Great little story - not too saccharine. Nice escapist read. ( )

4701. Bel Ria Dog of War, by Sheila Burnford (read 25 Apr 2010) I read this because I was so moved by Burnford's great novel, The Incredible Journey--surely the greatest animal book I have ever read. This book is a bit less believable, but it utterly caught me up, especially in the final chapters. It tells of a dog found by an English soldier in France in June 1940, the dramatic success getting the dog to England, the dog''s time on an English destroyer, the dog's near death in an air raid on Plymouth, and the touching albeit unlikely adoption of the dog by an eccentric lady in her late seventies. I found the book extremely moving and it should have five stars except for the fact that it does seem, on reflection, improbable the way the dog remembered all its past. A very enjoyable book. ( )

Bel Ria is an amazing book in many ways. Its depiction of war is vivid. Its portraits of animals are valid. And the human characters are just that: truly human! It even combines a gentle love story with all these elements. ( )