Book excerpt: ' Yours Ever, Charlie' is the fascinating account of Charles Crowther, one of many British men who volunteered to fight for king and country in the First World War. When Charles volunteered he was almost forty-three and devoted to his family; this book demonstrates how his and an entire generation's sense of duty to the nation overpowered their fears of fighting abroad and, for many, the possibility of never coming home. Charles' granddaughter explores his journey from the idyllic village of Wilden, Worcestershire, to the battlefields of France and then Gallipoli, where he was fatally wounded. Using the fluent, vivid and moving letters sent home to his family, together with the few replies that ever reached him, this book reflects upon Charles' ideals, the people who inspired him, and those whom he loved and was fighting to protect. Illustrated by rare photographs and original letters, and with a Foreword by Al Murray which provides an overview of the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign, this book is a poignant reminder of how beneath the staggering statistics of the First World War lie innumerable personal and tragic stories.