Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood: A World War I Tale (Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales Series #4)

by Nathan Hale

Overview

Learn about the most well-known battles (and little-known secrets) of World War I with author-illustrator Nathan Hale’s Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood, a Hazardous Tale from the New York Times bestselling graphic novel series.

“These books are, quite simply, brilliant. . . . Thrilling, bloody, action-packed stories from American history.” —New York Times

In 1914, the world’s biggest countries (and some of its smallest, too) were gearing up for a massive fight. Land, history, geography—each country went to war for different reasons and with different resources. But most ended up the same: sending their young men to fight for their lives in the mud, on the sea, and in the air, in a conflict that would eventually claim more than nine million lives.

World War I, “The Great War,” or “The War to End All Wars,” was fought along thousands of miles of frontline trenches, with mechanized weapons, and dangerous new weapons like machine guns and mustard gas. It left behind a world that was scarred, angry, and traumatized. Its horrifying lessons are still being examined today.

Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales! Read them all—if you dare!
One Dead Spy: A Revolutionary War Tale (#1)
Big Bad Ironclad!: A Civil War Tale (#2)
Donner Dinner Party: A Pioneer Tale (#3)
Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood: A World War I Tale (#4)
The Underground Abductor: An Abolitionist Tale about Harriet Tubman (#5)
Alamo All-Stars: A Texas Tale (#6)
Raid of No Return: A World War II Tale of the Doolittle Raid (#7)
Lafayette!: A Revolutionary War Tale (#8)
Major Impossible: A Grand Canyon Tale (#9)
Blades of Freedom: A Tale of Haiti, Napoleon, and the Louisiana Purchase (#10)
Cold War Correspondent: A Korean War Tale (#11)
Above the Trenches: A WWI Flying Ace Tale (#12)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419708084
Publisher:	Abrams Fanfare
Publication date:	05/13/2014
Series:	Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales Series , #4
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	27,574
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	GN410L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Nathan Hale is the #1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series. He also wrote and illustrated the graphic novels One Trick Pony and Apocalypse Taco. Hale lives in Utah, and you can find him online.

Editorial Reviews

"Students bored to death by textbook descriptions of WWI battle maneuvers should be engaged by this entertaining, educational glimpse at world history."

Booklist

06/01/2014
Gr 3–7—In the newest addition to this inventive series, Revolutionary War figure Nathan Hale tells the story of World War I with the support of two sidekicks who help shine light on some of the nuances of the historical event. The narrative explores why the war began, each country's role, battle tactics and technology implemented, and the lasting impact of the conflagration. Each country is represented by an animal, bringing to mind Art Spiegelman's iconic Maus (Pantheon, 1986). The facts are well researched and include statistics, as well as direct quotes from historical figures. The drawings are detailed and engaging, and the sparse use of color matches the tone of the tale. Not for the faint of heart, the book doesn't mince the gruesome, tragic reality of the Great War. The format lends itself as an effective presentation through the lens of Hale's sidekicks: a serious soldier who serves to clarify details, and an irreverent executioner who provides some much-needed comic relief. A mixture of textbook and slapstick, this essential read makes history come alive in a way that is relevant to modern-day life and kids.—Jenna Lanterman, formerly at The Calhoun School and Mary McDowell Friends School, New York City

School Library Journal

2014-04-16
In the latest of his Hazardous Tales (One Dead Spy, 2012, etc.), Hale recaps World War I with an all-animal cast.Any similarities to Art Spiegelman's Maus are doubtless coincidental. Per established series formula, a frame tale finds the author's more-renowned namesake holding off the hangman, Scheherazade-like, with tales from our country's future history. In this volume, he covers the war's prelude, precipitation, major campaigns and final winding down in small but reasonably easy-to-follow two-color panels. At the hangman's request, narrator Hale both tucks in a few jokes and transforms the opposing armies into animal-headed soldiers—from Gallic roosters and British bulldogs to, as "eagle" was already taken by the Germans, American bunnies. Despite lightening the load in this manner and shying away from explicit brutality, Hale cogently conveys the mind-numbing scale of it all as well as the horrors of trench warfare. He presents with equal ease the strategic and tactical pictures, technological innovations from poison gas to tanks, and related developments such as the Russian Revolution. After the cease fire, which he attributes more to exhaustion than battlefield victory, he closes with a summary of the war's human toll and geopolitical changes.A neatly coherent account with tweaks that allow readers some emotional distance—but not enough to shrug off the war's devastating cost and world-changing effects. (bibliography) (Graphic nonfiction. 11-13)

Kirkus Reviews