The book that inspired Steven Spielbergs Hollywood blockbuster movie and an internationally acclaimed stage show . . . it can only be Michael Morpurgos War Horse. In the deadly chaos of the First World War, one horse witnesses the reality of battle from both sides of the trenches. Bombarded by artillery, with bullets knocking riders from his back, Joey tells a powerful story of the truest friendships surviving in terrible times. The bedlam of battle had begun. All around me men cried and fell to the ground, and horses reared and screamed in an agony of fear and pain. The shells whined and roared overhead, and every explosion seemed like an earthquake to us. One horse has the seen the best and the worst of humanity. The power of war and the beauty of peace. This is his story. Former Childrens Laureate and award-winning author, Michael Morpurgo, has written nearly 100 books for children, many of them war stories. But none have become as famous as War Horse. Inspiring a long-running stage show and a box office film directed by Steven Spielberg, War Horse has become an international sensation. Read the book that started it all; the stunning wartime classic.About the AuthorMulti-award winning author, Michael Morpurgo, is one of Britain's best-loved writers for children and has won many prizes, including the Smarties Prize, The Writers Guild Award and the Blue Peter Book Award for his recent novel, Private Peaceful, which has also had two successful runs as a play devised by Bristol Old Vic. From 2003 to 2005 he was the Children's Laureate, a role which took him all over the UK to promote literacy and reading, and in 2005 he was named the Booksellers Association Author of the Year.Date Published 4th September 2006