The Silver Sword

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Classic children's story shown over thirteen episodes concerning the Hensman brothers, Robin, John and Harold, who spend eight months living as outlaws in the forest of Brendon Chase. Joseph remains for two weeks with the old couple, who treat him as a son. He eats well and feels at peace for the first time in a long while. He is often tempted to go outside, but knows he cannot expose himself. Ian Serraillier (September 24, 1912 - November 28, 1994), was a British novelist and poet. Serraillier was best known for his children's books, especially the Silver Sword (Novel) (1956), a wartime adventure story which was adapted for television by the BBC in 1957 and again in 1971.

a village where abandoned and orphaned children could forget the misery of war, where their minds and bodies could be healed, and they could learn to live in peace. Here at last they would find a real home, with no fear of being driven out among strangers again. They would be educated in “mind, hand, and heart”. When they grew up, they would be able to meet the future with goodwill and courage (Serraillier p.173). Throughout the novel, Serraillier juxtaposes the hatred and destructive nature of Nazism and the people who supported it against the kind and helpful people who rejected it, people who were willing to take a chance, even risking of arrest and death, to help the childrenThe characters of the children had been taken from Red Cross records. However, they did not come from the same family, and unfortunately all of them did not get a happy ending in real life. If you meet Ruth or Edek or Bronia, you must tell them I'm going to Switzerland to find their mother. Tell them to follow as soon as they can Having lost their parents in the chaos of war, Ruth, Edek and Bronia are left alone to fend for themselves and hide from the Nazis amid the rubble and ruins of their city. They meet a ragged orphan boy, Jan, who treasures a paperknife - a silver sword - which was entrusted to him by an escaped prisoner of war. The three children realise that the escapee was their father, the silver sword a message that he is alive and searching for them. Together with Jan they begin a dangerous journey across the battlefields of Europe to find their parents. About This Edition ISBN: Jan then helped Joseph find a goods train going towards Germany, on which Joseph made his escape from Poland to Switzerland. Shortly after Joseph was taken to the prison camp, German soldiers had broken into the family house and taken his wife away, after the Germans had called for 1 million foreign workers to be taken to their country for the war effort. Edek had fired shots at the van in a bid to stop them from getting away. Ruth had admonished Edek for his foolishness and decided that they had to escape to avoid being captured or killed, so the children climbed along the rooftops of the adjacent houses and watched from a distance as their house was blown up by the Nazis. I read this book under its English title, 'The Silver Sword', but couldn't find this on Goodreads so had to review under the US title.

The BBC produced an eight-part children's television series in 1957, at the Lime Grove Studios in London, [4] and a further BBC television version was produced in the early 1970s. [5] Both of these serials are thought to survive in some capacity (the final episode of the 1957 serial is definitely known to exist). In 2011, a year before the centenary of the author's birth, a radio adaptation was produced for BBC Radio 4 Extra. [4] Legacy [ edit ]

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The Serrailliers were ahead of their time in their attitude towards children’s literature, and their understanding of what children should and could be exposed to in terms of difficult, nuanced topics. Simultaneously, however, their belief in the importance of reading material that would give children the opportunity to learn values important in their adult life, corresponds with earlier, more didactic approaches to children’s literature. As such, the work of the Serrailliers can be viewed as a fascinating example of publishing for young adults situated at the crossroads of two eras: the earlier, more protectionist view of children’s literature as sharply delineated from adult output, and the beginnings of a new understanding of the opportunities and demands proposed by what Serraillier refers to as “new adult” readers. The Silver Sword was adapted for television by C.E. (Cecil Edwin) Webber, best remembered for his contribution to the creation of Doctor Who while working as a staff writer for the BBC in the early 1960s. And Barry Letts, future ‘Who’ producer played the father, Joseph. The series was deemed “family entertainment” and was broadcast late afternoon on Sundays. As such it was billed as an "exciting wartime adventure" in the Radio Times and didn’t dwell too much on the horrors of warfare. And that’s exactly how it was presented – an epic journey across Europe. Unfortunately, the BBC budget didn’t stretch far enough for location filming and the entire production was studio bound (at Lime Grove) and turned to narration as a way of explaining some of the journey as well as some of the more dramatic incidents, such as the capsizing of a boat and the near drowning of the children as they try to cross Lake Constance. Escape from Warsaw by Ian Serraillier, originally titled The Silver Sword, is the adventure story of a family which was separated during the war. Their father protests Nazi Germany’s tyranny and is taken to a prison camp which he later escapes from. Their mother is taken away to work for the Nazis. This leaves Ruth, Edek, and little Bronia alone, trying to survive in a hostile land. I LOVE THIS BOOK! Great for children as it is full of adventure and excitement as the brave Adek, Ruth and Bronya search for their mother and father without second thoughts and of Joseph, their father who constantly searches for his children during WW2. Full of fact and fiction, I recommend this book to all!!!👍 I am sad to say that The Silver Sword wasn’t a magical experience the second time around. The story is simplistic, the characters are one-dimensional and the happy-ending is unrealistic. That said, it in no way diminishes my memories of what I loved about the book 30-odd years ago. Then the trials of these children: their hunt for safe places to sleep, finding food, trying to stay out of the way of the Nazis, searching for their parents, was both thrilling and heart-wrenching. I can only attribute my disappointment to the fact that I am older and jaded.