This collection profiles men and women whose contributions may not have been previously acknowledged. For example, Carmichael highlights Indigenous, Asian, and Black veterans. There are also profiles of women who participated actively in the war effort and soldiers, often teenagers, who were shot by their own sides for desertion. Overall, these narratives encourage historical thinking by looking at the war through the lenses of various participants, provoke readers to inquire further, and encourage reflection on one’s personal ethics regarding historical actions. English Language Arts curriculum connections are possible by using this book as an example of biographical writing or to explore the range of human behaviour and perspective. The black and white photographs enhance Carmichael’s accounts and serve as primary source material about the wartime experience.

256 pp., 6.5 × 8.75", b&w photographs • Bibliography

Source: Association of Book Publishers of BC - BC Books for Schools (2021-2022)

A former newspaper editor and publisher of Westerly News, Jacqueline Carmichael is a journalist who has written for numerous publications, including the Edmonton Sun, Dallas Morning News, Entrepreneur Magazine, Dallas Child Magazine, and National Public Radio. She is a recipient of the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors award for feature series writing. Her first book, Tweets from the Trenches, was shortlisted for a Whistler Independent Book Award.

Jacqueline Larson Carmichael's profile page

"Heard Amid the Guns is a compelling work of remembrance. The stories—often drawn from letters and diary entries of soldiers, nurses, and family remaining on the home front—collectively capture the stark reality of the First World War." —Mark Zuehlke, author of the 14-volume Canadian Battle Series and winner of the Governor General's Pierre Berton Award for Popular History

"A wide-ranging, interesting, and at times intimate primer on the Great War from its beginning to the end, the Armistice and the aftermath." —Susan Raby-Dunne, author of Morrison: The Long-Lost Memoir of Canada's Artillery Commander in the Great War and John McCrae: Beyond Flanders Fields