An ice-cream war - William Boyd

Penguin Decades bring you the novels that helped shape modern Britain. When they were published, some were bestsellers, some were considered scandalous, and others were simply misunderstood. All represent their time and helped define their generation, while today each is considered a landmark work of storytelling.

William Boyd's An Ice-Cream War was published in 1982, an auspicious debut by a young writer who would go on to be recognized as 'the finest storyteller of his generation' (Sebastain Faulks). It follows the fortunes of several wildly different characters - including an expat farmer and a young English aristocrat - as they are swept up in the fighting in German East Africa during the First World War, their lives converging amid battle, betrayal, love, comedy and tragedy.