The Great Adventure Ends

Book excerpt: "This book by a diverse group of French, German and New Zealand writers and researchers examines the differing perceptions of the wartime experience, in particular the battle of Le Quesnoy and the scaling of the town walls by the soldiers of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade on 4 November 1918"--Inside jacket.This book, has been written by an eclectic group of French and New Zealand writers and researchers, which grew out of a successful conference held in Le Quesnoy in 2008. The First World War ended for the New Zealand Division some kilometers east of the old walled fortress town of Le Quesnoy in Northern France on 11 November 1918. The war had a cataclysmic impact on New Zealand which echoes to this day. It had even a greater impact on France which endured much of its countryside and towns being in turn occupied by the German imperial armies, and then devastated in the battles to force their withdrawal. The human cost was of a similar scale.