First World War Books

Book SynopsisTraces the course of this hugely costly 1915 battle, using thhe words of survivors.

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Book SynopsisWhen Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin's rigid airship LZ 1 flew over Lake Constance in 1900, it was the most advanced and impressive flying machine in the world: a colossal, lighter-than-air craft capable of controlled flight. In World War I, Zeppelins were first used in a reconnaissance role, but on 19 January 1915 Kaiser Wilhelm II authorised their use in bombing strategic targets in England. From then on, Zeppelin' became synonymous with terror to the British, and indeed the airship''s effectiveness was more psychological than material. Still, their raids compelled the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service to embark on a program of modernising their aerial defences, accelerating a process that would ultimately make the aeroplane, rather than the airship, the paramount flying machine of the war. Using specially commissioned artwork, contemporary photographs and first-hand accounts, this book tells the fascinating story of Britain's first Blitz, from the airships who teTable of ContentsIntroduction /Chronology/ Design and Development /Technical Specifications /The Strategic Situation /The Combatants /Combat /Statistics and Analysis /Aftermath /Further Reading /Index

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Book SynopsisThe Titanic. The Britannic. The Olympic. They are some of the most famous ships in history, but for the wrong reasons.The Olympic Class liners were conceived as the largest, grandest ships ever to set sail. Of the three ships built, the first only lost the record for being the largest because she was beaten by the second, and they were both beaten by the third. The class was meant to secure the White Star Line''s reputation as the greatest shipping company on earth. Instead, with the loss of both the Titanic and the Britannic in their first year of service, it guaranteed White Star''s infamy.This unique book tells the extraordinary story of these three extraordinary ships from the bottom up, starting with their conception and construction (and later their modification) and following their very different careers. Behind the technical details of these magnificent ships lies a tragic human story not just of the lives lost aboarTrade ReviewBOOK OF THE MONTH: This very well-produced book contains so much information about the Olympic class ships, and is a must for all ocean liner enthusiasts. * Ships Monthly *A very well researched book and I would very highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in this area. * Shipping Today and Yesterday *

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS' ASSOCIATION CROWN AWARDS 2022 ‘Compelling and often horrifying’ THE TIMES Best Paperbacks of 2022 The epic, moving stories of Britain's search to recover, identify and honour the missing soldiers of the First World War By the end of the First World War, the whereabouts of more than half a million British soldiers were unknown. Most were presumed dead, lost forever under the battlefields of northern France and Flanders. In The Searchers, Robert Sackville-West brings together the extraordinary, moving accounts of those who dedicated their lives to the search for the missing. These stories reveal the remarkable lengths to which people will go to give meaning to their loss: Rudyard Kipling's quest for his son's grave; E.M. Forster’s conversations with traumatised soldiers in hospital in Alexandria; desperate attempts to communicate with the spirits of the dead; the campaign to establish the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior; and the exhumation and reburial in military cemeteries of hundreds of thousands of bodies. It was a search that would span a century: from the department set up to investigate the fate of missing comrades in the war’s aftermath to the present day, when DNA profiling continues to aid efforts to recover, identify and honour these men. As the rest of the country found ways to repair and move on, countless families were consumed by this mission, undertaking arduous, often hopeless, journeys to discover what happened to their husbands, brothers and sons. Giving prominence to the personal battles of those left behind, The Searchers brings the legacy of war vividly to life in a testament to the bravery, compassion and resilience of the human spirit.Trade ReviewThis carefully researched and beautifully written book reveals the determination of the families of those who have lost loved ones killed in war to find out what happened to them and where their bodies lie. Each year at the Cenotaph, a memorial whose origins are described here in fascinating detail, we see the public manifestation of a private grief that never fades. There may be a commemorative tomb in Westminster Abbey but there is in truth, as Sackville-West explains, no such thing as an Unknown Warrior -- David DimblebyA deeply sad but fascinating topic ... Beautifully written -- Michael Portillo * TimesRadio *Remarkable -- John Carey * Sunday Times *Robert Sackville-West writes tenderly about death and remembrance … [He] handles this grim subject with grace. The excruciatingly personal stories he tells convey perfectly that desperate need for closure that so many grieving relatives felt … His gentle book is fascinating, but never sensational or gratuitously maudlin -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *Carefully researched and utterly riveting * Sunday Telegraph *A fascinating, moving account … A hidden piece of First World War history is revealed in this sensitive and engrossing study * i paper *Deeply moving ... [Sackville-West documents] all these grim stories with compassion * Daily Mail *A scholarly and moving account of those who searched, privately and officially – and still search – for the missing … Reflects on the meaning of the war’s sacrifice and how to commemorate it * Country Life *

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Book Synopsis‘The million British dead have left no books behind. What they felt as they died hour by hour in the mud, or were choked horribly with gas, or relinquished their reluctant lives on stretchers, no witness tells. But here is a book that almost tells it……Mr Gristwood has had the relentless simplicity to recall things as they were; he was as nearly dead as he could be without dying, and he has smelt the stench of his own corruption. This is the story of millions of men – of millions.’ – H. G. Wells, from the prefaceIn The Somme and its companion The Coward, first published in 1927, the heroics of war and noble self-sacrifice are completely absent; replaced by the gritty realism of life in WWI for the ordinary soldier, and the unflinching portrayal of the horrors of war. Written under the guidance of the master storyteller H. G. Wells, they are classics of the genre.The Somme revolves around a futile attack in 1916 during the Somme campaign. Everitt, the central protagonist is wounded and moved back through a series of dressing stations to the General Hospital at Rouen. Both in and out of the line he behaves selfishly and unheroically, but despite this his circumstances and the conditions around him make his actions easy to understand. Based on A D Gristwood’s own wartime experiences, critics have said that few other accounts of the war give such an accurate picture of trench life.The Coward concerns a man who shoots himself in the hand to escape the war, during the March 1918 retreat – an offence punishable by death. He gets away with it, but is haunted by fear of discovery and self-loathing.Trade ReviewTogether, these works offer a vivid, immersive view of the First World War and the suffering it inflicted on the men who fought it. * Books Monthly *

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Book SynopsisThe letters, many previously unpublished, of Volume 2 (1923–1925) follow Hemingway's literary apprenticeship in expatriate Paris and the experiences that forged his earliest works, including the landmark novel The Sun Also Rises (1926). It features a never-before-published short story that was rejected by Vanity Fair.Trade Review'Hemingway did not want his letters published, but this carefully researched scholarly edition does them justice … devotees will find this and future volumes indispensable.' William Gargan, Library Journal'With more than 6,000 letters accounted for so far, the project to publish Ernest Hemingway's correspondence may yet reveal the fullest picture of the twentieth-century icon that we've ever had. The second volume includes merely 242 letters, a majority published for the first time … readers can watch Hemingway invent the foundation of his legacy in bullrings, bars, and his writing solitude.' Steve Paul, Booklist'The letters to Pound - Hemingway's most important mentor in this period - are highlights of this volume. Bawdy, humorous, linguistically playful.' Literary Review'Roughly written as they are these letters show occasional flashes of true Hemingway … It is fascinating to watch the private rehearsal of what would become public performances.' The Daily Telegraph'Warmly unpretentious and frequently playful.' The Spectator'Most enjoyable …' The Tablet'This second volume of The Letters of Ernest Hemingway documents the years in which he became himself … His style is at once close to and yet unutterably distant from that of his fiction.' The New York Times'The volume's 242 letters, about two-thirds previously unpublished, provide as complete an account of Hemingway's life during the Paris years as one could ask for.' Star Tribune'For those with a passion for American literary history and an interest in the machinery of fame, these letters, ably and helpfully annotated by a team of scholars led by Sandra Spanier of Penn State University, provide an abundance of raw material and a few hours' worth of scintillating reading.' The Kansas City Star'Amusing, moving and perceptive … this essential volume, beautifully presented and annotated with tremendous care and extraordinary attention to detail, offers readers a Hemingway who is both familiar and new.' Times Literary Supplement'The volume itself is beautifully designed and skillfully edited … As a book, it is perfect.' Los Angeles Review of Books'Two thirds of these have never seen the light of day before. A great continuing literary project.' Buffalo News'The register in which Hemingway writes varies greatly, ranging from telegraphic … excited communications with intimates to formal, correct letters to those with whom he has mainly business - literary or financial - relations. All the magnificent apparatus of the first volume …Summing up: essential.' Choice'… this volume will most likely never be superseded. It is crucial contribution to literary history.' Mark Ott, American Literary HistoryTable of ContentsGeneral editor's preface Sandra Spanier; Acknowledgments; Note on the text; Abbreviations and short titles; Introduction to the volume J. Gerald Kennedy; Chronology; Maps; The letters, 1923–1925; Roster of correspondents; Calendar of letters; Index of recipients; General index.

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Book SynopsisA long overdue reassessment of the part Churchill played in WWII, and how his actions really affected those he led

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Book SynopsisA revelatory look at how the British royal family became divided by two world wars

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Agnes Warner joins the roster of only a handful of books that recount the firsthand experiences of Canadian nursing sisters in the First World War and is a worthy addition to that literature." -- John Boileau * Chronicle Herald *

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Book SynopsisA powerful book of portraits offering an extraordinary, evocative snapshot of New Zealanders facing the First World War.Table of ContentsIntroduction 80 plates, with facing text telling the story of the soldiers and their families Appendix of notes for readers on how to help identify the 'mystery' portraits Acknowledgements Bibliography Image credits Index

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Book SynopsisFor the first time, Richard S. Grayson tells the story of the Dubliners who served in the British military and in republican forces during the First World War and the Irish Revolution as a series of interconnected ''Great Wars''. He charts the full scope of Dubliners'' military service, far beyond the well-known Dublin ''Pals'', with as many as 35,000 serving and over 6,500 dead, from the Irish Sea to the Middle East and beyond. Linking two conflicts usually narrated as separate stories, he shows how Irish nationalist support for Britain going to war in 1914 can only be understood in the context of the political fight for Home Rule and why so many Dubliners were hostile to the Easter Rising. He examines Dublin loyalism and how the War of Independence and the Civil War would be shaped by the militarisation of Irish society and the earlier experiences of veterans of the British army.Trade Review'Dublin's Great Wars exploits a wealth of sources to reconstruct the street-level impact of a decade of war and revolution which ultimately culminated in Irish independence. Ranging from Gallipoli to the General Post Office, Grayson skilfully illuminates the diversity of experiences and loyalties that characterised revolutionary Dublin's entangled military histories.' Fearghal McGarry, author of The Rising. Ireland: Easter 1916'Richard S. Grayson's masterly study shows that Dubliners' opposition to rule by the British ran deep – but so did support for the Crown. This is a penetrating and ambitious book that successfully reconnects the Irish Revolution with the First World War.' Gary Sheffield, author of A Short History of the First World War'This lively and detailed account of the military history of Dublin men and their families from 1912 to 1923 presents a convincing case for viewing the Great War and the military episodes in the Irish struggle for independence as a series of inter-connected 'Great Wars'.' Mary E. Daly, author of Sixties Ireland: Reshaping the Economy, State and Society, 1957–1973'This is an important and timely book, given its publication during the centenary of the Irish Revolution. Meticulously researched, in archives in Britain and Ireland, it neatly contextualises Dublin's experience of revolution within the experience of the greater World War of 1914–18,' Timothy Bowman, co-author of The British Army and the First World War'A powerful, multivocal account of a decade of violence in Ireland beginning in 1914…. This is a book of sensitive scholarship, one based on a deep knowledge of both the military history and the social history of the men who waged it … it is the best history we have of Dubliners at war, and, like James Joyce's 'The Dead', published in 1914, it treats them with the sympathy and compassion they deserve.' Jay Winter, H-Net'Written in a clear and lively style and resting upon very substantial research … an excellent and illuminating account of how conflict shaped Ireland's capital city during the Irish revolution and is bound to command the wide audience it deserves.' John Gibney, History Ireland'A very significant addition to our knowledge and understanding of the Irish revolution and should be read by everyone wishing to understand it more fully.' Padraig Yeates, Dublin Review of Books'His Easter Week chapters entwine the Royal Dublin Fusiliers' fighting at Hulluch in Belgium with the simultaneous uprising in Dublin.… Grayson's eye for detail lends these passages a cinematic flair, capturing the prayers of both Irish troops abroad and rebels back home as they prepared to go into their respective battles.' Matthew Kovac, LSE Review of Books'Dublin's Great Wars is a fascinating study of the history of Dubliners' wartime experiences during the First World War and the Irish Revolution … This book will appeal to those interested in the history of war and revolution in Ireland, the history of Irish involvement in the First World War and the history of Dublin.' David Durnin, CerclesTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Prelude: Dublin and conflict, 1899–1914; 2. Dublin goes to war; 3. Outbreak, 1914; 4. Stalemate, 1915; 5. Gallipoli: Helles; 6. Gallipoli: Suvla Bay; 7. Preparations; 8. Rising; 9. Falling; 10. Consequences; 11. The Other 1916; 12. Success on the Somme; 13. Snow and sand; 14. Attrition: 1916–17; 15. Learning; 16. Victory from the jaws of defeat; 17. War of Independence; 18. Crossovers; 19. Civil war; 20. Peace; 21. Commemoration; Conclusion: three men.

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Book SynopsisAlthough not a major player during the course of the First World War, Southeast Asia was in fact altered by the war in multiple and profound ways. Ranging across British Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, and French Indochina, Heather Streets-Salter reveals how the war shaped the region''s political, economic, and social development both during 191418 and in the war''s aftermath. She shows how the region''s strategic location between North America and India made it a convenient way-station for expatriate Indian revolutionaries who hoped to smuggle arms and people into India and thus to overthrow British rule, whilst German consuls and agents entered into partnerships with both Indian and Vietnamese revolutionaries to undermine Allied authority and coordinate anti-British and anti-French operations. World War One in Southeast Asia offers an entirely new perspective on anti-colonialism and the Great War, and radically extends our understanding of the conflict as a truly global phenomenon.Trade Review'Anyone who is interested in the global history of the war and empire should read it, especially since we are now commemorating the war's centenary legacy.' Xu Guoqi, H-Diplo'… an important addition to preexisting scholarship. Besides contributing to a growing body of works examining the global dimension of the Great War, it also contributes to an emerging body of scholarship that explores the interconnectivity of Southeast Asia. … a must-read for historians of both World War I and Southeast Asia.' Kelvin Yudianto, Global Histories: A Student Journal'… this book is essential reading for historians interested in Southeast Asia, European imperialism and colonialism, and world history. It advances our understanding of the ways the First World War impacted Southeast Asia and beyond. It also captures a global story that traces the struggles between Allied and Central powers as each intersected with British, Dutch, and French colonialism and anticolonialism in Southeast Asia. For world historians, this book should be required reading for methodological purposes. It considers the significance of scale and the intersections of local, regional, and world history. Equally important, it makes a strong case for situating archival evidence and research at the center of world history in order to enrich the stories we tell and our conceptualization of global transformation and connection.' Michele L. Louro, World History ConnectedTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. The Singapore Mutiny of 1915: global origins in a global war; 2. The defeat of the Singapore Mutiny: regional expression of global alliances; 3. Germans, Indians, and the war in the Dutch East Indies; 4. The SS Maverick and the unraveling of a global conspiracy; 5. Siam and the anti-Allied conspiracies; 6. China, Germany, and the Viet Nam Restoration Association.

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Book SynopsisThis is an important new study examining the military operations of the British Expeditionary Force in 191418 through the lens of its communications system. Brian Hall charts how new communications technology such as wireless, telephone and telegraph were used alongside visual signalling, carrier pigeons and runners as the British army struggled to develop a communication system adequate enough to wage modern warfare. He reveals how tenuous communications added to the difficulties of command and control during the war''s early years, and examines their role during the major battles of the Somme, Arras, Ypres and Cambrai. It was only in 1918 that the British army would finally develop a flexible and sophisticated communications system capable of effectively coordinating infantry, artillery, tanks and aeroplanes. This is a major contribution to our understanding of British military operations during the First World War, the learning processes of armies and the revolution in military affairs.Table of Contents1. Organisation; 2. Personnel, recruitment and training; 3. Means of communication; 4. 1914–15; 5. 1916; 6. 1917; 7. 1918; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisBased on ten years of research, Santanu Das''s India, Empire, and First World War Culture: Writings, Images, and Songs recovers the sensuous experience of combatants, non-combatants and civilians from undivided India in the 19141918 conflict and their socio-cultural, visual, and literary worlds. Around 1.5 million Indians were recruited, of whom over a million served abroad. Das draws on a variety of fresh, unusual sources - objects, images, rumours, streetpamphlets, letters, diaries, sound-recordings, folksongs, testimonies, poetry, essays, and fiction - to produce the first cultural and literary history, moving from recruitment tactics in villages through sepoy traces and feelings in battlefields, hospitals, and POW camps to post-war reflections on Europe and empire. Combining archival excavation in different countries across several continents with investigative readings of Gandhi, Kipling, Iqbal, Naidu, Nazrul, Tagore, and Anand, this imaginative study opens up the worlds of sepoysTrade Review'India, Empire and First World War Culture is an astonishing achievement, an amazing feat of scholarship that unearths an extraordinary range of sources and fragments. Through close and sensitive readings of poems, songs, paintings, photographs and a diverse range of objects, Santanu Das succeeds in unmuting a vast host of voices that have for far too long been silenced or forgotten. Rarely have the skills of the literary critic and historian been as imaginatively fused as in India, Empire and First World War Culture.' Amitav Ghosh, author of The Great Derangement'In Santanu Das's brilliant book, we can feel the real bodies of the men from India mobilised during the Great War through the traces of touch and intimacy they left behind. His beautiful and moving study brings to us what he terms echoes of the Sepoy's heart. To do so, he uses an astonishing array of sources, moving with grace from the textual and the testimonial to the visual, the tactile, and the oral. Here is a book that not only adds substantially to what we know about the 1914–18 conflict, but brings out as well with affection and wit the sheer humanity of these soldiers and the world they left behind.' Jay Winter, Charles J. Stille Professor of History (Emeritus), Yale University, Connecticut'Das brilliantly combines two approaches - 'a redefinition of the archive' and close, attentive reading … Das proves that detective work pays off but it is how he reads these treasures that is compelling. Thrillingly, this close reading elevates some of Das's protagonists to a form of equality with the traditional First World War canon, to a kind of parity with Owen and Sassoon.' Yasmin Khan, The Times Literary Supplement'In the deluge of books, articles, exhibits, films, and commemorative events during and around the years of the centenary of the Great War, Das's book stands out as one of the most important, exhaustively researched, and exquisitely rendered interventions. It will instantly become, and will remain, a classic in the field of First World War studies. But more, it is an important contribution to the history of modern South Asia, and an inspiring example of how historians may attempt to recover, present, and understand the histories of colonized peoples even in the absence of plentiful sources of the kinds historians usually use to do their work' Richard Fogarty, American Historical Review'Monumental … Those interested in First World War history and literature will find in Das's narrative a beauty and sensitivity, drawing as it does on stories of compassion in the midst of the shelling. Combined with meticulous research and scholarship, it makes this densely printed 417-page book a compelling read.' Shrabani Basu, H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online'Remarkable, compendious … Das's capacity to read into the finest interstices of lost, buried, and misplaced war archives mean that his book is already being recognized - and justly so - as one of the most important interventions in both fields that we have yet seen.' Elleke Boehmer, Modern Philology'[A] rewarding [account] of one of the empire's most remarkable institutions …' Ian Jack, The Guardian'Santanu Das's book is remarkable for lacking regional loci - its cosmopolitanism and liberalism in choosing multi-lingual and regional sources is one of its strongest features. The book's signal contribution has been its success in reminding readers that legacies of wars reside in the social and cultural, and not always in the political or constitutional hallways of history … Das has written a book of immense significance … It will encourage the next generation of scholars to abandon the crutches of disciplinary certainties … [for] the promise of a dazzling array of new scholarship that knits visual, textual and literary sources together to produce stirring accounts of past events.' Vipul Dutta, Biblio: A Review of Books'The book is a benchmark in placing the unexamined colonial histories at par with the far better understood cultural historiography of the Western participants. His examination of the use of war memory and commemoration in the recent past is outstanding for the questions it raises … The work is breathtaking in its scope and depth and is an invaluable addition to Indian writings on the war.' Rana Chhina, India Today'A uniquely moving and extremely original study, the book not only provides the first cultural and literary history of India and the First World War, but also sets a new standard for interdisciplinary scholarship in the fields of literary and cultural studies … Das reveals a more intimate history of experience, thought, and feeling, wherein we can indeed hear, palpably, what he terms the 'echoes of the sepoy's heart.' Nancy Martin, Textual Practice'Magisterial … more than the sheer staggering variety and bewildering richness of the material assembled by Das is the acuity and nuance he brings to his examination of individual objects, which then enables him to make larger arguments about the way in which the First World War operated in and through the bodies, minds, and hearts, of those who took part in it.' Samantak Das, The Telegraph'An immensely powerful book that will be important for years to come.' Douglas Higbee, Modern Fiction Studies'The culmination of more than a decade of research, it is a brilliant work of history and historical recovery, a fresh and provocative study of the wartime experiences of people from undivided India, and the ways those experiences were represented. Andrew T. Jarboe, First World War Studies'Das's magnificent India, Empire, and First World War Culture: Writings, Images, and Songs brings together a decade of pioneering research on the Indian involvement in the war.' Vedica Kant, The Indian Quarterly'Santanu Das shows how rich are the rewards for those who dig and delve, who look for meaning in tiny fragments of evidence … Drawing on a decade of such fieldwork, Das has made a forensic examination of hundreds of pieces of evidence - memoirs, letters, photographs, oral testimony, songs, pamphlets, poems, novels … this is his answer to the gap in our understanding … a lesson both in the close reading of sources and in how literary and historical studies can enrich each other.' Suzanne Bardgett, History TodayTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. The Restless Home Front; 1. The imperial-nationalist self: anti-discrimination, aspiration, and anxiety; 2. Sonorous fields: recruitment, resistance, and recitative in the Punjab; Part II. Race and Representation: 3. Five shades of brown: the sepoy-body in visual culture; 4. Imperial antibiotic: sepoy and the Raj; Part III. The Sepoy Heart: 5. Touching feeling: letters, poems, prayers, and songs of sepoys in Europe 1914–18; 6. 'Their lives have become ours': occupation, captivity, and lateral contact in Mesopotamia 1914–1918; 7. Transnational lives and peripheral visions; Part IV. Literary and Intellectual Cultures: 8. Literary imaginings; 9. The Indian English war novel: Across the Black Waters; 10. Post-war world and 'the future of mankind': Aurobindo, Iqbal, and Tagore.

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Book SynopsisThe First World War left a legacy of chaos that is still with us a century later. Why did European leaders resort to war and why did they not end it sooner? Roger L. Ransom sheds new light on this enduring puzzle by employing insights from prospect theory and notions of risk and uncertainty. He reveals how the interplay of confidence, fear, and a propensity to gamble encouraged aggressive behavior by leaders who pursued risky military strategies in hopes of winning the war. The result was a series of military disasters and a war of attrition which gradually exhausted the belligerents without producing any hope of ending the war. Ultimately, he shows that the outcome of the war rested as much on the ability of the Allied powers to muster their superior economic resources to continue the fight as it did on success on the battlefield.Trade Review'World War I became a tragedy when victory became an end in itself rather than a means of achieving some prewar objective. In his lucid and insightful Gambling on War, Roger L. Ransom draws on history and economics to explain why that happened, why World War I upended the world's institutions, and why its tragic effects persist even today.' Philip T. Hoffman, author of Why Did Europe Conquer the World?'The First World War remains with us. Ransom, an economic historian, places it within an age of extremes that ran from Bismarck to Clemenceau. The war resolved no rivalries. It led to no new normalcy. The book jars the reader into that reality. It shocks. It angers. It is a must-read.' Holger H. Herwig, author of The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914–1918'Economists think of people as rational but this is belied by experience. From that perspective, economic historian Roger L. Ransom shows persuasively how over-confidence, fear and reckless gambles make sense of a sequence of bad decisions that led to the First World War, and to catastrophic outcomes that nobody planned for.' Avner Offer, author of The First World War: An Agrarian Interpretation'The general interest reader learns a lot, and about many things. … a great read for general interest readers with a standard background in economics … It should also have its place as a core reading for an undergraduate course on the economics of war.' Victor Gay, EH.Net'The great strength of the book is the application of behavioral economic theories to decision-making in the First World War. It offers a variation on the argument that the war swept away the restrained political mores of the late nineteenth century. Once one power 'speculated' by initiating aggression, others had to react, and this changed expectations of future behavior, creating a path dependency toward the Second World War.' William Mulligan, H-DiploTable of ContentsPrologue; 1. Confidence, fear, and a propensity to gamble; 2. Otto von Bismarck and the changing paradigm of war; 3. Schlieffen's gamble; 4. A war of attrition; 5. Economies at war; 6. War and revolution; 7. The last gamble; 8. The chaos of victory; Epilogue: the tragedy of a world war.

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Book SynopsisIn the years of and around the First World War, American poets, fiction writers, and dramatists came to the forefront of the international movement we call Modernism. At the same time a vast amount of non- and anti-Modernist culture was produced, mostly supporting, but also critical of, the US war effort. A History of American Literature and Culture of the First World War explores this fraught cultural moment, teasing out the multiple and intricate relationships between an insurgent Modernism, a still-powerful traditional culture, and a variety of cultural and social forces that interacted with and influenced them. Including genre studies, focused analyses of important wartime movements and groups, and broad historical assessments of the significance of the war as prosecuted by the United States on the world stage, this book presents original essays defining the state of scholarship on the American culture of the First World War.Trade Review'… offers a thorough examination of the cultural impact of a war in which the US's role is sometimes given little prominence … this admirable volume … goes beyond the typical Lost Generation roster of Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, E. E. Cummings et al.' Alice Kelly, The Times Literary Supplement'Recommended.' T. Bonner Jr., Choice MagazineTable of ContentsIntroduction. America's Great War at one hundred (and counting) Tim Dayton and Mark W. Van Wienen; Part I. Genre and Medium: 1. Poetry: hegemonic vistas Tim Dayton; 2. Fiction: a war remembered Scott D. Emmert; 3. Film: mostly classical Hollywood cinema goes to war and sometimes brings it home Leslie DeBauche; 4. Drama: from literary fantasy to gritty realism Brenda Murphy; 5. Popular music: tin pan alley as national barometer John Roger Paas; 6. Journalism: adventure and reckoning Joe Hayden; 7. Memoirs: negotiating the great war's social memory Ian Andrew Isherwood; 8. Art and illustration: modes of visual persuasion David M. Lubin; Part II. Settings and Subjects: 9. The peace movement: rapid development, women's leadership, regional diversity Kathleen Brown; 10. Americans in France: women writers and international responsibility Jennifer Haytock; 11. German Americans: dual loyalties and poetic adaptations of 'The watch on the Rhine' Lorie Vanchena; 12. The English in America: cultural propaganda and its agents Alisa Miller; 13. Preparedness: Theodore Roosevelt, Leonard Wood, and rookie rhymes Adam Szetela; 14. Propaganda: martialing media Pearl James; 15. Conscientious objectors: conscience, courage, and resistance Scott H. Bennett; 16. Volunteers: ambulance and nursing narratives Hazel Hutchison; 17. African Americans: defining freedom, citizenship, and patriotism Françoise N. Hamlin; 18. In the Midwest: 'Borne back ceaselessly into the past' David Rennie; 19. In the south: three Mississippi writers and the Great War mobilization David A. Davis; 20. Revolution: winning the world, losing the (middle) way Mark W. Van Wienen; 21. Monuments and memorials: memory dissipated Mark Levitch; Part III. Transformations: 22. The nation: forging one, finding many Jonathan Vincent; 23. Free speech: 'clear and present danger' Ernest Freeberg; 24. Labour: from replaceable cogs to corporate citizens Thomas Mackaman; 25. The veteran: parades, bitter homecomings, and fictions of the doughboy's return Steven Trout; 26. The military-industrial complex: practices, precedents, and literary engagements Mark Whalan; 27. The world: race, red-baiting, and the Wilsonian century Alexander Anievas.

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Book SynopsisIn this insightful and revealing study, Justin Fantauzzo uses a wide range of documentary and visual sources to explore the experience and memory of British and Dominion soldiers who fought in the Middle East and Macedonia during the First World War. He shows that not only was the experience of these campaigns markedly different to their counter-parts on the Western Front, but so too were the memories and portrayals of these campaigns in the inter-war period. Fantauzzo''s analysis highlights the disparities and contradictions that exist in the experience and memory of war and helps us to rethink what the war meant to the soldiers who fought in this region, how soldiers understood the war itself and how it was remembered.Trade Review'This book will be useful for scholars and public alike who wish to know more about what it was like to serve in theatres 'away from the Western Front'.' John Siblon, Journal of British Studies'Drawing on a sizable amount of bibliographical sources (pp. 226–243), the author ensures the great scientific value of his approach, and by reconstructing interesting life stories and the universe of the combatants in a way that is easy and pleasant to read and understand, he invites the reader to a useful and enriching lecture about a topic that is still debated today.' Iuliu-Marius Morariu, Transylvanian ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. Experience: 1. Soldiering; 2. Touring; 3. Meaning; 4. Forgotten; Part II. Memory: 5. Public memory; 6. Private memory; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisComparatively little is known about the musical cultures of the British armed forces during the Great War. This groundbreaking study is the first to examine music''s vital presence in a range of military contexts including military camps, ships, aerodromes and battlefields, canteen huts, hospitals and PoW camps. Emma Hanna argues that music was omnipresent in servicemen''s wartime existence and was a vital element for the maintenance of morale. She shows how music was utilised to stimulate recruitment and fundraising, for diplomatic and propaganda purposes, and for religious, educational and therapeutic reasons. Music was not in any way ephemeral, it was unmatched in its power to cajole, console, cheer and inspire during the conflict and its aftermath. This study is a major contribution to our understanding of the wartime realities of the British armed forces during the Great War.Trade Review'This triumphant blend of cultural and military history hits all the right notes. Emma Hanna provides a highly original exploration of an often neglected but hugely important aspect of the Great War experience: music. A brilliant book which makes a highly distinctive contribution to scholarship on the First World War. Brava!' Jonathan Boff, author of Haig's Enemy: Crown Prince Rupprecht and Germany's War on the Western Front'This wonderful and enriching book restores music to its rightful place as an essential part of how we understand the British experience of the First World War. It reveals the many different ways in which music was part of the everyday life of service personnel, as well as its wider implications, such as military welfare, wartime voluntarism and contemporary debates about the meanings of the conflict.' Daniel Todman, author of Britain's War: Into Battle, 1937–1941'… this [book] remains an important and informative text which offers a comprehensive overview of the many ways in which music was deployed in this conflict. As such, it is likely also to be a useful introduction to the roles of music in military life more generally, including for advanced students with some prior, basic knowledge of the War from the British perspective.' Morag Josephine Grant, H-Soz-Kult'Hanna effectively weaves together cultural and military history to provide a refreshing look at the First World War. The breadth of her study allows her to effectively show the significance of music during the … [this] study is a valuable read not only for those who study the First World War but also for those interested in the diverse ways that music can shape the experience of war.' Theodore Racicot, H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews OnlineTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Music in Britain, 1914; 2. Recruitment and fundraising; 3. Instruments of war; 4. Songs, identity and morale; 5. Captivity; 6. Religion and pastoral Care; 7. Medicine and therapy; 8. The gramophone; 9. Civilian concert parties; 10. Servicemen's concert parties; 11. After the Armistice; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisFor the first time, Richard S. Grayson tells the story of the Dubliners who served in the British military and in republican forces during the First World War and the Irish Revolution as a series of interconnected ''Great Wars''. He charts the full scope of Dubliners'' military service, far beyond the well-known Dublin ''Pals'', with as many as 35,000 serving and over 6,500 dead, from the Irish Sea to the Middle East and beyond. Linking two conflicts usually narrated as separate stories, he shows how Irish nationalist support for Britain going to war in 1914 can only be understood in the context of the political fight for Home Rule and why so many Dubliners were hostile to the Easter Rising. He examines Dublin loyalism and how the War of Independence and the Civil War would be shaped by the militarisation of Irish society and the earlier experiences of veterans of the British army.Trade Review'Dublin's Great Wars exploits a wealth of sources to reconstruct the street-level impact of a decade of war and revolution which ultimately culminated in Irish independence. Ranging from Gallipoli to the General Post Office, Grayson skilfully illuminates the diversity of experiences and loyalties that characterised revolutionary Dublin's entangled military histories.' Fearghal McGarry, author of The Rising. Ireland: Easter 1916'Richard S. Grayson's masterly study shows that Dubliners' opposition to rule by the British ran deep – but so did support for the Crown. This is a penetrating and ambitious book that successfully reconnects the Irish Revolution with the First World War.' Gary Sheffield, author of A Short History of the First World War'This lively and detailed account of the military history of Dublin men and their families from 1912 to 1923 presents a convincing case for viewing the Great War and the military episodes in the Irish struggle for independence as a series of inter-connected 'Great Wars'.' Mary E. Daly, author of Sixties Ireland: Reshaping the Economy, State and Society, 1957–1973'This is an important and timely book, given its publication during the centenary of the Irish Revolution. Meticulously researched, in archives in Britain and Ireland, it neatly contextualises Dublin's experience of revolution within the experience of the greater World War of 1914–18,' Timothy Bowman, co-author of The British Army and the First World War'A powerful, multivocal account of a decade of violence in Ireland beginning in 1914…. This is a book of sensitive scholarship, one based on a deep knowledge of both the military history and the social history of the men who waged it … it is the best history we have of Dubliners at war, and, like James Joyce's 'The Dead', published in 1914, it treats them with the sympathy and compassion they deserve.' Jay Winter, H-Net'Written in a clear and lively style and resting upon very substantial research … an excellent and illuminating account of how conflict shaped Ireland's capital city during the Irish revolution and is bound to command the wide audience it deserves.' John Gibney, History Ireland'A very significant addition to our knowledge and understanding of the Irish revolution and should be read by everyone wishing to understand it more fully.' Padraig Yeates, Dublin Review of Books'His Easter Week chapters entwine the Royal Dublin Fusiliers' fighting at Hulluch in Belgium with the simultaneous uprising in Dublin.… Grayson's eye for detail lends these passages a cinematic flair, capturing the prayers of both Irish troops abroad and rebels back home as they prepared to go into their respective battles.' Matthew Kovac, LSE Review of Books'Dublin's Great Wars is a fascinating study of the history of Dubliners' wartime experiences during the First World War and the Irish Revolution … This book will appeal to those interested in the history of war and revolution in Ireland, the history of Irish involvement in the First World War and the history of Dublin.' David Durnin, CerclesTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Prelude: Dublin and conflict, 1899–1914; 2. Dublin goes to war; 3. Outbreak, 1914; 4. Stalemate, 1915; 5. Gallipoli: Helles; 6. Gallipoli: Suvla Bay; 7. Preparations; 8. Rising; 9. Falling; 10. Consequences; 11. The Other 1916; 12. Success on the Somme; 13. Snow and sand; 14. Attrition: 1916–17; 15. Learning; 16. Victory from the jaws of defeat; 17. War of Independence; 18. Crossovers; 19. Civil war; 20. Peace; 21. Commemoration; Conclusion: three men.

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Book SynopsisFascinated by history? Wish you knew more? The Illustrated Introductions are here to help. In this lavishly illustrated, accessible guide, find out everything you need to know about the Battle of the Somme.

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Book SynopsisThe full study of a dramatic and daring raid, in stark contrast to the static trench warfare of WW1.

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Book SynopsisThis book which was originally published in 1915 is a window into the world of a century ago, when Woodrow Wilson was wondering whether or not America should enter WWI. Former president Theodore Roosevelt lays out the moral and political case for coming to the aid of our European allies. This book demonstrates that America's issues are relatively unchanged even after one the most changing centuries in the history of mankind.Table of ContentsFor more information, please visit our website at:https://novapublishers.com/shop/america-and-the-world-war/

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Book SynopsisThe 100th anniversary of the outbreak of "the war to end all wars" has already generated substantial historical analysis and media attention. The anniversary of the US entry into the war will spark another round of interest, and this book is both an excellent pictorial introduction and short history of the conflict.

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Book SynopsisWalter Bandazian traces developments which led to the arrest, detention, and finally, the release of Young Turks and their allies accused of committing war crimes during and after World War I against the Christian population of Ottoman Turkey, most notably the Armenians. The primary focus of his work concerns the role played by British authorities in the Near East in addressing the Armenian Genocide and initiating the first international effort to bring war criminals to trial, even before the Nuremberg trials of 1946-49. However, as Bandazian also shows, the anticipated trials never materialized because of several key factors, including the lack of appropriate legal mechanisms, difficulties in securing evidence on the ground, and political opposition from different quarters. Most of the present work is composed of documents which informed British authorities of the guilt of such civil, parliamentary and military functionaries as Memduh Bey in Erzinjan, Arif Fezi Bey in Diyarbakir, Mustafa Abdul Halik in Bitlis, Suleiman Faik Pasha in Harpoot, and others.

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Book SynopsisAfter receiving a bundle of worn letters written by her late grandfather George Black Jack Vowel during the First World War, journalist Jacqueline Carmichael became fascinated with the daily realities and personal stories of those who had lived through that pivotal and harrowing period in history. Reaching beyond the battlefield descriptions found in most history books, Carmichael presents unforgettable accounts filled with drama, hope, and heartbreak culled from journals and letters of Allied soldiers and nurses. From tales of men shot at dawn under charges of desertion or cowardice, to women cross-dressing to get into battle, to a Canadian Member of Parliament whose PTSD-induced death was barely acknowledged by Ottawa for nearly a century, Heard Amid the Guns reflects the human face of war. Featuring profiles of people from every Canadian province and many American states, including soldiers of Indigenous, Asian, South Asian, and African backgrounds, this book is a touching tribute illustrated throughout by WWI-era photos, postcards, documents, and the authors contemporary photos from battlefield sites and monuments.

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Book SynopsisOn 11 November 1923, the fifth anniversary of the Armistice, the memorial for the Fredericton war dead was unveiled. Popular perception is that the process was a simple one: a list of all of those who died in the Great War was compiled and inscribed on the monument. In reality, the truth is much more complex.In Perpetuity brings together the biographies of 110 soldiers from the Fredericton area who died from service during the First World War. The product of an inquiry-based learning project led by social studies teacher James Rowinski, the biographies shed light on the lives of the soldiers, the conditions they experienced during their service, and the process of commemoration following the war. The book includes the biographies of four soldiers that students argue should have been included on the official memorial, including Lieutenant Charles Blair who died by suicide in 1920 and would now likely be recognised as suffering from PTSD.A correction and supplement to official memory, In Perpetuity preserves the memory of Fredericton's war dead - those who both were included and excluded from the official record.In Perpetuity is volume 30 of the New Brunswick Military Heritage Series.

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Book Synopsis“A hospital ... is like a roosting box: a communal space that provides ideal but temporary shelter for [the] vulnerable.” In the aftermath of the First World War, a cash register factory in the west end of Toronto was renovated to treat wounded soldiers returning from war. From 1919 to the 1940s, thousands of soldiers passed through its doors. Some spent the remainder of their lives there. The Roosting Box is an exquisitely written history of the early years of the Christie Street Hospital and how war reshaped Canadian society. What sets it apart from other volumes is the detail about the ordinary people at the heart of the book: veterans learning to live with their injuries and a world irrevocably changed; nurses caring for patients while coming to terms with their own wartime trauma; and doctors pioneering research in prosthetics and plastic surgery or, in the case of Frederick Banting, in a treatment for diabetes. Naming chapters after parts of the body, den Hartog chronicles injuries and treatments, and through the voices of men and women, the struggles and accomplishments of the patients and staff. The cast of characters is diverse — Black, female, Indigenous, and people with all sorts of physical and mental challenges — and their experiences, gleaned from diaries, letters, service records, genealogical research, and interviews with descendants, are surprising and illuminating. An unusual mix of history and story, The Roosting Box offers deeply personal perspectives on healing in the aftermath of war.

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Book SynopsisThe 'Forgotten Voices' of the First World War speak for the final time.LAST POST is very consciously the last word from the handful of First World War survivors who were left alive in 2004. Now they have passed away, our final human connection with the First World War has been broken.Max Arthur, a skilled interviewer, took the very last chance we had to ask questions of those who were there. Now updated to include a new introduction by the author for the centenary of the First World War.Trade ReviewNostalgic photographs add to the book's flavour, lighting up a time when generations predating the modern, pervasie 'me' culture lived and worked for each other. * TRIBUNE *For their devotion to King and Country and for Mr Arthur's work we should all be grateful * CONTEMPORARY REVIEW *one you will want to add to your collection * THE GREAT WAR *They are a remarkable band of men and the book tacitly salutes their courage, endurance and the phlegmatic manner in which many of them dismiss the war as merely a passing phase in their lives * Independent on Sunday *A deeply moving meditation on memory, courage, comradeship and the powerlessness of the common man caught up in political machinery * Evening Standard *Remarkably poignant -- James Holland * Mail on Sunday *

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