The Storms of War

'As spellbinding as Ken Follett's Fall of Giants' * BOOKLIST * Deeply researched and intelligently written, 'The Storms of War' brings Edwardian England to life - life overshadowed by the war that is recreated here in vivid and visceral fashion. Historical fiction that mostly manages to be both cerebral and educational without feeling dull. * THE BOOKBAG * This book has more firepower than DOWNTON . . . Powerful storytelling. -- Alex Gordon * PETERBOROUGH EVENING TELEGRAPH * Kate Williams in a vivid writer, conjuring atmosphere through scents and tastes as well as period props. The enjoyable elements of a sweeping family saga are present, but Williams also develops a sense of the emotional and psychological revolutions, both collective and individual, that were catalysed by the conflict -- Lisa Hilton * TLS * Historian Kate Williams's epic about the First World War starts in the idyllic country mansion of the wealthy de Witt family ... [she] outlines the tragedy of war but also reveals .. how this first modern conflict changed British society beyond recognition. * SUNDAY EXPRESS * Wartime-saga lovers will be kept on their toes to the end. * DAILY MAIL * Williams keeps her story moving and the result is a vivid portrait of a perennially fascinating period of history. -- Stephanie Merritt * THE OBSERVER * This terrific saga comes with a fascinating twist ... Williams has a gift for showing how great movements in history affect the lives of people caught up in them -- Kate Saunders * THE TIMES * Williams is too good a historian for melodramatic sentimentality; trusting the historical detail, the reader can relax into a well-paced, truly affecting narrative . . . Richly detailed, light of foot, Williams tantalises with loose ends and disturbs with shocking shadows * INDEPENDENT * The new novel by the historian Kate Williams, is an epic story about a young woman whose idyllic world is shattered by the First World War, * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH STELLA Magazine * This is the first part in a trilogy set against the the First World War that delves into the complexities of loyalty and survival as life in the de Witt family is ineradicably changed. * WOMAN & HOME * Celia de Witt is the 15 year old daughter of a German born industrialist and his aristocratic wife who live in a magnificent country house; her elder sister is about to have a grand society wedding. What could go wrong? The First World War, that's what ... shades of Downton, with a dash of Atonement * TATLER * A wonderful evocation of a family torn apart by war, packed with drama and written with a sensitive warmth and fantastic historical insight -- Imogen Robertson [An] all-encompassing, sweeping epic. It's a book to get immersed in for hours at a time . . . powerful . . . a wonderful achievement -- Katherine Webb Brilliant - a passionate and poignant story of a glittering family on the precipice of a vanished world. Spellbinding, gripping and beautiful - a must read . . . the new CAZALET CHRONICLES -- Lisa Hilton A beautifully conjured family saga. Fans of DOWNTON ABBEY will love it -- Alison Weir a big juicy drama set on the eve of the First World War. TV historian Kate Williams paints a spellbinding portrait of a family clinging on desperately to their privileged way of life * GOOD HOUSEKEEPING *