The World And All It Holds

Service95 Recommends is the home of the books we love and reviews from our contributors. The World And All It Holds by Aleksander Hemon is an epic story showing the horrors of war and tracing the relationship between two soldiers.

What We Say: “As the Archduke Franz Ferdinand arrives in Sarajevo one June day in 1914, Rafael Pinto is busy crushing herbs and grinding tablets behind the counter at the pharmacy he inherited from his father. And then the world explodes. In the trenches in Galicia, heroism gets a man killed quickly. War devours all that they have known, and the only thing Pinto has to live for are the attentions of Osman, a fellow soldier, a man of action to complement Pinto's introspective, poetic soul; a charismatic storyteller and Pinto's protector and lover. Taking the reader from Sarajevo to Shanghai and Jerusalem, Hemon's expansive, deeply felt and stunningly crafted novel explores love, loyalty and sacrifice in the First World War.” - Maria Padget

What They Say: "A tour de force. Hemon has given us a story of love and war like no other" — Kamila Shamsie

Available on Bookshop.org, Waterstones and Barnes & Noble

Maria Padget is Service95 Book Club Director

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