Eleven Eleven

Eleven Eleven

13 thoughts on “Eleven Eleven

  1. I found this a very descriptive world war book and I especially liked at the end when they put two twists in. Firstly, you thought that all was fine, the goodies would win and a happily ever after, however on page 195 Will cheers with relief. Then suddenly a loud blast supposedly kills them both. Secondly, you think that is the end, the doctors say they are dead. Although, all just as Sergeant Jim pulls the blanket over Will’s face, Will’s eyes flutter open. Overall, I think it was an amazing book and all of Dowswell’s accurate description kept me informed on everything. Consequently, I rate Eleven Eleven 5/5 stars.

  2. I really like how the author describes the last hour of the war in many different perspectives. It is a real shame that people died after eleven eleven.

  3. I thought this was slightly boring and quite confusing book. It takes place all over 24 hours so you don’t really get to know the characters. With three differant charaters, who do not really come all together till the mid-end of the book, it gets fairly confusing fairly quickly, though this does give differant viewpoints on the war, two of which I haven’t seen properly before.

  4. Eleven Eleven

    Eleven Eleven was a thrilling, fast-paced novel which portrayed the perspectives of three different soldiers involved in the last hours of World War I. It gave me more of an understanding of how differently the airmen were treated to the regular infantry. Every day of the war, the American Pilots (like Eddie Hertz) were provided with three hot meals from their canteen. Both the British and German infantry, on the other hand, had to make do with minimal rations which barely satisfied their appetites. The air force also had access to luxuries rarely seen in the muddy, rodent infested trenches, such as chocolate bars, and soft, warm beds. My favourite part of the book was when Eddie Hertz was shot down, and was first introduced to Will Franklin and Axel Meyer. I feel this was the period in which he first encountered the reality of war after seeing the ground littered with corpses, and almost being captured by Axel when he went to get revenge for the death of his friend. The fact that Axel and Will were not aware of the end of the war would have been unbearably depressing as they had to witness the death of their friends on the last morning, and come so close to death themselves as they were forced into fighting a battle which would do nothing to dictate the outcome of the war – the treaty had already been signed. I would definitely recommend this book, and would rate it 9/10.

    By Emerson
    City of London School for Boys
    Class: Year 8

  5. A very moving storyline, which displays a powerful message about the horror and cataclysm of World War One. The book tells the tale of a German soldier, a British tommy and an American fighter-pilot. Their individual fates suddenly coincide at the scene of a major battle, but I find it difficult to trace the path of each character until then.
    An excellent action story. 5/5!

  6. A very heart-breaking book with lots of excitement. A great story to reflect ww1. One of the best books about war. You get the real impact of what it was like.

  7. Eleven Eleven is a good book centering on the final hours of World War 1. An American pilot, British soldier and German soldier are all in the same battle on the 11th of November. The British and German soldiers are unaware of the end of the war but the American Pilot is. I feel sympathetic for the two soldiers because they are not told of the ending of the war and many of their friends die unnecessarily. The American pilot on the other hand I am less sympathetic for because he knew of the war ending and only wanted to fight one last time to be in his local newspaper as an air ace. In the battle the American crashes and is found and rescued by a German but they both become stuck in thick mud. The British soldier comes and rescues both of them. This book shows that Even though these three people never met and were fighting on different sides for different reasons they came together and helped one another despite the War.
    David
    Brighton College

  8. Eleven Eleven is a good book centering on the final hours of World War 1. An American pilot, British soldier and German soldier are all in the same battle on the 11th of November. The British and German soldiers are unaware of the end of the war but the American Pilot is. I feel sympathetic for the two soldiers because they are not told of the ending of the war and many of their friends die unnecessarily. The American pilot on the other hand I am less sympathetic for because he knew of the war ending and only wanted to fight one last time to be in his local newspaper as an air ace. In the battle the American crashes and is found and rescued by a German but they both become stuck in thick mud. The British soldier comes and rescues both of them. This book shows that Even though these three people never met and were fighting on different sides for different reasons they came together and helped one another despite the War.

  9. Eleven Eleven was just really disappointing. It starts when they are already in the war so you have no feelings at all for the character and with about 4 characters being switched every chapter, it gets really confusing.
    It may have a good enough blurb but the contents do not live up to the standards.
    I wouldn’t really recommend it unless you have a lot of time and can put all the effort into reading it.

  10. Many people say that this book is slow paced. I partly agree, as until the climax it switches characters a lot, and therefore has a slower pace. However, it was well written, and showed in detail the lives of soldiers in WWI.

  11. Personally, I found it really hard to get into the story of Eleven Eleven, and also confusing with switching between the characters. I have not yet finished it, but I am curious to know how it turns out.

  12. This is evocative and realistic. Set in the closing hours of the First World War, you gain an insight into feelings of soldiers at the front.

  13. I have finished our first book in the Junior awards series, and I enjoyed it. I did struggle a little to keep up with who was who and what side they were on, in the first few chapters, but found everything was neatly tidied up about two thirds of the way through as the story came to it’s peak. I’m not going to give a précis of the story, you can read that on the back of the book, but I do feel ‘Eleven Eleven’ gave a good overview of the horrors of trench warfare, affecting both sides and the civilians caught in the middle. I loved the ending, so keep reading.

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