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A NOVEL OF WAR, WINGS, AND THE BONDS THAT SURVIVE 1913, MANCHESTER. Arthur Howarth's world is measured in mill shifts and shillings-until he climbs into the backyard loft he built himself. Here, among his racing pigeons, he masters a quiet science of wind, seed, and instinct. Here, he is a king. 1916, THE SOMME. That science is now a weapon. Transferred to the Army Pigeon Service, Arthur finds himself in a mobile loft at the edge of hell. His new comrades are not soldiers, but birds: veterans with wary eyes, skittish youths, and Shadow-a captured German hen with a preternatural will to survive. As telephone lines are shredded and runners vanish into the mud, these fragile, feathered couriers become the last thread linking desperate men to salvation. From the earth-shattering bombardments of Verdun to the drowning mud of Passchendaele, Arthur and his birds navigate a sky turned hostile. He learns that courage is not always a charge, but a return flight through a storm of steel. That the deepest bonds are wordless, forged in trust and grain. And that a single bird, carrying a scribbled plea, can hold the line between a company and oblivion. But when the guns fall silent, a new battle begins. Returning to a home scarred by loss, Arthur must discover if a man trained for a war of messages can learn the language of peace-and if the gentle hands that once held life against the darkness can ever truly come home. The Winged Couriers of Verdun is a stunningly original and profoundly moving story of the unlikeliest heroes of the Great War. It is a tribute to the silent loyalty of animals, the quiet resilience of the human spirit, and the invisible threads of hope that, even in the darkest hours, refuse to be severed. Read less

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9781918219562

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