{"product_id":"an-ice-cream-war-9780375705021","title":"An Ice-Cream War","description":"\"Rich in character and incident, \u003cb\u003eAn Ice-Cream War\u003c\/b\u003e fulfills the ambition of the historical novel at its best.\" \u003cbr\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBooker Prize Finalist \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Boyd has more than fulfilled the bright promise of  his] first novel. . . . He is capable not only of some very funny satire but also of seriousness and compassion.\" --Michiko Kakutani, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e1914. In a hotel room in German East Africa, American farmer Walter Smith dreams of Theodore Roosevelt. As he sleeps, a railway passenger swats at flies, regretting her decision to return to the Dark Continent--and to her husband. On a faraway English riverbank, a jealous Felix Cobb watches his brother swim, and curses his sister-in-law-to-be. And in the background of the\u003cbr\u003e world's daily chatter: rumors of an Anglo-German conflict, the likes of which no one has ever seen. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003cb\u003eAn Ice-Cream War\u003c\/b\u003e, William Boyd brilliantly evokes the private dramas of a generation upswept by the winds of war. After his German neighbor burns his crops--with an apology and a smile--Walter Smith takes up arms on behalf of Great Britain. And when Felix's brother marches off to defend British East Africa, he pursues, against his better judgment, a forbidden love affair. As the sons of the world match wits and weapons on a continent thousands of miles from home, desperation makes bedfellows of enemies and traitors of friends and family. By turns comic and quietly wise, \u003cb\u003eAn Ice-Cream War\u003c\/b\u003e deftly renders lives capsized by violence, chance, and the irrepressible human capacity for love. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Funny, assured, and cleanly, expansively told, a seriocomic romp. Boyd gives us studies of people caught in the side pockets of calamity and dramatizes their plights with humor, detail and grit.\" --\u003ci\u003eHarper's \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Boyd has crafted a quiet, seamless prose in which story and characters flow effortlessly out of a fertile imagination. . . . The reader emerges deeply moved.\" --Newsday\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Vintage\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/05\/1999\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780375705021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 416\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.76lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.98h x 5.32w x 0.91d","brand":"William Boyd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42924846842037,"sku":"9780375705021","price":16.15,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_88008953-57b2-4017-9c70-8b931c4d68cd.jpg?v=1687839660","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/an-ice-cream-war-9780375705021","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}