To Serve Them All My Days
First edition
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| Author | R. F. Delderfield |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical novel |
| Publisher | Hodder & Stoughton |
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Publication date
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1972 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 638 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 1511050 |
| 823/.9/12 | |
| LC Class | PZ3.D37618 Tn PR6007.E36 |
To Serve Them All My Days is a novel by British author R. F. Delderfield.
First published in 1972, the book was adapted for television in 1980. It has been adapted twice by Shaun McKenna, first as a stage play at the Royal Theatre Northampton (Royal & Derngate) in 1992 and again as a 5-part series of 45-minute plays for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in January 2006.
The protagonist is David Powlett-Jones, a coal miner's son from South Wales, who has risen from the ranks and been commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in World War I after serving three years in the front-line trenches. In 1918, after being injured and shell-shocked, he is employed to teach history at Bamfylde School, a fictional public school in North Devon, in the south-west of England. He swiftly earns the respect of many of his colleagues, with the notable exception of Carter, an ambitious science master and Commanding Officer of the school's Officer Training Corps (OTC), whose military bearing compensates for the embarrassing fact that he was released from military service, for medical reasons, one week prior to being sent to the Western Front. Carter makes no secret of his outrage at the content of David's history lessons, which include recollections of life at the front—David has rejected wartime propaganda and grown to respect German soldiers—and honest analyses, verging on socialism, of the war's political background and potential consequences. Following the Armistice, the two men disagree on whether or not the school should erect a war memorial; David loses the argument but wins the respect of Brigadier Cooper, one of the governors.
Under the tutelage of Headmaster Algy Herries, who views him as a possible successor, David discovers a vocation in teaching. He also forms a close friendship with the curmudgeonly English master, Ian Howarth, and with several students of unique personality and talents, including Chad Boyer, who will himself become a teacher at Bamfylde. He also acquires two nicknames, "P.J." and "Pow-Wow", the latter owing to his propensity for discussion and debate.
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