An Ice-cream War - William Boyd

William Boyd has been a professional writer since 1981. His first novel, "A Good Man In Africa" was released to great critical acclaim in the summer of that year, winning numerous awards. His follow-up, "An Ice Cream War" took this one step further. "An Ice Cream War" was a finalist for the Booker Prize upon its release in 1983 and was thoroughly deserving of this accolade. The book centres around the campaign fought in Africa during the First World War, an area of the conflict usually glossed over by other writers. Boyd's novel takes in a number of protagonists, variously forwarding the ...  Read the complete review

This book did for me what I expect from a great book - I had my opinions changed, I learned much and when I finished the book I was sure I would very soon read it again. The book focuses on a little known part of the First World War - the action in East Africa. But more importantly it focuses on three men in particular and the effect the war has on them - an American trying to run a successful farm in Kenya and a pair of English brothers whose lives are changed by the conflict. I will leave the telling of the story to Boyd but urge you to read this and learn, as I did, of the genuine pointlessness of a war (you are given proof in this book rather ...  Read the complete review