Birdsong (novel) on how the novel, like many other WWI novels, thematically focuses on the way in which the experience of trauma shapes individual psyches. Similarly, because of the parallel narratives WWI and 1970s Britain, the novel explores metahistorical questions about how to document and recover narratives about the past. Because of its genre, themes and writing style, the novel has been favourably compared to a number of other war novels, like Ian McEwan's "Atonement" and those in Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy. "Birdsong" is part of a loose trilogy of novels by Sebastian Faulks, alongside "The Girl at the Lion d'Or" and
Birdsong (novel) Sunday Telegraph", "The Times Literary Supplement", "The Spectator" and "The Scotsman". American and other international press reviews were similarly positive. The novel's popular reception was similarly positive. "Birdsong" came 13th in a 2003 BBC survey called the Big Read, which aimed to find Britain's favourite book. It received an "Also Mentioned" credit in "The Observer" 2005 poll of critics and writers to find the "Best British book of the last 25 years" (1980–2005). "Birdsong" was listed in "The Telegraph" as one of the most consistently high selling books of 1998–2008, continuously in the top 5,000 sales figures. Reviews of the