I enjoyed this book. It was funny, meaningful and it tells you loads of things about the First World War and what happened. I did not know much about WW1 before I read it but now I've learned lots of stuff about fighting, guns, war, bombs and people during that time.

Even though it is a serious subject, the author makes it funny with lots of jokes and comic illustrations.

The thing that surprised me most was how frightened people were during the war. Some people even panicked when they saw a balloon, thinking it might be a mini Zeppelin airship! It's so hard to imagine living like that here and it makes you realize how lucky we actually are not to have big wars going on in our country.

From battles in the trenches, to living on the turnip diet (where the only tasty and nutritious thing to eat is turnip), to Prime Ministers, to medicine on the battlefield – this book is stuffed with information both serious and silly. Did you know that German soldiers had red fleas and British soldiers had pale brown ones? German soldiers would go to the toilet together to relax and chill and chat!

You might be shocked to know that the biggest change for Britain because of the war was that in 1918 women could finally vote in general elections, for the first time!

The saddest thing for me was that so many people died – millions – and that it went on for so long.

I would recommend this book because it is really funny – frightfully funny! It's also gory and has lots of foul facts in it! It is engrossing and humorous and makes you want to read more and more to find out all the strange and weird stuff that you expect from the Horrible Histories series.

• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop

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