From Both Sides Now: Memories of an Austro-Hungarian Fighter and POW in World War I Italy Paperback – 30 Dec. 2021

This is a remarkable record kept by a teenage soldier from Galicia (modern Ukraine) enlisted in the Austrian Army on the Isonzo River 1917-19. Painstakingly transcribed and translated from shorthand notes, in part in pencil, and fortunate they survived at all, the diaries reveal the strong character, presence of mind, eye for detail and generosity of Severin 'Nino' Breier, living and fighting in the severe conditions on this forgotten front where half a million soldiers were killed and then surviving captivity in Italy until after the end of the war. A short review cannot do justice to this profoundly moving record kept during violent and unpredictable conflict in the harsh conditions all year round of the 'karst' hills and valleys around the Isonzo. His daughter Ingrid has performed a true labour of love editing and publishing this astonishing and illuminating record, with maps and photos and background details. A very human personal account from a brutal war.

This book is very interesting as it covers a subject about which very little is written. However, the information is scattered in the story in a haphazard fashion which makes it rather difficult to follow. It is worth the effort.!

Ingrid Cranfield has put together translations of her father’s diaries and supplemented them with relevant historical and biographical information. The result makes a very readable document about a fine young man with great sensitivity. As a rather reluctant soldier, he did his utmost to make the best of his circumstances. He was a soldier in the Austro-Hungarian army in World War I and eventually captured by the Italians. His descriptions of life in the trenches and as a prisoner of war are powerfully realistic. His objective writing style interspersed with his quiet humour, make for a moving reading of a important historical period.