First World War Books

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Book SynopsisDuring the First World War approximately 210,000 Irish men and a much smaller, but significant, number of Irish women served in the British armed forces. All were volunteers and a very high proportion were from Catholic and Nationalist communities. This book is the first comprehensive analysis of Irish recruitment between 1914 and 1918 for the island of Ireland as a whole. It makes extensive use of previously neglected internal British army recruiting returns held at The National Archives, Kew, along with other valuable archival and newspaper sources.There has been a tendency to discount the importance of political factors in Irish recruitment, but this book demonstrates that recruitment campaigns organised under the auspices of the Irish National Volunteers and Ulster Volunteer Force were the earliest and some of the most effective campaigns run throughout the war. The British government conspicuously failed to create an effective recruiting organisation or to mobilise civic society in Ireland. While the military mobilisation which occurred between 1914 and 1918 was the largest in Irish history, British officials persistently characterised it as inadequate, threatening to introduce conscription in 1918.This book also reflects on the disparity of sacrifice between North-East Ulster and the rest of Ireland, urban and rural Ireland, and Ireland and Great Britain.Trade ReviewReviews'This is a tremendously important and academically rigorous book, which will come to be seen as a seminal text in the study of Ireland's First World War. It punctures a number of myths about recruitment, and also has significant relevance to wider studies of the Irish Revolution.'Professor Richard S. Grayson, Goldsmiths, University of London'The book offers a fertile breeding ground for further studies. It represents a valuable historiographical contribution through its engagement with nationalist and unionist responses to the war effort.'Emmanuel Destenay, Journal of British Studies‘This is a fine piece of scholarship. It significantly advances our understanding of recruiting in Ireland in 1914–18, and sheds light on the wider British war effort as well.' Gary Sheffield, English Historical ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction1. ‘Gone for a Soldier’: Irish Recruitment to the British Armed Forces, 1903-19142. ‘They could only look for a moderate success’: Recruiting in the South and West of Ireland3. For Empire, Ulster or Ireland? Recruiting in Ulster4. Bureaucracy, Propaganda and the Conscription Crisis5. ‘The only privilege we have’: Wartime Officer Appointment6. A Divided Kingdom: Comparisons of British and Irish RecruitingConclusion

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Book SynopsisThe Palestine campaign of 1917 saw Britain’s armed forces rise from defeat to achieve stunning victory. After two failed attempts in the spring, at the end of the year they broke through the Ottoman line with an innovative mixture of old and new technology and tactics, and managed to advance over 50 miles, from Gaza to Jerusalem, in only two months. As well as discussions of military strategy, Stuart Hadaway’s gripping narrative of the campaign gives a broad account of the men on both sides who lived and fought in the harsh desert conditions of Palestine, facing not only brave and determined enemies, but also the environment itself: heat, disease and an ever-present thirst.Involving Ottoman, ANZAC, British and Arab forces, the campaign saw great empires manoeuvring for the coveted Holy Land. It was Britain’s victory in 1917, however, that redrew the maps of the Middle East and shaped the political climate for the century to come.

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Book SynopsisGerman Infantry Regiment 66 fought in most of the great battles on the Western Front in the First World War: Le Cateau, First Marne, Arras 1915, the Somme, Chemin des Dames 1917, the German March 1918 offensive, Chemin des Dames 1918, Second Marne and the Siegfried Line. This is the official regimental history, written in 1930 by Major Dr Otto Korfes, an officer in the regiment for most of the war and a Reichsarchiv historian.The German 66th Regiment in the First World War presents a unique insight into the German Army during the Great War, showcasing a perspective all too often ignored. Translated by German Army expert Terence Zuber, it includes maps and pencil sketches by the famed German war artist Döbrich-Steglitz. Containing a viewpoint that will add balance to anyone’s knowledge of the events of 1914–1918, this volume is a must-read for military historians and enthusiasts alike.

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Book SynopsisThe diary of an officer in the 6th Royal Dublin Fusiliers covering 1914-19 and four theatres of war. Noël Drury (1884-1975) was from a middle-class Dublin Protestant family and served most of the First World War as an officer in the 6th Royal Dublin Fusiliers in the 10th (Irish) Division. The division was the first of Ireland's wartime volunteer formations to be posted overseas, arriving at Gallipoli in August 1915 in the Suvla Bay landings. Drury and his battalion experienced several key phases of the Gallipoli campaign before being redeployed to Salonika in October 1915. Drury was away from his battalion for a year in 1916-17 suffering from malaria, but rejoined in Palestine towards the end of 1917. From there his battalion was sent to the Western Front in the summer of 1918 to take part in the Hundred Days Offensive. Drury's diaries describe training, daily life, contrasting theatres of the war, and show what it meant to be an Irish officer in the British army.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction 1 Volunteering and Training, September 1914-July 1915 2 The Voyage to the Dardanelles, July-August 1915 3 Gallipoli: Landing at Suvla Bay and the Next Ten Days, 7-17 August 1915 4 Gallipoli: Digging In, 18 August-October 1915 5 The Serbian Front and the Battle of Kosturino, October-December 1915 6 The Salonika Front and Hospital, December 1915-September 1917 7 Egypt and Palestine, September-December 1917 8 Defending Jerusalem and the Battle of Tell 'Asur, December 1917-July 1918 9 France, July-11 November 1918 10 Armistice, 12 November 1918-11 March 1919 Appendices Biographies Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisDuring his long and extraordinary life, Winston Churchill was a central figure in almost all of the tumultuous events of the first half of the twentieth century. He was a soldier, writer and politician and, after the Second World War, he became one of the world's greatest statesmen. But his reputation rests on his role as a war leader and, in particular, on the period between May 1940 and July 1941, when Britain stood alone against Nazi Germany. Since his death in 1965, a few dissenting voices have cast him as, amongst other things, an opportunist and war-monger. But, as flawed as he undoubtedly was, most modern historians and politicians still hold him in the highest regard. In order to gain a better understanding of this remarkable man, this book looks at some of the key moments in Churchill's life, including his role in the British Army's last cavalry charge in the Battle of Omdurman and his escape from a prisoner of war camp during the Boer War. It then focuses on those momentous times when Churchill's courage and force of character almost single-handedly dragged Britain back from the brink of defeat in the Second World War and onwards towards an eventual Allied victory, making him, in the eyes of many people, one of the greatest of all Great Britons...Trade Reviewfocuses on those momentous times when Churchill's courage and force of character almost single-handedly dragged Britain from the brink of defeat in WWII and onwards towards an eventual Allied victory * Best of British Magazine *

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Book SynopsisScapa Flow was one of the world's great naval bases and the scene of many of the major events of twentieth-century naval history. During both World Wars, the Royal Navy made Scapa the home for its capital ships, and thousands of servicemen and women were posted to Orkney. From here the Grand Fleet sailed for Jutland in 1916, from here the escorts for the Russian convoys set off, and it was in this beautiful, bleak anchorage that the German High Seas fleet committed the greatest act of suicide ever seen at sea – 'The Grand Scuttle' – before being later raised and scrapped in the most astonishing feat of maritime salvage in history. It was also in Scapa that the last photographs of Kitchener were taken as he boarded HMS Hampshire, shortly before she was sunk by mine off Marwick Head. Scapa is also the grave of many who fought for their country in both World Wars. In its silent waters lie the wrecks of the battleship Vanguard, blown apart by an explosion in 1917, and the Royal Oak, sunk by U-47 in a spectacular raid at the beginning of World War II . Here the first Luftwaffe raids on Britain occured, here too Italian prisoners-of-war built both the spectacular Churchill causeways and the exquisite chapel on the island of Lamb Holm. In this book, illustrated with over 130 archive photographs, James Miller traces the story of this remarkable place, weaving together history, eyewitness accounts and personal experience to capture the life and spirit of Scapa Flow when it was home to thousands of service personnel and the most powerful fleet in the world.Trade Review'a fascinating book, in which every reader will find something she/he never knew' * Scots Magazine * 'an interesting insight into life in a naval base during two world wars' * Broadly Boats *

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Book SynopsisThe First World War, lasting just four years, from 1914 to 1918, was without parallel, the first true global conflict in which all of the earth's great powers participated. A Short History of the First World War tells the story of this cataclysmic event describing the background to war, the international rivalries and conflicts of the previous decades that led to the nations of Europe forming virtual armed camps, the relentless build-up of military and naval hardware that characterized the early years of the 20th century and the great figures that tried to prevent conflict or enthusiastically pushed for it. A Short History of the First World War provides a superb introduction to the events of this epochal conflict.

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Book Synopsis‘ Well written and persuasive … objective and well-rounded… .this scholarly rehabilitation should be the standard biography’ **** Andrew Roberts, Mail on Sunday ‘ A true judgment of him must lie somewhere between hero and zero, and in this detailed biography Gary Sheffield shows himself well qualified to make it … a balanced portrait’ Sunday Times ‘ Solid scholarship and admirable advocacy’ Sunday Telegraph Douglas Haig is the single most controversial general in British history. In 1918, after his armies had won the First World War, he was feted as a saviour. But within twenty years his reputation was in ruins, and it has never recovered. In this fascinating biography, Professor Gary Sheffield reassesses Haig’ s reputation, assessing his critical role in preparing the army for war.

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Book SynopsisThe complete panoramas of Passchendaele from the author of The Battlefields of the First World War.Today, concertina'd into a single sombre entity known as Passchendaele, the British 1917 offensives in Belgian Flanders have entered the English language as the epitome of all that was both wretched and noble about the Great War. Collectively known as the Third Battle of Ypres, the fighting raged from early June until mid-November, and revealed new depths of tragedy, heights of gallantry, astonishing stoicism, humour, loss, grief, and terrible human suffering. The remains of no less than 200,000 soldiers still lie unfound within the narrow boundaries of the battlefield of Passchendaele. The German panoramas - many of which have not seen the light of day since the end of the war - match and often surpass the Imperial War Museum for both scale and quality. Like their British equivalents, they were taken at huge personal risk by specialist photographers. All the panoramas reveal what no other photographs can - the view beyond the trench parapet - and a great deal more. Also included are unpublished testimony, letters and memoirs from all the different regiments who served on the Somme, sourced from the regimental archives across the United Kingdom, Ireland and elsewhere; stunning mapping, plans and diagrams throughout; and equivalent aerial photographs.Trade Review"'An extraordinary set of panoramic photographs that reveal the battlefields of the Western Front as never before.' The Times 'The book is a magnificent effort and most impressive - one could almost say unique.' Lyn Macdonald 'Is without doubt the best publication on the Great War in many years it is a superb piece of work.' Western Front Association"

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Book SynopsisAll the guns examined in this new paperback edition of Machine Guns of World War 1 belong to the class known as "automatic" and seven classic World War 1 weapons are illustrated in some 250 colour photographs. Detailed sequences shows them in close-up:during step-by-step field stripping, and during handling, loading and live firing trials with ball ammunition, by gunners wearing period uniforms to put these historic guns in their visual context.Trade Review"A very valuable contribution to the study of the Great War." * Tank Journal *"Robert Bruce has produced a fantastic combination of highly detailed text, constructional and background information, together with realist live firing sequences. This book is a must for anyone with an interest in the weapons, uniforms and equipment from this period." * The Armourer *

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Book SynopsisIn the long and absorbing history of Britain's railways and the men and women who have worked on them, the most challenging years were those of the two world wars. Neither of these wars could have been won without the railways. Transportation of everything that was grown, made or mined, as well as soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians was largely the task of the railways. Yet the contribution of railways, and railway men and women in wartime has often been overlooked. This book pays tribute to the way the railways and their staff responded to the demand that they do more with fewer resources. They were called upon to cope with the extraordinary change in the character and volume of passenger and goods traffic, to endure dangerously long hours, and to overcome fear. Small wayside stations could be transformed into a frenzy of activity by the location of a camp or supply depot on its doorstep. Disruption through bomb damage could turn the shift of locomotive crew or guard into an indefinite wait for relief. The railway companies built many and various memorials to honour their fallen workers - these monuments, created and designed by high-calibre sculptors and architects, are included within the book's gazetteer. The book inevitably includes many statistics as well as dates, but it is impossible to comprehend the magnitude of the railway's contribution to the wars without them. The focus is on the railways of Britain, but sketches of the overseas theatres give some idea of the work of railway construction and operating companies, which were largely made up of railwaymen.Trade ReviewReviews'Books about the railways' work in the World Wars usually deal with just one of them: this covers both, yet it encompasses remarkable detail [...] Despite this volume's relatively small size, it conveys brilliantly the sacrifices made by our railways in text and well-chosen illustrations: warmly recommended.' Philip Scowcroft, Journal of the Railway & Canal Historical SocietyTable of ContentsTo follow

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Book SynopsisAnglo-German naval rivalry before 1914 had been expected to culminate in a cataclysmic fleet action in the North Sea once war was declared, a battle upon which the outcome of the war would depend: yet the two fleets met only once, at Jutland in 1916, and the battle was far from conclusive. In his own account of the war in the North Sea, first published in 1920, Admiral Scheer, the German commander at Jutland, gives his own explanation for the failure of either fleet to achieve the decisive victory expected of it, particularly the failure of his own operation plans that resulted in the battle of Jutland. This book is an invaluable account of one of the most important theatres of the First World War, written by one of its most senior commanders.

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Book SynopsisThis volume offers a comprehensive and original analysis and reconceptualisation of the compendium of struggles that wracked the collapsing Tsarist empire and the emergent USSR, profoundly affecting the history of the twentieth century. Indeed, the reverberations of those decade-long wars echo to the present day -- not despite, but because of the collapse of the Soviet Union, which re-opened many old wounds, from the Baltic to the Caucasus. Contemporary memorialising and 'de-memorialising' of these wars, therefore form part of the book's focus, but at its heart lie the struggles between various Russian political and military forces which sought to inherit and preserve, or even expand, the territory of the tsars, overlain with examinations of the attempts of many non- Russian national and religious groups to divide the former empire. The reasons why some of the latter were successful (Poland and Finland, for example), while others (Ukraine, Georgia and the Muslim Basmachi) were not, are as much the author's concern as are explanations as to why the chief victors of the 'Russian' Civil Wars were the Bolsheviks.Tellingly, the work begins and ends with battles in Central Asia - a theatre of the 'Russian' Civil Wars that was closer to Mumbai than it was to Moscow.Trade Review'Jonathan Smele’s authoritative The “Russian” Civil Wars emphasised the multinational and panoramic nature of the military conflict that overtook the Russian Empire in its dying years.' -- Financial TimesTable of ContentsIntroduction: A World War Condensed1. 1916-18: The Beginnings of the "Russian" Civil Wars2. 1918-19: The Triumphal March of Reaction3. 1919-20: White Thrusts, Red Ripostes4. 1920-1: Battles in the Marchlands5. 1917-21: On the Internal Fronts6. 1921-6: The Ends of the "Russian" Civil WarsConclusion: Red Victories, Red Defeat

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Book SynopsisRecollections of an Unsuccessful Seaman was written in 1928/1929 by George Leonard Noake, who wanted to keep himself occupied for the rest of his days after learning of his incurable illness from which he died, aged 42 years, in 1929. Born in 1887, he joined the nautical training establishment, H.M.S. Conway, in 1903 and then served an apprenticeship at sea until 1908 when his detailed memoirs commence with him sailing as a second officer in the European/West African trade. After going ashore to work on a farm between 1913 and 1915, he returned to the mercantile marine in 1915 during the First World War to sail in a number of ships carrying horses, grain and coal. He survived not only being torpedoed in the English Channel, but also making 112 trips between England and Europe on a ship carrying war materials. Subsequently joining one of the largest tankers in the world, he endured a hazardous passage without a naval escort through the Channel to Rosyth to deliver safely the precious oil cargo before hostilities ended. The narrative of his wartime experiences are both harrowing and humorous. The tanker continued to trade in peacetime between Mexico and South America before eventually returning to Hull, where he signed-off to see his family after being away for seven months. War reparations had him travelling out to the East as a passenger to sail as second officer on board a German vessel bound for Europe, where the Depression after the war gave him no hope for further seagoing employment. Borrowing money from a relative in 1921 he bought into a farm before becoming a haulage contractor. On the verge of bankruptcy in 1923, he escaped his creditors by joining a ship bound for Australia as a quartermaster. Luck was on his side and upon his return home, he became master of a `Glasgow Puffer' that had been converted to carry oil. He remained in the employ of the National Benzole Company to take command of three coastal tankers before accepting work as a chief officer on a ship trading in the Mediterranean. His seagoing career as a chief officer ended in 1927 when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Readers of this poignant portrayal of life in the 1900s, not only at sea but also ashore, will be thoroughly entertained and moved by the author's experiences and humour. Leonard Noake was undoubtedly a true character, a person who enjoyed more than a tipple or two, a strong supporter of the fledgling unions being born in that era and an unrelenting critic of shipping magnates and their shareholders. The last chapter of the book has been published without correction or editing to permit the reader to make his/her own judgement of Len, his heartfelt style of writing and his passionately held beliefs.Trade Review`Readers of this poignant portrayal of life at sea and ashore in the first part of the 20th century will be both entertained and moved. What shines through the pages is his constant `can do’ attitude and humour. A totally fascinating story of seafaring one hundred years ago with 30 pages of watercolour sketches and photographs’. The Cadet -------------------- BOOK OF THE MONTH `...it is a true unpretentious insight into the life in the mercantile marine some 90 years ago and has been magnificently edited by his great-nephew, David Creamer. Sometimes harrowing, but often humorous, this is a true gem and a poignant portrayal of life at sea and ashore in the 1900s'. Sea Breezes -------------------- `Penned with warmth and humour, this is an engaging tale of one of the genuine war heros of the age - one of those unknown seamen who signed for voyage after voyage into war torn seas to quite literally save Britain'. Julian Stockwin -------------------- `Readers of this poignant portrayal of life in the first quarter of the 20th century, not only at sea but also ashore, will be thoroughly entertained and moved by the author's experience and humour. Here is an amazing collection of a seafarer's tales. ...is a valuable contribution to the literature of the British Mercantile Marine. In particular it is one of the best of its type and a valuable link with our forefathers' seafaring days: 1903-1927'. Paul Ridgeway, Africa Ports & Ships -------------------- `The narrative of his wartime experiences is both harrowing and humorous. The rest of life is covered in a well written manner. ...a great insight into life at sea in the early part of the 20th century. This is a very good book and I would very highly recommend it to our readers'. Shipping Today and Yesterday -------------------- `...an amazing collection of a seafarer's tales. Recollections of an Unsuccessful Seaman is a valuable contribution to the literature of the British Mercantile Marine'. IFSMA Newsletter -------------------- `BOOK OF THE MONTH! A vivid Voice from our past. His fascinating accounts of serving onboard a remarkable range of vessels in war, peace and the Great Depression years contain many parallels with the present day... The book includes a wonderful selection of photographs, paintings and drawings he made during his time at sea. A kind of oral history, it all adds up to a rare, powerful and very direct account of the often grim realities of seagoing life a century ago'. Telegraph, Nautilus International -------------------- `...it was fascinating to read an extraordinary book...that offers a more intimate picture of the merchant seaman's war. He paints fine word pictures of life at the rough end of the merchant service, as an officer on horse-transports bringing remounts across the Atlantic to the front in France. His wit, laconic attitude and a cheerful demeanour shine through this book, which really does shine a light on merchant seafaring at this traumatic time. Along with the heroism of the combatants, we should remember the merchant mariners, the Armistice Day'. Lloyd's List -------------------- `...record a world now long since lost in the mists of time. The writer of the notebooks and diaries had a very keen eye for detail'. In Depth

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Book SynopsisRosslyn Wemyss' life and career was both fascinating and brilliant - a most distinguished admiral who is very little known. As the Allied Naval Representative at the Armistice negotiations on 11th November, 1918, he left an indelible mark on the life of this country when he was responsible, with Marshal Foch, for the creation of Armistice Day. The negotiations took place in a railway carriage at Compiegne in France when the decision was made at 5.30 am to cease hostilities on land, in the air and sea at 11 am on that day. One of the most illustrious of Scottish admirals, he was a member of the Clan Wemyss, whose ancestral seat is Wemyss Castle in Fife, overlooking the Firth of Forth. Rosslyn joined the Navy at the age of 13 in 1877, at the same time as Prince George, the younger son of the Prince of Wales, they became lifelong friends. After they left Dartmouth they joined their first ship together and sailed around the world for the next two years. In his early career, this friendship found him posted to serve on two ships for Royal Tours abroad and on two of the Royal Yachts. In 1915, by then a Rear Admiral, he was sent to create a naval base at Mudros, to serve the Gallipoli campaign and was in command of the landings and then the evacuation of all the troops. The evacuation was so successful that only one man was lost from the approximately 140,000 who were taken off the beaches. From there, he was sent to Port Said to command the East Indies and Red Sea Station. For the next 18 months, the main thrust of his command was supporting the Arab Revolt and helping T.E. Lawrence and the Arabs, under Emir Feisal, to oust the Turks from all the ports on the eastern shore of the Red Sea. Without his support, the Arab Revolt would have collapsed and the legend of Lawrence of Arabia would not have been created. In 1917 he returned to the United Kingdom to become Deputy First Sea Lord, stepping up to the post of First Sea Lord at the end of the year. As First Sea Lord, he represented British naval interests at the Versailles Peace Conference. Through Rosslyn's rich archive of letters and reports and his own words, this book gives a wonderful insight into the life of a man who became one of the most popular and senior officers in the Royal Navy at the time, and who was known throughout the Navy as 'Rosy'.

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Book SynopsisWhy did Asquith take Britain to war in 1914? What did educated young men believe their role should be? What was it like to fly over the Somme battlefield? How could a trench on the front line be ‘the safest place’? These compelling eye-witness accounts convey what it was really like to experience the first two years of the war up until the fall of Asquith’s government, without the benefit of hindsight or the accumulated wisdom of a hundred years of discussion and writing. Using the rich manuscript resources of the Bodleian Libraries, the book features key extracts from letters and diaries of members of the Cabinet, academic and literary figures, student soldiers and a village rector. The letters of politicians reveal the strain of war leadership and throw light on the downfall of Asquith in 1916, while the experiences of the young Harold Macmillan in the trenches, vividly described in letters home, marked the beginning of his road to Downing Street. It was forbidden to record Cabinet discussions, but Lewis Harcourt’s unauthorised diary provides a window on Asquith’s government, complete with character sketches of some of the leading players, including Winston Churchill. Meanwhile, in one Essex village, the local rector compiled a diary to record the impact of war on his community. These fascinating contemporary papers paint a highly personal and immediate picture of the war as it happened. Fear, anger, death and sorrow are always present, but so too are idealism, excitement, humour, boredom and even beauty.

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Book SynopsisIn August 1914 Kipling's son John, not yet seventeen, volunteered for a commission in the Army, but was initially refused as under age and with poor sight. Kipling pulled some strings and his son was killed at the battle of Loos a short time after. Asked to write a regimental history by the Irish Guards HQ, five years later, this masterpiece appeared. Said Kipling, 'This will be my great work... It is done with agony and bloody sweat.' This edition in two volumes is complete with the orginal maps and appendices and a foreword by George Webb, Editor of The Kipling Journal.

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Book SynopsisAs commander of No. 11 Group, Fighter Command and responsible for the air defence of London and South-East England, Keith Park took charge of the day-to-day direction of the battle. In spotlighting his thoughts and actions during the crisis, Vincent Orange reveals a man whose unfailing energy, courage and cool resourcefulness won not only supreme praise from Churchill but the lasting respect and admiration of all who served under him. However, few officers in any of the services packed more action into their lives, and this book covers the whole of his career youth in New Zealand, success as an ace fighter pilot in World War I, postings to South America and Egypt, Battle of Britain, Command of the RAF in Malta 1942/43, and finally Allied Air Commander-in-Chief of SE Asia under Mountbatten in 1945. His contribution to victory and peace was immense and this biography does much to shed light on the Big Wing controversy of 1940 and give insight into the war in Burma, 1945, and how the huge problems remaining after the wars sudden end were dealt with. Drawn largely from unpublished sources and interviews with people who knew Park, and illustrated with maps and photographs, this is an authoritative biography of one of the worlds greatest unsung heroes.

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Book SynopsisWritten just after the heat of battle and in the language of the time, this extraordinarily moving account expresses in a brutally honest and personal way the ordinary soldier's experience of one of the most horrific series of battles ever fought. Fleurbaix, Bapaume, Beaumetz, Lagnicourt, Bullecourt, The Menin Road, Villers-Bretonneux, Péronne and Mont St. Quentin. Downing describes the mud, the rats, the constant pounding of the guns, the deaths, the futility, but also the humour and heroism of one of the most compelling periods in world history. His writing is spare, beautiful in its clarity and heart-breakingly vivid. Quite simply the finest and most graphic description of these actions ever written. Anyone with an interest in war and the ordinary person's struggle to survive must read this book

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Book SynopsisA fascinating illustrated history of the First World War told through the great houses of the National Trust. The First World War touched every family in the country and this book tells a story of national collective action and intense private experience. The First World War touched every family in the country and this book tells a story of national collective action and intense private experience. Country House at War presents a history of the war through the houses and estates maintained by the National Trust. It shows what happened to the people who lived and worked in many great houses, both upstairs and downstairs, and portrays how they were affected by the war and what happened to those estates in its aftermath. The progress and impact of war can be charted through the buildings and their estates – lawns that had once hosted tea parties and croquet given over to machine gun training and convalescent exercises, for example. With many fascinating and poignant personal stories and many hitherto unpublished photographs of the time, this is an important celebration and commemoration of the First World War.

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Book SynopsisIn 2000 aircraft restorer Guy Black of Aero Vintage located the hulks of at least two Airco DH9 bombers in a remote part of India – hidden away in what had been a Maharaja’s elephant stable at his palace in Bikaner, Rajasthan. They were truly remarkable finds, and extremely rare examples of a near-extinct and important WWI aircraft type – none of which had survived in Britain. Recognising their importance to the UK’s aviation heritage, and excited by the challenge of restoration, Guy set about negotiating their purchase and returning them back to England. Here the whole intriguing story is told – fully illustrated step-by-step – from discovery to recovery, through to research, restoration, re-construction and first flight, all in fascinating, meticulous detail. Also covered is the account of the restoration of the first DH9 to be completed, now housed as a non-flying exhibit at the IWM Duxford.

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Book SynopsisTelling the tale of the HAC's vital contribution to the First World War through its unique collections. The oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, the Honourable Artillery Company boasts a uniquely rich and eventful history. This book marks its distinguished service in the First World War, in which HAC batteries and battalions saw action in almost every theatre of war. Editor Justine Taylor and Art Director Ian Denning have drawn on the HAC's extraordinary wealth of photographs, written archives and treasured objects to produce a beautiful and frequently moving record from recruitment to demobilisation and beyond, concluding with an examination of the Company's role in the Army Reserve today. Packed with compelling accounts of life in the trenches, behind the lines and on the Home Front, this volume conveys the HAC's contribution to and experience of the war effort with stunning immediacy.

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Book SynopsisWilliam Avery Bishop best known as Billy has been hailed as the British Empires highest-scoring World War I fighter ace. Officially credited with victory in seventy-two air battles, the Canadian-born pilot was honoured in a special ceremony by King George V, who presented Bishop with the Victoria Cross, Distinguished Service Order and Military Cross at the same time. Bishop also became an early recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross. Making lone wolf attacks on German aircraft, the daring young flyer pursued targets over enemy lines without having to be responsible for less experienced men in a patrol. Bishops approach to aerial combat was extremely dangerous, however, making him more vulnerable to his adversaries. And, with sparse independent corroboration of his air fighting claims, Bishops tactic left him open to suspicions about the veracity of his combat reports. A key point of this book is Peter Kilduffs careful review of the aces existing combat reports and private correspondence, as well as accounts by friends and foes. Another side of Billy Bishop is revealed in many letters to his fiancée (later wife) relating death-defying experiences while sharing tender inner thoughts. Drawing on some five decades of extensive, even-handed and thorough research into World War I aviation history, Kilduff examines a wealth of German sources for this in-depth study of the aces aerial exploits. Drawing on all his experience, the author sheds new light on Bishops air missions and combats, which so far are steeped in controversy. Such methodology provides as complete an account as possible. Billy Bishop VC Lone Wolf Hunter also serves as a valuable reference work, containing over seventy illustrations relating to Bishop and his adversaries, many previously unpublished.

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Book SynopsisOswald Boelcke was Germany’s first ace in World War One with a total of forty victories. His character, inspirational leadership, organisational genius, development of air-to-air tactics and impact on aerial doctrine are all reasons why Boelcke remains an important figure in the history of air warfare. Paving the way for modern air forces across the world with his pioneering tactics, Boelcke had a dramatic effect on his contemporaries. The fact that he was the Red Baron’s mentor, instructor, squadron commander and friend demonstrates the influence he had upon the German air force. He was one of the first pilots to be awarded the famous Pour le Mérite commonly recognised as the ‘Blue Max’. All of this was achieved after overcoming medical obstacles in his childhood and later life with a willpower and determination. Boelcke even gained the admiration of his enemies. After his tragic death in a midair collision, the Royal Flying Corps dropped a wreath on his funeral, and several of his victims sent another wreath from their German prison camp. His name and legacy of leadership and inspiration live on, as seen in the Luftwaffe’s designation of the Tactical Air Force Wing 31 ‘Boelcke’. In this definitive biography RG Head explores why Oswald Boelcke deserves consideration as the most important fighter pilot of the 20th century and beyond; but also for setting the standard in military aviation flying. This book will appeal to enthusiasts of the German air force, military aviation in general and World War One in particular.

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Book SynopsisAn Irish Independent book of the year. Did the Versailles Peace Treaty cause World War II? The Versailles Peace Treaty — the pact that ended World War I between the German empire and the Allies — has long been regarded as one of the key causes of World War II. Its requirements for massive reparation payments, it is argued, crippled Germany’s economy, de-stabilised the country’s political life, and paved the way for Hitler. Here, Jürgen Tampke disputes this commonplace view, suggesting that Germany got away with its responsibility for World War I, that the treaty was nowhere near as punitive as people think, and that the German hyper-inflation of the 1920s was a deliberate policy to minimise the cost of paying reparations. This is a controversial and important work of revisionist history, which challenges one of the greatest misconceptions of our times.Trade Review‘In this highly readable account Jürgen Tampke tackles the much-debated and perennially fascinating question of whether the Treaty of Versailles caused the Second World War. He comes down firmly on the No side and produces a wealth of evidence and careful analysis to back his arguments. Anyone who is interested in what remains one of modern history’s most important debates will want to read this.’ -- Margaret MacMillan‘An intriguing and persuasive account by an experienced historian of the much-maligned Treaty of Versailles. This new book provides a fresh and often provocative account of a tangled story. It should help put to rest the persisting myth about the 1919 peace with Germany.’ -- Emeritus Professor David Walker‘Gamely confronts the now-prevailing orthodoxy … deserves to be read.’ -- Roger Moorhouse * The Times *‘This is a fascinating and provocative re-assessment of one of the great conventional wisdoms of recent history, made all the more compelling by the Australian-based author's forceful and often witty delivery.’ -- Eamon Delaney * Irish Independent *‘This is an excellent book, which argues it case well. It should be widely read in the lead up to the centenary of the Armistice and peace settlement.’ * NZ International Review *

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Book SynopsisOver and Above is Gurdon’s first and best book, repeatedly reprinted for two decades, variously titled Winged Warriors or Wings of Death. Billed as a novel, it is not so much that as a fictionalised account of his own service flying career, with names changed, incidents rearranged. True, it tells of ‘exciting raids over enemy lines and towns, desperate fights against fearful odds, chivalry shown to an unchivalrous foe...’ but the narrative turns darker as men become wearier, new comrades arrive and are killed, and those who remain try to hold onto meaning in increasingly unintelligible circumstances, a mirror to Gurdon’s own experiences. Written in the style of the era and by and for a class which put great store in maintaining a slangy, backslapping cheerfulness, no matter how grim things were, with chums wishing each other ‘beaucoup Huns’ before embarking on a ‘show’ in ‘beastly’ weather, this book is a classic to rank with Winged Victory by V M Yeates, and which should never have been out of print. This new edition retains exactly the original script but has been updated with an introduction by John Gurdon’s granddaughter Camilla Jane Gurdon Blakeley and an extended illustrated appendix by renowned historian Norman Franks.Trade ReviewGrub Street has re-issued a number of Great War aviator books and this one is up there with the best of them. Gurdon, as Warton, is heroic and tragic. He was just a kid. Imagine the youth of today climbing into a fighter and shooting down twenty-eight enemy aeroplanes in the length of a summer madness? This book is well worth reading to appreciate the author for the brave and flawed young man he was. In later life, Gurdon lived in straitened circumstances, the consequences of the decisions he made as a younger man. -- Mark Barnes * War History Online *

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Book Synopsis6th June 1918 saw more American soldiers fall on French soil than the famous 1944 D-Day landings. Why is this fact so little known?As well as providing a detailed account of this funereal episode, Lafayette We Are Here! looks at the reasons behind American involvement in what was primarily a European conflict. Why did a neutral government in 1914, driven by a largely pacifist population, end up joining the Allies in 1917?In this third instalment of his trilogy concerning the deadliest days of the First World War, Jean-Michel Steg investigates a cataclysmic battle for the American Marines in a small wood in northern France, and presents an informative and accessible overview of the military strategy and geopolitical context.

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Book SynopsisA masterpiece of humanism, Time Stood Still recounts Paul Cohen-Portheim's years of internment in England as an enemy alien during World War One. A passionate but balanced argument against internment and its inherently dehumanizing effects.

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Book SynopsisIn this heartfelt memoir, Maria Wallisfurth recounts the lives of her deaf parents in Germany from the turn of the twentieth century through World War II. Her mother, Maria Giefer, was born in 1897 and her father, Wilhelm Sistermann, was born in 1896. The author captures the seasonal rhythms and family life of her mother's youth in rural Germany, a time filled as much with hardship as it is with love. When she is old enough, she moves to the nearby city of Aachen to attend a school for deaf children, where she learns to lipread and speak. After her schooling is complete, she returns home to work on the family farm and experiences the privations and fear that accompany World War I. She later goes back to Aachen, where she joins a deaf club and falls in love with Wilhelm, a painter and photographer who was raised in the city. Amidst high unemployment, food shortages, and rapid inflation, the two are married in 1925 and two years later the author is born. Under the Nazi regime, Maria and Wilhelm are ordered to undergo forced sterilization. Although their deafness is not hereditary and they submit applications of protest, they are compelled to comply with the law. Despite their dissimilar backgrounds and the political circumstances that roiled their lives, the author's parents showed great love for each other and their only daughter. The Stories They Told Me is a richly detailed document of time and place and a rare account of deaf lives during this era.

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Book SynopsisGerman Ways of War deploys theories of space, mobility, and affect to investigate how war films realize their political projects. Analyzing films across the decades, from the 1910s to 2000s, German Ways of War addresses an important lacuna in media studies: while scholars have tended to focus on the similarities between cinematic looking and weaponized targeting -- between shooting a camera and discharging a gun – this book argues that war films negotiate spaces throughout that frame their violence in ways more revealing than their battle scenes. Beyond that well-known intersection of visuality and violence, German Ways of War explores how the genre frames violence within spatio-affective operations. The production of novel spaces and evocation of new affects transform war films, including the genre’s manipulation of mobility, landscape, territory, scales, and topological networks. Such effects amount to what author Jaimey Fisher terms the films’ “affective geographies” that interweave narrative-generated affects, spatial depictions, and political processes. Trade Review"German Ways of War is an engaging text that charts out a captivating genre history that extends far beyond its immediate scope of German War films. The book is written as a fascinating account to how warfare changed in the twentieth century. . . The project is meticulously researched and provides invaluable political, historical, and legal documentation regarding war and peace policies in Germany." -- Nora M. Alter * author of Projecting History: German Nonfiction Cinema 1967-2000 *"This original study of exemplary German features probes essential dimensions of war cinema that have received little scholarly attention, its geopolitical determinations, spatial imaginaries, and affective geographies. A major contribution to film history and media studies, German Ways of War offers a comprehensive analysis of the numerous countenances and different functions this generic possibility has assumed in exemplary German productions from World War I to the postmillennial era.” -- Eric Rentschler * author of The Use and Abuse of Cinema: German Legacies from the Weimar Era to the Present *"German Ways of War is an engaging text that charts out a captivating genre history that extends far beyond its immediate scope of German War films. The book is written as a fascinating account to how warfare changed in the twentieth century. . . The project is meticulously researched and provides invaluable political, historical, and legal documentation regarding war and peace policies in Germany." -- Nora M. Alter * author of Projecting History: German Nonfiction Cinema 1967-2000 *"This original study of exemplary German features probes essential dimensions of war cinema that have received little scholarly attention, its geopolitical determinations, spatial imaginaries, and affective geographies. A major contribution to film history and media studies, German Ways of War offers a comprehensive analysis of the numerous countenances and different functions this generic possibility has assumed in exemplary German productions from World War I to the postmillennial era.” -- Eric Rentschler * author of The Use and Abuse of Cinema: German Legacies from the Weimar Era to the Present *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements1. Introduction: The Affective Geographies and Generic Transformations of German War Films, 1910s-2000s2. Land into Landscape, Landscape into Territory: Transformations of Space in German War Cinema, 1914-1918 (The Diary of Dr. Hart, Sword and Hearth, Inexpiable)3. “Landscapes of Death” and Memories of the Human: Distance, Scale, and the Double Map in the First “War-Sound-Film” (Westfront 1918, Kameradschaft)4. Combat Films and their Aerial Spaces under the Nazi Regime (Medal of Honor, Squadron Lützow, Above Everything in the World)5. Out of the War Mode: Demobilizing the War Genre in the Postwar Rubble-Film (Request Concert [1940], The Great Love, Ways into Twilight, The Sons of Mr. Gaspary, Birds of Migration)6. War in the Reconstructive 1950s: Genre, Espionage, and Cold-War Subjectivities in the 1950s War Film (Canaris, Fox of Paris, Rommel Calls Cairo)7. Conclusion: Affective Geographies of the Fading Genre (Das Boot, Downfall)NotesBibliography Index

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Book SynopsisUnquestionably a watershed year in world history, 1917 not only saw the Russian Revolution and the US entry into World War I, it also marked a foundational moment in determining global political structures for the remaining twentieth century. Yet while contemporaries were cognizant of these global connections, historiography has been largely limited to analysis of the nation-state. A century later, this book discusses the transnational dimension of the numerous upheavals, rebellions, and violent reactions on a global level that began with 1917. Experts from different continents contribute findings that go beyond the well-known European and transatlantic narratives, making for a uniquely global study of this crucial period in history.

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Book SynopsisThough when people discuss World War I, they usually center on the fighting in Europe, it truly was a global war. This book examines the role of East Asia in the conflict. It looks at how East Asian commentators saw and interpreted the war, both in Europe and elsewhere, and what lessons they drew from the experience for their own societies. What influence did World War I have on East Asian visions of the world order? Presenting scholarship by a number of East Asian authors in English for the first time, the book greatly expands our understanding of World War I and its effects.

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Book SynopsisTraces of Modernism surveys the competing social and political visions that marked the transition from the nineteenth century to the twentieth, and the complex relationships and connections between these visions. A host of international contributors consider an extensive range of philosophical and artistic ideologies—from Bauhaus and Italian futurism to plans for totalitarian state-building—that bloomed in the wake of the World War One and the ensuing worldwide revolutions. These ideologies developed amid the uneasy backdrop of new kinds of international cooperation that were periodically punctuated by sharp bursts of fervid nationalism. At the center of each essay in Traces of Modernism stands the image of the machine, a metaphor for technological innovation and new systems of order that stood unfortunately ready for corruption by forces of authoritarianism.

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