Robert’s calm, courtly manner lingers in Charlotte’s mind, a comforting memory amid the deluge of suffering that surrounds her when she returns to the hospital.
Wounded during an unauthorized mission of mercy, Robert Fitzgerald finds himself demoted to a Medical Supply Officer, where he once more meets the brave young Russian nurse. When Charlotte volunteers to help the Lieutenant learn about his duties in this new life of service, a quiet friendship blooms and love grows in that harshest of soils, even as the war rages on. But human cruelty and endemic disease claw at their lives. Can love survive in a world torn by warfare, greed, and deception?
The Old World, a novel that readers are calling “deeply moving,” “stunning,” and “magnificent,” is the first volume of the By the Hands of Men series. Epic historical fiction by Roy M. Griffis, the saga sweeps across four continents in a gripping tale of fate, loss, redemption, and love.
A truly remarkable historical novel– so finely rendered in period detail – that the reader becomes one with the plot and characters. – RICK FRIEDMAN, FOUNDER, THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB
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Amidst the hellish conditions of World War One, love blooms.
A historical fiction that tells a story during WW1. A Russian nurse serving with the British Army is taking care of the wounded soldiers. She falls in love with a wounded British Officer and they go through many hardships. I like all the details about what was happening on the battle fields and the selfless nurses that risked their life’s to care for the wounded. This book will keep you engaged to the end.
The grime, gore and ghastly of the WWI is mingled with the love, romance and hope…great story…
It’s a book that draws you in and keeps you engaged till the end. It’s about a war where the proximity of the warring parties makes death and destruction personal and raw. Highly recommend it.
gave a better understanding of the difficult and challenging job that the doctors and nurses had during The Great War, doing heroic jobs under horrible conditions, especially in earlier times. Added in is developing relationships with those around the central figure, a young nurse, and finally a love story which is portrayed in a highly proper way because of the time period. Sadly this is book one of a series and the ending doesn’t give you satisfaction…you must buy several more books to follow the characters.
I read all in this series. Kept hoping with each book for a happily ever after – just like real life it was always coming but never quite getting there. But virtue triumphed though the scars remained.
The novels of this series must b read sequentially to really appreciate the historic panorama in which the characters are caught up in. They make it very difficult to not immediately search out and read the next followup novel
Easy reading historical novel.
excellent historical information onWW I and nurses up in the front. there are 4 more books to this series and this leaves you wanting to reading the next ones to see what happens
This is a must to read
Excellent writing . I look forward to the rest of the series. I finished the entire series. The story is original, the writing , excellent . Bravo!!
We need more books from this author.
Those affected by war touch our hearts. The wounds may be outward but many are not. A great story of how war changes us and shapes us and yet …. another war is always around the corner.
What terrible lives they living being part of the war. Great writing and great book!
I read the entire series. Very good.
Fabulous read!
I always enjoy a well-written historical fiction. This book develops the characters keeping the values and ideals of life during the period of WWI. I enjoyed it so much I am currently reading the fourth book of the series.
Ending was a disappointment
Well worth the read for the personal tragedies and the historical perspective.
Being an historian, I have studied The Great War, now called World War I; however, that front line horror of war is hard to tell. Griffis brought the story right to me with words that created characters whom I quickly came to enjoy so much I had to read. Set in a military hospital, very near the front line, The Old World is actually the story of a group of about six characters and their existence, their human drama, during the war. The story delivers fear, horror, love, salvation, humor, friendship, honor, and death all meshed together to create a book, I won’t soon forget. The ending can stand alone or you can proceed right to the next book in the series. I haven’t yet, but will. I need to know what happens next.