First World War Books

Book SynopsisJack Snyder''s analysis of the attitudes of military planners in the years prior to the Great War offers new insight into the tragic miscalculations of that era and into their possible parallels in present-day war planning. By 1914, the European military powers had adopted offensive military strategies even though there was considerable evidence to support the notion that much greater advantage lay with defensive strategies. The author argues that organizational biases inherent in military strategists'' attitudes make war more likely by encouraging offensive postures even when the motive is self-defense.Drawing on new historical evidence of the specific circumstances surrounding French, German, and Russian strategic policy, Snyder demonstrates that it is not only rational analysis that determines strategic doctrine, but also the attitudes of military planners. Snyder argues that the use of rational calculation often falls victim to the pursuit of organizational interests suchTrade ReviewOne of the best comparative surveys of the war plans and strategic thinking of the General Staffs from the Franco-Prussian War to 1914.... An ambitious and interesting book both in its historical scope and in its theoretical implications for military decision making. * Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science *Snyder has made a significant contribution to strategic thought. * Military Review *This is a penetrating account, filled with valuable theoretical insights, of the military planning in France, Germany, and Russia on the eve of the First World War. Using the analytical approach of controlled comparison, Jack Snyder examines the role of doctrinal and organizational biases in military decision making and operational planning.... Snyder is superb in detailing Russian war planning in this era, providing the best account in English on this topic. * Orbis *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThese vigorous lectures deal with some of the many ways in which the question of structure in poetry (here synonymous with the whole range of artistic creation in words) can be discussed. Criticism has never been, Professor Clare argues, a single discipline, but a collection of more and less distinct conceptual 'languages,' within any one of which a literary problem takes on a special solution. The Alexander Lectures for 1952.

Read more less

Book SynopsisDescribes life as captain of Austro-Hungarian U-boats in the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas, emerging by turn as the Imperial Austrian naval officer, the witty observer of international politics, and indefatigable and heartbroken patriot opposing the Allied enemy. This title offers a combination of human interest, and life-and-death adventure.Trade Review"[von Trapp] almost certainly always tried to put his best foot forward, and he emerges from his account as a man of great skill, considerable compassion ... and sufficient tact and tolerance to handle the kind of polyglot crews that sailed for the Dual Monarchy. [H]e became the highest scoring Austro-Hungarian submariner, despite equipment that was sometimes more dangerous to him and his men than to the enemy. He fought on to the end, knowing that the Dual Monarchy he served so well was crumbling."-Booklist Booklist "In his personal account, translated by his granddaughter Elizabeth Campbell, von Trapp captures the feeling of a bygone era where chivalry and love of country were paramount... His amazing exploits in the Great War and life-and-death experiences as a commander of various U-boats will enthrall readers."-Military Heritage Military Heritage "[A] lively, amusing, at-times-gripping memoir of naval warfare in the Mediterranean, and U-boat life... One of its fascinating aspects is the glimpse it offers into the multiethnic makeup of this imperial navy, and the admirable attitudes and behavior of a patriotic officer on the losing side of a great conflict."-The Atlantic The Atlantic "Interesting and informative, the text is a rare history of an Austro-Hungarian involved in War... [To the Last Salute] is highly recommended to those interested in the von Trapp family, the musical The Sound of Music, World War I from an Austro-Hungarian view, and U-boats."-Curled Up With a Good Book Curled Up With a Good Book "To the Last Salute is a professional account of submarine operations during World War I by one of the ace skippers of the k-u-k Navy... This work provides an often gripping tale of some long forgotten but interesting naval actions during the Great War."-NYMAS Review NYMAS ReviewTable of ContentsList of IllustrationsPreface AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Meet the Real Captain von TrappThe World of To the Last Salute1. Between the Islands2. U-Boats Mobilized3. Léon Gambetta4. Letters5. Envy6. Trip to the Hinterland7. The Bomb Exploded8. Poor Austrians!9. Giuseppe Garibaldi10. Nereide11. The Prize12. Gasoline Stupor13. America Bluffs14. The First Depth Charges15. Heroes16. Curie17. The Oil Spill18. Deck Paint19. Bypassing the Official Channels20. Unrestricted U-Boat War21. Reconstruction in the Arsenal22. The First Steamers23. Transmission of Orders24. Fog25. The Two Greeks26. Salute to Africa27. One Comes, the Other Goes28. Gjenovic29. Otranto30. Loot31. Entertainment on Board32. U-Boat Trap33. Sheet Lightning34. Bravo, Bim!35. Autumn Journey36. Internal Duty37. Intermezzo38. In the East39. The Fire Goes Out40. Durazzo41. To the Last SaluteNotes

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs World War I shaped and molded European culture to an unprecedented degree, it also had a profound influence on the politics and aesthetics of early-twentieth-century Russian culture. In this provocative and fascinating work, Aaron J. Cohen shows how World War I changed Russian culture and especially Russian art. A wartime public culture destabilized conventional patterns in cultural politics and aesthetics and fostered a new artistic world by integrating the iconoclastic avant-garde into the art establishment and mass culture. This new wartime culture helped give birth to nonobjective abstraction (including Kazimir Malevich's famous Black Square), which revolutionized modern aesthetics. Of the new institutions, new public behaviors, and new cultural forms that emerged from this artistic engagement with war, some continued, others were reinterpreted, and still others were destroyed during the revolutionary period. Imagining the Unimaginable<Trade Review"This book offers the reader a well-researched and nuanced analysis of the politics and aesthetics of a period and place whose significance is underappreciated."—Andrew M. Nedd, Russian Review"In recent years, works by Hubertus F. Jahn, Peter Gatrell, Peter Holquist, Eric Lohr, Joshua A. Sanborn, Melissa K. Stockdale, and others have expanded our knowledge of World War I's impact in Russia. . . . Cohen's new book adds an important dimension to this historiography, demonstrating that wartime cultural mobilization was more pervasive and more complex than previously understood."—Stephen M. Norris, American Historical Review"This is a carefully framed piece of research that raises important questions about the extent to which the political, economic and cultural conditions of wartime affected the course of modern Russian art."—Rosalind P. Blakesley, Revolutionary Russia"This is a daring book that deftly balances between history and cultural studies. Aaron Cohen mixes the public debates in contemporary newspapers and journals with an analysis of the visual art that this world produced. This leads to a satisfying and intellectually engaging read."—Aaron B. Retish, Europe-Asia Studies"[Cohen's] focused argument that Russian avant-garde painters found their public and forged a closer link to the government in the crucible of the Great War makes an original and important contribution both to art history and to the history of the mobilization for war."—Eric Lohr, Slavic ReviewTable of ContentsList of Illustrations 000 Acknowledgments 000 Introduction 000 1. The Wars against Tradition: The Culture of the Art Profession in Russia, 1863-1914 2. In the Storm: Reshaping the Public and the Art World, 1914-1915 3. Love in the Time of Cholera: Russian Art and the Real War, 1915-1916 4. Masters of the Material World: World War I, the Avant-Garde, and the Origins of Non-Objective Art 5. The Revolver and the Brush: The Political Mobilization of Russian Artists through War and Revolution, 1916-1917 Conclusion Appendix Notes Selected Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe advent of poison gas in World War I shocked Britons at all levels of society, yet by the end of the conflict their nation was a leader in chemical warfare. Although never used on the home front, poison gas affected almost every segment of British society physically, mentally, or emotionally, proving to be an armament of total war. Through cartoons, military records, novels, treaties, and other sources, Marion Girard examines the varied ways different sectors of British society viewed chemical warfare, from the industrialists who promoted their toxic weapons while maintaining private control of production,to the politicians who used gas while balancing the need for victory with the risk of developing a reputation for barbarity. Although most Britons considered gas a vile weapon and a symptom of the enemy's inhumanity, many eventually condoned its use.The public debates about the future of gas extended to the interwar years, and evidence reveals that the taTrade Review"This well-researched study offers a creative and long-overdue interpretation of the subjects of gas and gas warfare in World War I Britain. . . . Girard marshals an impressive variety of evidence to offer interlocking portraits of gas and gas warfare framed by the observations and experiences of a variety of groups."—Jeffrey S. Reznick, Journal of the History of Medicine"Girard has offered a detailed survey on Britain's reaction to poison gas and scholars of the Great War, technology, and wartime popular culture will find this a strong foundation upon which to conduct further reading or research."—Tim Cook, Journal of Military History"Much of this story has been overlooked in previous work, and Girard has provided an informative account that is based on considerable research in some under-exploited archives."—David Stevenson, American Historical ReviewTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction 1. The Political Challenge: Descent to Atrocities? 2. The Army’s Experience: New Weapons, New Soldiers 3. The Scientific Divide: Chemists vs. Physicians 4. Whose Business is It?: Dilemmas in the Gas Industry 5. Gas as a Symbol: Visual Images of Chemical Weapons in the Popular Press 6. The Re-Establishment of the Gas Taboo and the Public Debate: Will Gas Destroy the World? Epilogue Abbreviations Notes Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Every generation needs to be reminded of and taught the heavy price exacted by war."—Murray Polner, History News Network"Antiwar Dissent and Peace Activism in World War I America is a collection of vibrant and diverse sources and voices. It is an excellent starting point for anyone wishing to know more about the subject, a useful tool for those working in the area, and a key resource for those teaching the history of civil liberties, working for peace and the value of dissent in democratic societies."—Rebecca Wynter, Quaker Studies“[This is] an extremely important contribution . . . bringing together sources from both the radical and mainstream aspects of antiwar activism.”—Cecelia Lynch, professor of political science at the University of California, Irvine, and author of Beyond Appeasement: Interpreting Interwar Peace Movements in World Politics“Experts in the field, Scott Bennett and Charles Howlett provide a valuable new collection of original source documents that provide fresh and insightful understanding of peace activism, dissent and the issue of civil liberties in America in World War I.”—John Whiteclay Chambers II, author of To Raise an Army: The Draft Comes to Modern America “Accessible to scholars and the general public alike, this wonderful volume brings to life those men and women who envisioned a better world and fought ‘to end all wars.’”—Wendy E. Chmielewski, George R. Cooley Curator, Swarthmore College Peace CollectionTable of ContentsList of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Peace Organizations2. Socialists, Anarchists, and Wobblies3. Citizen Peace Agitators4. Female Activism and Gendered Peacework5. African American and Ethnic American Antiwar Dissent6. Conscientious Objectors7. Repression and Civil Liberties8. The Cultural Front and Antiwar Protest9. Peace Humanitarianism Abroad10. Aftermath and LegaciesSelected Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisChronicles the experiences of the Twenty-eighth Division in the summer of 1918. Made up primarily of Pennsylvania National Guardsmen, the Twenty-eighth Division saw extensive action on the Western Front. This story presents Lieutenant Hervey Allen and his men marching inland from the French coast and the battle for the village of Fismette.Trade Review"This work has been considered by many to be the finest American frontline memoir to come out of World War I. It is powerful and certainly a classic."—Michael D. Hull, ARMY Magazine

Read more less

Book SynopsisExemplifies the best of America's involvement in World War I.Trade Review“[In October 1918] the Seventy-seventh American Division attacked in the Argonne. One mixed battalion of companies from two regiments got as far as it could. Germans closed in the rear, surrounding 600 men. Six days later, after incredible hardships, the wounded and an unharmed 194 were relieved. . . . [The authors] have reconstructed every dramatic hour of the six-day siege. . . . Correcting myths, cleaning up official whitewashes, Johnson and Pratt succeed in telling a more dramatic story than all the myths and official embroideries put together.”—New York Times

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn exploration of the American public’s collective memory and common perception of World War I, analyzed from the perspective of the production of cultural artifacts related to the war.Trade Review"By helping us to better understand today the historical obscurity of World War I in America, Lamay Licursi seeks to erase a past of erasure—to replace forgetting with remembering."—Trevor Dodman, First World War Studies“Remembering World War I in America furnishes some sound explanations for why America's second experience with total war—the Civil War being the first—one which saw the nation making an indispensable contribution to victory and emerging as a global power, found so little purchase in the imagination of its citizens.”—Robert Teigrob, American Historical Review “Lamay Licursi’s useful work should be consulted by military, political, and social historians interested in America’s participation in World War I and the interwar years.”—Jeffery S. Underwood, Journal of American History"This well-researched study gives weight to historians' common contention that Americans "simply wanted to forget the war.""—B. T. Browne, Choice"Kimberly J. Lamay Licursi's Remembering World War I in America is a welcome addition to the growing scholarship on memory of the Great War."—Mark Folse, H-War"An interesting and thoughtful look at how national memory is constructed."—A. A. Nofi, Strategy Page"The author has done an impressive amount of research in compiling this study, and all those readers interested in how Americans once remembered the Great War will find much to enjoy in its pages."—Roger D. Cunningham, Journal of America’s Military Past"Remembering World War I in America is most impressive in Licursi's extensive archival research on state histories and her investigations into the factual data of publishing figures."—David Rennie, American Literary Realism“Kimberly Lamay Licursi explores with nuance and detail the American cultural memory of the Great War before 1941. Using understudied sources, such as pulp fiction and abandoned state history projects, she deftly shows how the act of ‘forgetting’ the war was based on remembering it in divergent ways. Fascinating and timely reading.”—Stephen R. Ortiz, professor of history at Binghamton University (SUNY) and author of Veterans’ Policies, Veterans’ Politics and Beyond the Bonus March and GI Bill “I am impressed by the thoroughness with which Kimberly J. Lamay Licursi has combed through archival records related to state-level remembrance projects. And I admire (and regard as a model) the way she grounds her assertions about cultural influence in quantifiable specifics—in inventories of library holdings, recommendations in library journals, and the like.”—Steven K. Trout, professor of English at the University of South Alabama and author of On the Battlefield of Memory: The First World War and American Remembrance, 1919–1941Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. State War Histories: An Atom of Interest in an Ocean of Apathy 2. War Memoirs: They Pour from Presses Daily 3. War Stories: Fiction Cannot Ignore the Greatest Adventure in a Man’s Life 4. War Films: Shootin’ and Kissin’ Conclusion Appendix 1: Selected Bibliography of World War I Personal Narratives Appendix 2: Selected Bibliography of World War I Novels Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTells the story of the enduring threat to American democracy that arose out of World War I: the establishment of pervasive, systematic propaganda as an instrument of the state.Trade ReviewA fascinating study into the origins of targeted misinformation and fake news, and the creators who unleashed them on our world out of misguided patriotism." - David Callaway, Former Editor-in-Chief, USA Today"An instant classic. This stunning history of the origins of American propaganda and the information state unveils the threat to self-government that's been with us since World War I. If you care about democracy, this book belongs at the top of your reading list." - Thomas E. Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government & the Press, Harvard University"There are fewer more important obligations of government in a democracy to keep citizens informed and to tell the truth. That standard, sadly, has failed at crucial moments in our history and John Maxwell Hamilton's volume recalls the history of a seminal failure. It should open our eyes to shortcomings in what we get as 'public information' and ask us all to demand better from our nation's leaders." - Mike McCurry, Former White House and State Department spokesman; Professor and Director, Public Theology at Wesley Theological Seminary"George Creel and his Committee on Public Information, directed by President Woodrow Wilson, represented a massive and successful effort during WWI to mold opinion in favor of American involvement in the war. Hamilton's book demonstrates that distorted propaganda such as what we saw during the Vietnam War and from today's White House, is nothing new. His story is a mirror into our own times." - Ambassador Theodore Sedgwick, Commissioner, World War I Centennial Commission"This highly-readable, meticulously researched book examines the origins of modern U.S. propaganda, as refined in the Twentieth Century. These practices, well-intended at first, have ended up harming this nation by undermining its democratic principles. Professor Hamilton rings a warning bell that all should hear about the dangers that propaganda, whether from abroad or within our own land, continues to hold for the future of America's open society." - Loch Johnson, Regents Professor Emeritus of International Affairs, University of Georgia"John Hamilton has written an outstanding, timely new book. A century ago, President Woodrow Wilson's Ministry of Public Information was America's first and only propagandistic Ministry of Information. Today, we have deteriorated to darker, diminished discourse with phrases such as 'fake news' by a President who has made tens of thousands of false or misleading public statements since his Inauguration. All of this can be traced to the story Hamilton tells." - Charles Lewis, Founder of the Center for Public Integrity and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists"Manipulating the Masses brilliantly tells the story of President Woodrow Wilson's 1916 re-election campaign and how Wilson used the same techniques to shape public opinion when he took the country into World War I and created the Committee on Public Information. Every public affairs office in government today as well as the private sector's public relations industry owe their birth to Wilson's CPI and what was done there. It's quite a story." - Charlie Cook, Editor and Publisher, The Cook Political Report"Both fascinating and troubling, this thoughtful history reveals the roots of the official spin that dominates much of today's news. The blunt title and alarming cover illustration--a 1918 war-bond poster depicting a direct German attack on New York City--make clear the heavy-duty nature of Manipulating the Masses, John Maxwell Hamilton's important history of the establishment during World War I of systematic propaganda as an instrument of American government." - New York Journal of Books"In this excellent book, John Maxwell Hamilton examines the darker side of US president Woodrow Wilson's administration during the First World War. . . . Hamilton provides a detailed account of the CPI's (Committee on Public Information) operations, ranging from propaganda to censorship both at home and abroad. . . . Wilson's legacy was mixed, as Hamilton convincingly demonstrates in this outstanding book." - H-Net Reviews"Some history books make exceptional contributions. Like long-needed highways or bridges, they act as public utilities. Some even do the job with elegance. John Maxwell Hamilton's Manipulating the Masses: Woodrow Wilson and the Birth of American Propaganda is such a book: history as public service, delivered with grace and advancing our progress on the vital road to understanding the relationship between government and media in America and, by extension, in the wider world. Hamilton draws on a wide array of archival sources in many countries to tell a simple story: how the United States government used mass communications to advance its foreign policy at home and abroad during World War I. In the past, the subject has been tackled only partially, most prominently by writers with a personal connection to the events in question and to the story's central government agency, the Committee on Public Information (CPI). Moreover, this story has been overshadowed by the memoir of the man who ran the campaign, George Creel. Creel was the modern U.S. government's first great propagandist, with a role so novel that promulgating government propaganda was once known as 'Creeling.' Creel's own account of the process was--no surprise--self-serving. Hamilton's book is a more-than-overdue audit of Creel and his agency. More than that, it illuminates the original sin in the U.S. government's relationship with the media, a foundational mix of spin and distortion that echoes down the decades to our own era of presidential tweets and weaponized media. 'Every element' of today's 'information state,' says Hamilton, 'had antecedents in the CPI.'" - American Purpose

Read more less

Book SynopsisDuring World War I, the first U.S. war in which women were mobilized by the armed services on a mass scale, more than sixteen thousand female personnel served overseas with the American Expeditionary Force. Elite society women—the so-called heiress corps—have dominated the popular perception of women''s service ever since. But Susan Zeiger shows that the majority of these female nurses, clerical workers, telephone operators, and canteen workers were wage-earners whose motives for enlistment ranged from patriotism to economic self-interest, from a sense of adventure to a desire to challenge gender boundaries.In exploring women''s experience of war, Zeiger draws from a wealth of diaries, letters, questionnaires, oral histories, and memoirs, as well as army records. She analyzes the ways women''s wartime service brought to light contradictions in prevailing gender relations at the height of the campaign for women''s suffrage, and she places the stories of servicewomenTrade Review"Zeiger's exemplary book delivers more than its title promises." * Choice *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn response to the devastating trauma of World War I, British and American authors wrote about grief. The need to articulate loss inspired moving novels by Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner. Erin Penner shows how these two modernist novelists took on the challenge of rewriting the literature of mourning for a new and difficult era.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn response to the devastating trauma of World War I, British and American authors wrote about grief. The need to articulate loss inspired moving novels by Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner. Erin Penner shows how these two modernist novelists took on the challenge of rewriting the literature of mourning for a new and difficult era.Trade ReviewThis is a book well worth reading for Penner’s rich analyses of individual novels, for her extensive knowledge of previous scholarship, and for her reframing of Woolf and Faulkner as writers who should be in conversation and who push us to bring conversations about the form and the ethics of mourning into our present-day world." - Woolf Studies Annual

Read more less

Book SynopsisA literary account of the author's experience in World War I. Hell on Earth is the second book written by Avigdor Hameiri (born Feuerstein, 1890-1970) about his experiences as a Russian prisoner of war during the second half of World War I. Available for the first time to an English-speaking audience, this reality-driven novel is comparable to All Quiet on the Western Front.

Read more less

Book SynopsisMining the papers of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the American Legion (AL), this book reveals that veterans actively organized in the years following the war to claim state benefits (such as pensions and bonuses), and strove to articulate a role for themselves as a distinct political bloc during the New Deal era.Trade Review"This book should be on the reading list of any course that touches upon the 1920s and 1930s. Ortiz examines the pivotal role the bonus question played in stoking the anti-New Deal movement lead by Charles Coughlin and Huey Long and how settling this issue proved essential for FDRs decisive electoral victory in 1936." -- G. Kurt Piehler * Remembering War the American Way *"“Ortiz (Bowling Green State Univ.) has written an interesting account of a neglected component of politics during the New Deal era-- the impact of organized WWI veterans... This book will be required reading for anyone interested in the history of veteran politics and New Deal politics." * CHOICE *"Ortiz's book is an excellent contribution to a historical episode in need of political contextualization." -- Jeremy M. Teigen * Political and Military Sociology *"So much has been written about America in the 1930s that it is hard to say anything new. But, mounting a vigorous argument, Ortiz demonstrates convincingly that scholars have neglected a very important development in this period. Thanks to him, historians will be compelled to rewrite their accounts of the age of Roosevelt." -- William E. Leuchtenburg,author of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal: 1932-1940"Stimulating, clearly written, and meticulously documented." * The Journal of Military History *"Moving beyond other well documented examples of activism by former servicemen . . . Ortiz traces the fortunes of the two major U.S. veterans organizations, the first the patrician American Legion . . . the second the older, smaller and scrappier Veterans of Foreign Wars." * Times Literary Supplement *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1 Veterans' policy and Veteran Organizations, 1917-1929 2 Rethinking the Bonus March 3 The "New Deal" for Veterans 4 The Bonus Re-emerges 5 "The pro-Bonus party" 6 Veteran politics and the New Deal's political Triumph of 1936 Conclusion: GI Bill Legacies Postscript: A GI Bill for the Twenty-first Century? Notes Index About the Author

Read more less

Book SynopsisDetails the rise of organized veterans as a powerful interest group in modern American politicsTrade Review"This book should be on the reading list of any course that touches upon the 1920s and 1930s. Ortiz examines the pivotal role the bonus question played in stoking the anti-New Deal movement lead by Charles Coughlin and Huey Long and how settling this issue proved essential for FDRs decisive electoral victory in 1936." -- G. Kurt Piehler * Remembering War the American Way *"“Ortiz (Bowling Green State Univ.) has written an interesting account of a neglected component of politics during the New Deal era-- the impact of organized WWI veterans... This book will be required reading for anyone interested in the history of veteran politics and New Deal politics." * CHOICE *"Ortiz's book is an excellent contribution to a historical episode in need of political contextualization." -- Jeremy M. Teigen * Political and Military Sociology *"So much has been written about America in the 1930s that it is hard to say anything new. But, mounting a vigorous argument, Ortiz demonstrates convincingly that scholars have neglected a very important development in this period. Thanks to him, historians will be compelled to rewrite their accounts of the age of Roosevelt." -- William E. Leuchtenburg,author of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal: 1932-1940"Stimulating, clearly written, and meticulously documented." * The Journal of Military History *"Moving beyond other well documented examples of activism by former servicemen . . . Ortiz traces the fortunes of the two major U.S. veterans organizations, the first the patrician American Legion . . . the second the older, smaller and scrappier Veterans of Foreign Wars." * Times Literary Supplement *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1 Veterans' policy and Veteran Organizations, 1917-1929 2 Rethinking the Bonus March 3 The "New Deal" for Veterans 4 The Bonus Re-emerges 5 "The pro-Bonus party" 6 Veteran politics and the New Deal's political Triumph of 1936 Conclusion: GI Bill Legacies Postscript: A GI Bill for the Twenty-first Century? Notes Index About the Author

Read more less

Book SynopsisAdding a new dimension to the historiography of World War I, Maksudyan explores the variegated experiences and involvement of Ottoman children and youth in the war. Rather than simply passive victims, children became essential participants as soldiers, wage earners, farmers, and artisans.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAnalyzes the link between "civilized warfare" and the American self-image. This book presents the story of the creation of the first American air force and how the American imagination was shaped by the depiction of the flying ace - the gentleman warrior who offered not only a symbol of warfare, but also a distraction to the American public.Trade Review"In this extraordinary study, Robertson traces the American air service from its inception during World War I through the second Gulf conflict and reveals how through the romanticized myth of the flying ace the vision of "clean" or civilized combat was sold to receptive politicians and a gullible public. A highly controversial yet stimulating book that demands to be read." - Library Journal "The Dream of Civilized Warfare fills a crying need for an approach to the history of military aviation that acknowledges the forces of social and cultural history." - Military History"

Read more less

Book SynopsisExamines the relationship between war painting and collective memory in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Great Britain, New Zealand, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, and the United States. The paintings discussed vary tremendously, ranging from public murals and panoramas to works on a far more intimate scale.Trade ReviewPortraits of Remembrance is a welcome addition to scholarship on commemoration and memory of the First World War." - Pearl James, author of The New Death: American Modernism and World War ITable of Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction Painting, Memory, and the First World War Margaret Hutchison and Steven Trout Chapter 1. En Souvenir: Albert Herter's Le DÉpart des Poilus, at Paris-Est Mark Levitch Chapter 2. Romaine Brooks's La France CroisÉe: Allegory, Androgyny, and Appropriation Elizabeth Richards Rivenbark 000 Chapter 3. A “rush frÉnÉtique”: Representation, Memory, and Georges Scott's La Brigade Marine AmÉricaine au Bois de Belleau Steven Trout Chapter 4. An Ambivalent Patriot: Namik Ismail, the First World War, and the Politics of Remembrance in Turkey Gizem Tongo Chapter 5. Albin Egger-Lienz's Die Namenlosen 1914: Vienna Painters and the Great War Philip D. Beidler Chapter 6. Russia, Memory, and the Great War: Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin's In the Line of Fire Andrew M. Nedd Chapter 7. The Canadians Opposite Lens: Augustus John's Unfinished First World War Canadian Masterpiece Laura Brandon Chapter 8. Sacrifice, Grief, and National Memory in George Edmund Butler's Butte de Polygon Caroline Lord Chapter 9. Gatekeeper of Memory: The Australian War Memorial and Charles Bryant's HMAS Australia on the Way to Her Doom Margaret Hutchison Chapter 10. Fortunino Matania's Goodbye, Old Man Marguerite Helmers Chapter 11. James Clark's The Great Sacrifice Peter Harrington Chapter 12. Maksimilijan Vanka's Our Mothers and the Croatian Memory of the First World War Heidi A. Cook Chapter 13. Der Krieg: Otto Dix's War Triptych, Memory, and the Perception of the First World War Martin Bayer Chapter 14. From Propaganda to Remembrance: Alfred Bastien's The Panorama of the Yser Battle Sandrine Smets Afterword Jay Winter Bibliography Contributors Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA masterwork of World War I short stories portraying the experiences of Marines in battle. Points of Honor is based on author Thomas Alexander Boyd's personal experiences as an enlisted Marine. First published in 1925 and long out of print, this edition rescues from obscurity a vivid, kaleidoscopic vision of American soldiers, serving in a global conflict a century ago.Trade ReviewThomas Boyd is famous for the novel Through the Wheat, now enshrined as a World War I classic. In Points of Honor, through a set of interlocking narratives, he pulls off something of a short story version of William March’s Company K. A clear and interesting introduction by Steven Trout, pegged for the literate general reader, makes a strong case for the stories as something of an advance over Through the Wheat. Here the characters and situations are diverse, and the modes of narration and development are strikingly varied."" - Philip D. Beidler, author of Beautiful War: Studies in a Dreadful Fascination and The Victory Album: Reflections on the Good Life after the Good War

Read more less

Book SynopsisDegrees of Allegiance updates traditional thinking about the German-American experience during the Great War, taking into account not just the war years but also the history of German settlement and the war’s impact on German-American culture.Trade Review“A very well-researched piece.… The strengths of the book are that it examines the rural and the urban experiences of German-Americans and that it suggests the need for some serious revisions of the scholarly emphasis on the severity of the reaction to German-American citizens during the period.”“Degrees of Allegiance is a detailed, sophisticated, and convincing account of how wartime expectations pressured Missouri Germans to relinquish the distinctive parts of their culture and the extent to which they actually did so.” * Missouri Historical Review *“The author makes a convincing case … and departs from the ‘victimization’ mode so characteristic of so much ethnic history today, and treats the German-American experience with considerable nuance.… The prime audience will of course be people interested in German-American history and Missouri politics of this era, but this is not an insider’s account and is written to be accessible also to general readers.” * Texas A & M University *

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisComposed of thousands of men from the two states, the Missouri-Kansas Division entered the great battle of the Meuse-Argonne with no battle experience and only a small amount of training, a few weeks of garrisoning in a quiet sector in Alsace. The division fell apart in five days, and the question Robert Ferrell attempts to answer is why.Trade ReviewAn excellent study of the interrelationship of leadership, training, morale, and unit cohesion. It offers the military professional a cautionary tale on how a unit composed of good soldiers can turn into a mob when they perceive their leaders are out of touch, indifferent, or too career-focused."" - Military Review""This excellent book is what one expects from its author, unsurpassed for his industry, competence, and honesty. It is most unusual that a scholar of his eminence would devote himself to such a valuable “small” history. His father, a veteran of the AEF, would have been proud."" - Journal of Military HistoryTable of Contents Preface Acknowledgements One: Preparation Two: Thursday, September 26 Three: Friday-Saturday, September 27-28 Four: Sunday, September 29 Five: Aftermath Six: Conclusion A Contemporary Analysis Notes Sources Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review[The Archaeologist was a Spy], which is quite difficult to put down once opened, chronicles and assesses not only [Sylvanus] Morley's contributions to archaeology and intelligence, but also the organization, methods, and ventures of ONI clandestine operations in World War I. It makes a significant contribution to the study of American intelligence operations. - Military Heritage ""[Charles Harris and Ray Sadler] have written the most significant book available on U.S. intelligence during World War I in Latin America. For historians of intelligence agencies, this is a must read volume."" - William H. Beezley, professor of history, University of Arizona, and director of the Oaxaca (Mexico) Graduate Field School in Modern Mexican History ""In this remarkable story of a remarkable man and his colorful associates, Harris and Sadler bring to vivid life an unknown story of early American intelligence. They illuminate the start of today's vast spy apparatus."" - David Kahn, author of Hitler's Spies and The Codebreakers

Read more less

Book SynopsisA vigorous reappraisal of American literature inspired by the First World War. American World War I literature has long been interpreted as an alienated outcry against modern warfare and government propaganda. This prevailing reading ignores the US army's unprecedented attempt during World War I to assign menexcept, notoriously, African Americansto positions and ranks based on merit. And it misses the fact that the culture granted masculinity only to combatants, while the noncombatant majority of doughboys experienced a different alienation: that of shame. Drawing on military archives, current research by social-military historians, and his own readings of thirteen major writers, Keith Gandal seeks to put American literature written after the Great War in its proper contextas a response to the shocks of war and meritocracy. The supposedly antiwar texts of noncombatant Lost Generation authors Dos Passos, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Cummings, and Faulkner addressedoften in coded waysthe nTrade ReviewGandal's study is enlightening and will be a valuable resource for studying the Great War.—Choice[Gandal] shows how unsatisfactory wartime experiences informed the fiction of a range of writers, including William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway, both of whom lied about their military roles in later years.—Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign AffairsThe book is correct to claim that future scholars of Great War American literature will have to take these different military classifications into account. Combatants and noncombatants did experience service differently, just as soldiers who fought in the trenches experienced battle differently from those who did not. And just as importantly, Gandal's book should also be praised for bringing back into the light of day several excellent primary texts that have sadly sunk into obscurity.—Aaron Shaheen, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Studies in the NovelGandal's latest effort provide[s] needed extended analysis into a complicated war . . . Although Gandal offers insights into women writers of the period, as well as African American writers such as Victor Daly, it is the combatant/noncombatant paradox that drives the book, resulting in a much more complex reading and history of American Great War literature than in traditional analyses.—Ross K. Tangedal, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, The F Scott Fitzgerald ReviewGandal suggests that the conventional binary classification of World War I literature as either pro- or antiwar has in fact distracted us from signal differences between combatant and noncombatant experiences of war. . . . Gandal persuasively reads A Farewell to Arms, together with other major modernist works, as validating the particular resentments and disappointments of a vast audience of veterans who served in noncombatant roles rather than as speaking to the comparatively few American soldiers who actually served in combat during this conflict. The caste system elevating combat roles, on the one hand, over combat support and combat service support functions, on the other, persists today in the US military. . . —Elizabeth D. Samet, United States Military Academy, American Literary HistoryTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I1. Noncombatant Mobilization Wounds2. The Horrors of War Mobilization3. Saved by French Arrest and Imprisonment4. Hemingway's Thrice-Told TalePart II5. The Mobilization of Young Women6. "A Miracle So Wide"Part III7. A War Hero in an Antiwar Tale?8. The Intimate Seductions of Meritocracy9. Not Only What You Would Expect10. Too Glorifying to TellConclusionNotesIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1950. Hans Gatzke analyzes Germany's ambitions to expand westward during World War I. Germany's wartime plans for expansion to the west had important repercussions at home and abroad. Gatzke proceeds chronologically, starting with the German political parties' outlining of their war aims. Gatzke claims that a combination of interests, including those of industrialists, pan-Germans, the parties of the Right, and the Supreme Command was responsible for the stubborn propagation of Germany's large war aims, which condemned the German people to remain at war until the bitter end. Each of these forces had its own particular reasons for wanting to hold out for far-reaching territorial gains, yet one aim that most of them had in common was ensuring, through a successful peace settlement, the continuation of the existing order, to their own advantage and to the political and economic detriment of the majority of the German people.Table of ContentsIntroductionChapter 1. The Evolution of Western War Aims (August 1914–May 1915)Chapter 2. A Period of Conflict – Chancellor vs. Annexationists (June 1915–August 1916)Chapter 3. A House Divided – Chancellor vs. Supreme Command (September 1916–July 1917) Chapter 4. The Strange Case of Georg Michaels (July 1917–October 1917)Chapter 5. The Victor of the Annexationists–The Defeat of Germany (November 1917–September 1918)ConclusionBibliographical NoteIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1918, Bethlehem Steel started the world's greatest industrial baseball league. Appealing to Major League Baseball players looking to avoid service in the Great War, teams employed ringers like Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, and Shoeless Joe Jackson in what became scornfully known as safe shelter leagues. In Work, Fight, or Play Ball, William Ecenbarger fondly recounts this little-known story of how dozens of athletes faced professional conflicts and a difficult choice in light of public perceptions and war propaganda. Some players used the steel mill and shipyard leagues to avoid wartime military duty, irking Major League owners, who saw their rosters dwindling. Bethlehem Steel President Charles Schwab (no relation to the financier) saw the league as a means to stave off employee and union organizing. Most fans loudly criticized the ballplayers, but nevertheless showed up to watch the action on the diamond. Ecenbarger traces the 1918 Steel League's season and compares the fates ofTrade Review“As a military historian and a huge baseball fan, I found William Ecenbarger’s Work, Fight, or Play Ball to be both compelling history and an extremely fun read. Ecenbarger’s work tells the important story of the nexus of sports, war, and big business in delineating how industrial leagues became a safe haven for baseball players who sought to avoid the western front. Work, Fight, or Play Ball also allows readers to sit in the bleachers and watch as ballplayers from Babe Ruth to Shoeless Joe took their at-bats for an important yet under researched portion of baseball’s historical world.”—Andrew Wiest, University Distinguished Historian at the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society at the University of Southern Mississippi, and author of The Illustrated History of World War I“What effect did World War I have on Major League Baseball and its players? In Work, Fight, or Play Ball, Bill Ecenbarger provides the answer in glowing detail. This absolutely fascinating and extremely informative book contains masterful research on what players such as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, and Rogers Hornsby did during the war, how the major leagues survived, and the special leagues that formed to compete with them.”—Rich Westcott, author of Biz Mackey, a Giant behind the Plate and twenty-six other books

Read more less

Book SynopsisMark Osborne Humphries uses patient records and official army files from Canadian, British and Australian archives to examine war trauma as it was experienced, treated and managed in the frontlines of the British and Canadian forces during the First World War.Trade Review"With A Weary Road, Humphries deftly tackles the immensely complicated topic of shell shock: how it was understood and diagnosed, the vivisions within the medical community, how treatment evlved over the course of the war, and how medical and military interests could collide." -- David MacKenzie * Literary Review of Canada, Vol 27, no. 2 *Table of ContentsList of Tables and Figures Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction 1 Framing Shell Shock: Nervous Illness before the Great War 2 Purely Shattered Nerves: British and Canadian Approaches to Treatment, 1914–1915 3 Baptism of Fire: The Ypres Salient, 1915 4 The CEF’s Shell Shock Crisis, Spring 1916 5 Treatment of Evacuated Cases, 1915–1916 6 The BEF’s Shell Shock Crisis on the Somme, June–November 1916 7 Managing Shell Shock at the Front, October 1916-June 1917 8 Illusions of Success: The NYDN Centres, June–December 1917 9 Failure and Retrenchment, 1917–1918 Conclusion Appendix A: Special Shell Shock Hospitals and NYDN Centres in Army Areas Appendix B: A Note on First World War Medical Sources Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisSelena Daly’s work is the first comprehensive study of Futurism during the First World War period. In this book, she examines the cultural, political, and military engagement of the Futurists with the war effort, both on the battlefields and on the home front. Beginning with the outbreak of war in 1914, Italian Futurism and the First World War provides vivid accounts of Futurist experiences through an analysis of previously unpublished material, including letters, diaries, and military documents as well as newspapers, magazines, and popular novels. Her focus on Futurist protagonists such as Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Umberto Boccioni, Emilio Settimelli, and lesser known figures such as Giuseppe Steiner and Ennio Valentinelli greatly extends our knowledge of the movement. Daly’s timely and detailed analysis challenges long-held assumptions about Futurist activity during the war and offers new insights for both the non-specialist and specialist alike.Trade Review'Well researched and documented account of the Futurist involvement in the First World War... With a multitude of notes, and large bibliography Salena Daly's book will surely become a standard work on the subject.' -- Jim Burns Northern Review of Books March 2017 'Highly recommended.' -- R.T. Ingoglia Choice Magazine vol 54:07:2017Table of ContentsIllustrations Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Futurist Non-Belligerence: The Failure of Futurist Interventionism 2. Futurism at the Front: Futurist Military and Combat Experiences 3. Futurismo moderato: Re-Imagining Futurism for a Wartime Society 4. How to Seduce Soldiers: Futurist Propaganda and Politics Epilogue Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor a long time, World War I has been shortchanged by the historiography of science. Until recently, World War II was usually considered as the defining event for the formation of the modern relationship between science and society. In this context, the effects of the First World War, by contrast, were often limited to the massive deaths of promising young scientists.Table of ContentsPlacing World War I in the history of mathematics by D. Aubin and C. Goldstein Starting Up: Cambridge mathematicians' responses to the First World War by J. Barrow-Green The total war of Paris mathematicians by D. Aubin, H. Gispert, and C. Goldstein Joining In: Italian mathematicians and the First World War: Intellectual debates and institutional innovations by P. Nastasi and R. Tazzioli A mobilized community: Mathematicians in the United States during the First World War by T. Archibald, D. Dumbaugh, and D. Kent Moving On: Debating the place of mathematics at the Ecole polytechnique around World War I by J.-L. Chabert and C. Gilain ""I'm just a mathematician"": Why and how mathematicians collaborated with military ballisticians at Gavre by D. Aubin Crossing Through: The Moravian crossroad: Mathematics and mathematicians in Brno between German traditions and Czech hopes by L. Mazliak and P. Sisma Why aerodynamics failed to take off in Nancy: An unexpected casualty of World War I by L. Rollet and P. Nabonnand Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIlluminating. Insightful. Challenging. We all know World War II forced the U.S. to rely on an ideology of pluralism and harmony. Jessica Coopermans timely and nuanced study traces the origin of this inclusive language to World War I, as religious minorities, and most especially American Jews, fought for first-class status and a seat at the table. She also shows the costs of that inclusion and the shaping of a certain kind of American Jewry. Her study of the structural changes hoisted upon the U.S. military by American Jews is a must-read for people interested in American pluralism, American religious life, and the costs and benefits of fitting in to the American ideal. -- Kevin M. Schultz, author ,Tri-Faith AmericaIn this perceptive book, Jessica Cooperman highlights the important role of the National Jewish Welfare Board, and shows how ideas about pluralism shaped both Judaism and American religion generally during the tumultuous World War I era. A valuable contribution! -- Jonathan D. Sarna, University Professor and Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History,Brandeis University and author of American Judaism: A HistoryThe idea of a 'tri-faith' America did not become part of the American civic consensus until after World War II, when it was popularized by the Jewish thinker Will Herberg, but, as Cooperman shows, it began much earlier.” * The Jewish Review of Books *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Great War was a pivotal experience for twentieth-century Canada. Shoestring Soldiers is the first scholarly study since 1938 to focus exclusively on Canada''s initial overseas experience from late 1914 to the end of 1915.In this exciting new work, Andrew Iarocci challenges the dominant view that the 1st Canadian Division was poorly prepared for war in 1914, and less than effective during battles in 1915. He examines the first generations of men to serve overseas with the division: their training, leadership, morale, and combat operations from Salisbury Plain to the Ypres Salient, from the La Bassée Canal to Ploegsteert Wood. Iarocci contends that setbacks and high losses in battle were not so much the products of poor training and weak leadership as they were of inadequate material resources on the Western Front.Shoestring Soldiers incorporates a wealth of research material from official documents, soldiers'' letters and diaries, and the battlefie

Read more less

Book SynopsisMore than 16,000 Canadian soldiers suffered from shell shock during the Great War of 1914 to 1918. Despite significant interest from historians, we still know relatively little about how it was experienced, diagnosed, treated, and managed in the frontline trenches in the Canadian and British forces.How did soldiers relate to suffering comrades? Did large numbers of shell shock cases affect the outcome of important battles? Was frontline psychiatric treatment as effective as many experts claimed after the war? Were Canadians treated any differently than other Commonwealth soldiers? A Weary Road is the first comprehensive study to address these important questions. Author Mark Osborne Humphries uses research from Canadian, British, and Australian archives, including hundreds of newly available hospital records and patient medical files, to provide a history of war trauma as it was experienced, treated, and managed by ordinary soldiers.Trade Review"With A Weary Road, Humphries deftly tackles the immensely complicated topic of shell shock: how it was understood and diagnosed, the vivisions within the medical community, how treatment evlved over the course of the war, and how medical and military interests could collide." -- David MacKenzie * Literary Review of Canada, Vol 27, no. 2 *Table of ContentsList of Tables and Figures Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction 1 Framing Shell Shock: Nervous Illness before the Great War 2 Purely Shattered Nerves: British and Canadian Approaches to Treatment, 1914–1915 3 Baptism of Fire: The Ypres Salient, 1915 4 The CEF’s Shell Shock Crisis, Spring 1916 5 Treatment of Evacuated Cases, 1915–1916 6 The BEF’s Shell Shock Crisis on the Somme, June–November 1916 7 Managing Shell Shock at the Front, October 1916-June 1917 8 Illusions of Success: The NYDN Centres, June–December 1917 9 Failure and Retrenchment, 1917–1918 Conclusion Appendix A: Special Shell Shock Hospitals and NYDN Centres in Army Areas Appendix B: A Note on First World War Medical Sources Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe First Contingent left Canada in September 1914, destined to become an integral part of the British Army. When the Canadian Corps returned in 1919, it was part of a Canadian Army, commanded by Canadians and controlled by Ottawa. That transformation reflected the real emergence of Canada from colonial status to the role of a junior but sovereign ally. In this book, Desmond Morton shows that the change was not easy and that most of the difficulties were created by Canadians themselves. He reveals that the mossiest agent of change was Canada’s Minister of Militia, Sir Sam Hughes. Determined to exercise personal control over every aspect of the CEF, Hughes deliberately fostered confusion, conflict, and political intrigue in the Canadian administration in England. To overcome Hughes’s failure, a full government department – the Ministry of the Overseas Military Forces of Canada – was established in London under the direction of Sir George Perley.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis collection of eight essays in honour of the distinguished Canadian Germanist G.W. Field treats themes in German narrative prose of the First World War, the pre-war era, and the earliest of the Weimar Republic. The aim of the book is not to present a comprehensive study of the field, but rather to shed new light on specific problems.The essays are organized in the historical sequence of the events and situations to which they are related. The topics include discussions of the concept of war as presented by Robert Musil in Der Mann hone Eigenschaften; the treatment of war as a catalyst by the Expressionist writers Carl Sternheim and Leonhard Frank; the preservation of values in the face of war as dealt in Hesse's Demian; and an exploration of the effects of war on the individual and social values in the works of Salomo Friedländer and Alfred Döblin. An essay on H.G. Well's Mr. Britling Sees It Through helps to clarify the ways in which the reaction of German writers to the

Read more less

Book SynopsisJohn Starosta Galante explores the presence, pull, and rejection of Italian nationalism and italianità (or Italianness) in Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and São Paulo during World War I.Trade Review"John Galante has unquestionably identified and analyzed an intriguing and original subject: the rise and decline of an Italian South Atlantic."—Michael M. Hall, Hispanic American Historical Review“War is a key crucible of modern nation states. By focusing on nation and ethnicity during World War I, Galante demonstrates how a distinctive, transnational Italian South Atlantic—the product of a century of migration—extended itself into the twentieth century.”—Donna Gabaccia, professor emerita of history at the University of Toronto“By examining how global crises impacted Italian immigrants in Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and São Paulo, On the Other Shore shows how the world was globalized well before 1930. Galante reminds readers that immigrants have agency, even as imperial states tried to use diasporic communities. Probing migrations, conflicts, and national identities, this is an important contribution to ethnic studies and global studies.”—Jeffrey Lesser, Samuel Candler Dobbs Chair and director of the Halle Institute for Global Research at Emory University“On the Other Shore stands out for its ambitious comparative design and the careful mining of various sources published in Italy and in South America by institutions in the Italian diaspora and the Italian government. It will make an important scholarly contribution.”—Marcelo J. Borges, author of Chains of Gold: Portuguese Migration to Argentina in Transatlantic PerspecTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Mobilizing Diaspora 2. The Great War in Il Plata 3. Mobilization in São Paulo and Mobility in the Italian Atlantic 4. War’s Antagonists in Atlantic South America 5. The Making of an Italo-Atlantic Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisPinpointing World War I as the catalyst, David Davis argues southern modernism was not a self-generating outburst of writing, but a response to the disruptions modernity generated in the region. In World War I and Southern Modernism, Davis examines dozens of works of literature by writers that depict the South during the war.Trade Review"Davis’s project remains a critical one: the formative influence of the war on the cultural products of the US South remains underexplored, and he has uncovered many crucial sources. World War I and Southern Modernism opens the door on an essential topic." — ALH Online Review, XIX.1 (2019)

Read more less

Book SynopsisK. B. E. E. Eimeleus was ahead of his time with his advocacy of ski training in the Russian armed forces. Employing terminology never before used in Russian to describe movements with which few were familiar, Skis in the Art of War gives a breakdown of the latest techniques at the time from Scandinavia and Finland. Eimeleus''s work is an early and brilliant example of knowledge transfer from Scandinavia to Russia within the context of sport.Nearly three decades after he published his book, the Finnish army, employing many of the ideas first proposed by Eimeleus, used mobile ski troops to hold the Soviet Union at bay during the Winter War of 193940, and in response, the Soviet government organized a massive ski mobilization effort prior to the German invasion in 1941. The Soviet counteroffensive against Nazi Germany during the winter of 194142 owed much of its success to the Red Army ski battalions that had formed as a result of the ski mobilization. In this luciTrade ReviewWith an approachable introduction by the justly celebrated ski historian E. John B. Allen, Skis in the Art of War offers advice, of course, on martial matters... [and] holds wisdom for the contemporary skier. Thoroughly engaging. * The Wall Street Journal *Skis in the Art of War, along with its prefacing commentary, gives readers insight into the topic of winter warfare conditions, and ski culture and history, at the intersection of environment and technology studies. This fascinating source is sure to benefit a wide variety of readers, from historians of Europe, Russia, the Arctic, and the environment, to those broadly interested in ski and military history. * H-net *Expert translation and commentary by ski historians Frank and Allen have produced this compelling version of a Russian manual of ski-based training and combat from 1912. [The] final sections of technical detail provide a fascinating glimpse into the international cooperation, civil society initiatives, and interwoven military-athletic culture of pre-1914 Europe. * Choice *...an outstanding translation with commentary.... a superbly presented, brilliantly researched and readable book. All the original 119 illustrations, line drawings and photographs are reproduced with remarkable clarity. * Slavonic and East European Review *Recently translated from the original Russian by William D. Frank and E. John B. Allen, and completed with commentary, explanations of technical terminology, and beautifully transferred sketches and images, this book is a work of passion for skiing and athletics by its author, and a substantial achievement for those who worked to bring it to a modern readership. * Canadian Slavonic Papers *Thanks to this magnificent translation, the reader can enjoy this excellent work that would otherwise have been very difficult due to its original language. [T]he notes section, with comments provided by professors Frank and Allen, is simply masterful. [T]he bibliography is nothing short of a treasure. * Journal of Sport History *

Read more less

Book SynopsisAt the end of 1941, six weeks after the mass deportations of Jews from Nazi Germany had begun, Gestapo offices across the Reich received an urgent telex from Adolf Eichmann, decreeing that all war-wounded and decorated Jewish veterans of World War I be exempted from upcoming evacuations. Why this was so, and how Jewish veterans at least initially were able to avoid the fate of ordinary Jews under the Nazis, is the subject of Comrades Betrayed. Michael Geheran deftly illuminates how the same values that compelled Jewish soldiers to demonstrate bravery in the front lines in World War I made it impossible for them to accept passively, let alone comprehend, persecution under Hitler. After all, they upheld the ideal of the German fighting man, embraced the fatherland, and cherished the bonds that had developed in military service. Through their diaries and private letters, as well as interviews with eyewitnesses and surviving family members and records from the police, GestTrade ReviewMichael Geheran's archival research and sharp focus on the fate of the most protected sub-class of the persecuted Jews make Comrades Betrayed an invaluable if grim contribution to the history of a depraved government and warped society that murdered as many of its proudly loyal veterans as it could. * Michigan War Studies Review *Geheran has written an extremely readable and well-researched book. It makes you proud to read about how these Jewish veterans maintained their sense of honor and military values which allowed them to defy the Nazis in the face of the discriminatory action taken against them. * The Jewish Veteran *Comrades Betrayed is an important new study of the experience of Jewish veterans during the years of the Weimar Republic (1918-1933) and the Third Reich (1933-1945). The book is based on extensive archival research, along with diaries, letters, and oral histories of Holocaust victims and survivors. * The NYMAS Review *Geheran offers a particularly effective viewpoint with his analysis of these former soldiers' notions of masculinity and their relation to comradeship... [He] mobilizes an impressive array of archival and published primary sources to build an intriguing narrative. * Global Military Studies Review *Geheran's book certainly adds further depth to the history of the German-Jewish war veterans. Its real significance, though, lies in the final three chapters. Here, Geheran meticulously investigates how Jewish veterans' relationship to the war and to former comrades could lead to certain 'privileges', but all too often also to their destruction. * German History *The strength of Geheran's work lies in the impressive diversity of sources consulted. Comrades Betrayed is a significant contribution to our understanding of how this unique population of German Jews negotiated the Third Reich's multifaceted racial state. * Holocaust & Genocide Studies *Based on a close analysis of memoirs, letters, and official documents, Geheran's well-researched account brings the veterans' voices to light and effectively writes this group into German and German-Jewish history. Comrades Betrayed is an impressive, well-crafted, and persuasive work, an enormously valuable contribution to German history, Jewish history, and the history of the Holocaust, which vividly and compellingly humanizes a unique group of the Nazis' victims. * Central European History *A fascinating tapestry is woven in the book, using personal stories of interventions "from above" in favour of former soldiers. Geheran's book certainly deals with a tough and complex moral issue, and the author tackles it remarkably well. * International Jounal of Military History and Historiography *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Reappraising Jewish War Experiences, 1914–18 2. The Politics of Comradeship: Weimar Germany, 1918–33 3. "These Scoundrels Are Not the German People": The Nazi Seizure of Power, 1933–35 4. Jewish Frontkämpfer and the Nazi Volksgemeinschaft 5. Under the "Absolute" Power of National Socialism, 1938–41 6. Defiant Germanness Epilogue

Read more less

Book SynopsisTable of ContentsIntroduction: Britain and the Military Manpower Problems of the Empire, 1900–1945, by Douglas E. Delaney and Mark Frost 1. The Government That Could Not Say No and Australia's Military Effort, 1914–1918, by Jean Bou 2. Irish Identities in the British Army during the First World War, by Richard S. Grayson 3. Conserving British Manpower during and after the First World War, by Jessica Meyer 4. The Canadian Garrison Artillery Goes to War, 1914–1918, by Roger Sarty 5. "Returning Home to Fight": Bristolians in the Dominion Armies, 1914–1918, by Kent Fedorowich and Charles Booth 6. Martial Race Theory and Recruitment in the Indian Army during Two World Wars, by Kaushik Roy 7. Manpower, Training, and the Battlefield Leadership of British Army Officers in the Era of the Two World Wars, by Gary Sheffield 8. Legitimacy, Consent, and the Mobilization of the British and Commonwealth Armies during the Second World War, by Jonathan Fennell 9. "Enemy Aliens" and the Formation of Australia's 8th Employment Company, by Paul R. Bartrop 10. The Body and Becoming a Soldier in Britain during the Second World War, by Emma Newlands 11. Canada and the Mobilization of Manpower during the Second World War, by Daniel Byers 12. South African Manpower and the Second World War, by Ian van der Waag 13. Manpower Mobilization, and Rehabilitation in New Zealand's Second World War, by Ian McGibbon 14. Caring for British Commonwealth Soldiers in the Aftermath of the Second World War, by Meghan Fitzpatrick Conclusion: The Many Dimensions of Mobilizing Military Manpower, by Douglas E. Delaney and Andrew L. Brown

Read more less

Book SynopsisChallenging the conventional wisdom that mass mobilization warfare fosters democratic reform and expands economic, social, and political rights, War and Democracy reexamines the effects of war on domestic politics by focusing on how wartime states either negotiate with or coerce organized labor, policies that profoundly affect labor''s beliefs and aspirations. Because labor unions frequently play a central role in advancing democracy and narrowing inequalities, their wartime interactions with the state can have significant consequences for postwar politics.Comparing Britain and Italy during and after World War I, Elizabeth Kier examines the different strategies each government used to mobilize labor for war and finds that total war did little to promote political, civil, or social rights in either country. Italian unions anticipated greater worker management and a land to the peasants program as a result of their wartime service; British labTable of Contents1. Mobilizing Labor for War and Its Implications for Democracy 2. Disciplining Italian Labor 3. Managing British Labor 4. Choosing a Mobilization Strategy: A Counterfactual Analysis 5. Italian Labor's Revolutionary Socialism 6. British Labor's Moderate Socialism 7. Compliance, Revenge, and the Rise of Italian Fascism 8. Revisiting Competing Accounts, and the Failure of British Reform Conclusion: Bringing the Politics of War into the Politics of Peace

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Dying to Learn, Michael Hunzeker develops a novel theory to explain how wartime militaries learn. He focuses on the Western Front, which witnessed three great-power armies struggle to cope with deadlock throughout the First World War, as the British, French, and German armies all pursued the same solutions-assault tactics, combined arms, and elastic defense in depth. By the end of the war, only the German army managed to develop and implement a set of revolutionary offensive, defensive, and combined arms doctrines that in hindsight represented the best way to fight.Hunzeker identifies three organizational variables that determine how fighting militaries generate new ideas, distinguish good ones from bad ones, and implement the best of them across the entire organization. These factors are: the degree to which leadership delegates authority on the battlefield; how effectively the organization retains control over soldier and officer training; andTrade ReviewFrom his detailed case studies, Hunzeker develops a theory of wartime learning. Hunzeker specializes in conventional deterrence, war termination, military adaptation, and simulation design. * Michigan War Studies Review *Dying to Learn is a valuable and impressive academic and practitioner's analysis. It is not easy reading. The author demonstrates the value of institutional, organizational, and doctrinal study, however unexciting the topics are for many. * US Army War College Press *Dying to Learn will be especially relevant to contemporary military service personnel thinking about their own profession as it contends with the complexity of learning in a time of great stress and strain.Hunzeker offers a model to understand wartime learning[.] * Canadian Military History *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Wartime Learning Assessment, Command, and Training Theory Learning on the Western Front The German Army on the Western Front The British Army on the Western Front The French Army on the Western Front Conclusion: Alternative Explanations and Policy Implications

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewElite business history may never be scintillating, but this ambitious book makes it more compelling. * Choice *

Read more less

Book SynopsisWith expert scholars and great sensitivity, Out of Line, Out of Place illuminates and analyzes how the proliferation of internment camps emerged as a biopolitical tool of governance. Although the internment camp developed as a technology of containment, control, and punishment in the latter part of the nineteenth century mainly in colonial settings, it became universal and global during the Great War. Mass internment has long been recognized as a defining experience of World War II, but it was a fundamental experience of World War I as well. More than eight million soldiers became prisoners of war, more than a million civilians became internees, and several millions more were displaced from their homes, with many placed in securitized refugee camps. For the first time, Out of Line, Out of Place brings these different camps together in conversation. Rotem Kowner and Iris Rachamimov emphasize that although there were differences among camps and varied logic of internment in individual countries, there were also striking similarities in how camps operated during the Great War.Trade ReviewThis book has great merit. It compares various case studies in Europe and beyond and, thus, offers a broad picture of internment operations. Such a wide-ranging approach presents the multiple categories of individuals interned, including combatants, enemy aliens, and political prisoners; widespread camp locations; and connections among state practices. The reflections that chapters propose on the global character of this wartime phenomena also helps foster an understanding of the First World War beyond the battlefield and beyond the period of 1914–18. * H-Net *For all these reasons, this book is necessary reading for anyone interested in the history of internment and war captivity. * H-net *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Military, Civilian, and Political Internments: Examining Great War Internments Together, by Iris Rachamimov and Rotem Kowner Part I: Internments in Europe 1. (Dis)entangling the Local, the National, and the International: Civilian Internment in Germany and in German-Occupied France and Belgium in Global Context, by Matthew Stibbe 2. The Captives of the Kaiser: Schutzhaft and Political Prisoners in Germany, by André Keil 3. Securitized Protection: Health Work in Wartime Austria-Hungary and the Making of Refugee Camps, by Doina Anca Cretu 4. Alexandra Palace: A Concentration Camp in the Heart of London, by Assaf Mond 5. Prisoner-of-War Civilian Experience: The Role of Profession among POWs, by Lena Radauer 6. The Face and Race of the Enemy: German POW Photographs as a Weapon of War, by Nancy Fitch Part II: Internments Beyond Europe 7. "Enemies of Our Country": Internment in Canada's Rocky Mountains National Park, 1915–1917, by Bohdan S. Kordan 8. Globalizing Captivity: "Little Germany in China", by Naoko Shimazu 9. German Propaganda and the African and Asian Theaters of the War, by Mahon Murphy Part III: Interwar Repurcussions and Beyond 10. Internment after the War's End: "Humanitarian Camps" in the POW Repatriation Process, 1918–1923, by Hazuki Tate 11. POWs, Civilians, and the Postwar Development of International Humanitarian Law, by Neville Wylie and Sarina Landefeld Conclusion: World War I and Its Internments: Final Remarks, by Iris Rachamimov and Rotem Kowner

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Ottoman Empire was unprepared for the massive conflict of World War I. Lacking the infrastructure and resources necessary to wage a modern war, the empire's statesmen reached beyond the battlefield to sustain their war effort. They placed unprecedented hardships onto the shoulders of the Ottoman people: mass conscription, a state-controlled economy, widespread food shortages, and ethnic cleansing. By war's end, few aspects of Ottoman daily life remained untouched. When the War Came Home reveals the catastrophic impact of this global conflict on ordinary Ottomans. Drawing on a wide range of sources—from petitions, diaries, and newspapers to folk songs and religious texts—Yiğit Akın examines how Ottoman men and women experienced war on the home front as government authorities intervened ever more ruthlessly in their lives. The horrors of war brought home, paired with the empire's growing demands on its people, fundamentally reshaped interactions between Ottoman civilians, the military, and the state writ broadly. Ultimately, Akın argues that even as the empire lost the war on the battlefield, it was the destructiveness of the Ottoman state's wartime policies on the home front that led to the empire's disintegration.Trade Review"When the War Came Home is an authoritative social history among the many recent works on the Ottoman experience of World War I. Based on an imaginative array of sources, Yiğit Akın portrays meticulously and eloquently the upended lives of civilians and soldiers in the morass of the Middle East's fateful war."—Hasan Kayalı, University of California, San Diego"Yiğit Akın's treatment of the Ottoman homefront represents a critical breakthrough in the study of the First World War. Drawing upon highly original and interesting archival sources, as well as previously untapped published material, Akin vividly depicts the many hardships faced by Ottoman civilians during the course of the conflict. The book's artful prose makes it an engaging read for both students and scholars of the war, adding to its critical value for readers well beyond the field of modern Middle Eastern history."—Ryan Gingeras, Naval Postgraduate School"Yiğit Akın has written a pioneering study, examining the long-neglected Ottoman home front during World War I. When the War Came Home illuminates the war's deep social and economic impact on the empire's civilian population."—Mustafa Aksakal, Georgetown University"WW I has long been a topic of interest for Ottoman scholars, but the Ottoman home front has been largely ignored or, at best, unevenly treated. In this book Akın (Tulane Univ.) shows that the length and scale of the war meant that everyone in the Ottoman empire was affected....Akın's research was extensive (he even usedoften-ignored folklore), and it enabled him to provide vivid descriptions ofthose left behind struggling to meet the state's growing material demands, succumbing to starvation and banditry, and becoming increasingly alienated from the state."—R.W. Zens, Choice"Yiğit Akın's book, When the War Came Home: The Ottomans' Great War and the Devastation of an Empire, is a well-researched and sophisticated study of the impact of the Great War on Ottoman politics, society, and culture....Akın's study of the Ottoman civilian experience of the Great War brings to life a rich trove of sources. The book's strong research base, its sophisticated and multidisciplinary analysis, and comparative approach make it a valuable addition to the lively field of Ottoman Great War studies and to the broader scholarship on the history of the Great War."—Najwa Al-Qattan, H-Diplo, H-Net Reviews"Akın's When the War Came Home is an important historical revision that fully portrays the imperial home front for the first time. Moreover, this unique interdisciplinary work reconsiders existing temporal, geographical, and methodological approaches to the study of World War I in the Middle East."––Melanie S. Tanielian, Journal of Interdisciplinary History"Yiğit Akın's fascinating book is an essential read for anyone interested in the history of World War I, the late Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey and is certain to occupy an important place in these fields for many years to come."—Erdem Sönmez, European History QuarterlyTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. From the Balkan Wars to the Great War 2. From the Fields to the Ranks 3. Filling the Ranks, Emptying Homes 4. Feeding the Army, Starving the People 5. In the Home: Wives and Mothers 6. On the Road: Refugees and Deportees Conclusion

Read more less