The History Book Club discussion

This is the glossary for the First World War. Here anyone can place urls, articles, reference material etc. which somehow relates to this subject and Keegan's book.

There is of course no advertising, no self promotion, no marketing of any kind allowed; in other words no spam.

by John Keegan

Source: Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I

An excellent site:

firstworldwar.com

http://www.firstworldwar.com/

Trenches on the Web Library:

http://www.worldwar1.com/reflib.htm

Trenches Selected site tour with highlights:

http://www.worldwar1.com/sfguide.htm

Trench Runner (a pretty good search engine)

http://www.worldwar1.com/tsearch.htm

A World War I Forum:

http://www.bulletinboards.com/message...

The Great War Society:

http://www.the-great-war-society.org/

A good site

The Western Front Association:

http://www.wfa-usa.org/new/resources.htm

The Doughboy Center:

The American Expeditionary Forces - World War I -

http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/dbc2.htm

France at War:

http://www.worldwar1.com/france/

The Italian Front;

http://www.worldwar1.com/itafront/

Legends and Traditions of the Great War:

http://www.worldwar1.com/heritage/

World War I Links:

http://www.wfa-usa.org/new/links.cfm

The Near East and the First World War:

http://www.worldwar1.com/neareast/nea...

We also have a First World War thread in our Military History folder:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...

Please feel free to visit this site and chat with our Assisting Moderator - Military History (Aussie Rick)

The British army in WW1 - http://www.1914-1918.net/
and a terrific forum for those who really want to discuss the war - http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/for...

Photos, films, and essays about the war - http://www3.nfb.ca/ww1/

Thank you Gabriele for some very good adds.

My pleasure, Bentley. I have lots more! :)

Here's one for aviation enthusiasts - http://www.theaerodrome.com/

For those interested in the Lusitania - http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/...

My goodness...keep them coming and this is the proper thread.

For a really comprehensive list of WW1 links - http://www.cefresearch.com/matrix/Uti...

Great links Gabriele, thanks.

Another good site:

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/...

A good overview of the "Lost Generation" - http://www.aftermathww1.com/lostgen.asp

Interesting link Gabriele, thanks for posting it. I found this section very interesting:

"The real, unglamorous and unromantic truth was that many soldiers were killed simply because they were too tired to take cover or too wet and miserable to care whether they lived or died. Robert Graves shocked people at a memorial service by telling them that 'the men who fell were not particularly virtuous or wicked but just average soldiers'."

The whole concept of the "lost generation" (in the British sense, not the American, which referred to disillusioned post-war American writers and artists) is interesting to ponder. Yes, a lot of brilliant men were killed, and probably others maimed in body and psyche who thus may not have fulfilled their potential, but it must really have irked those who did survive. I recall Vera Brittain in saying something to the effect that all the best men had been killed and those who were left were second rate, which her husband dismissed as utter rot (or some such thing - I don't have the book handy). Of course, she lost her beloved brother, fiance, and two closest male friends, but I can see how her husband - a survivor - would take umbrage at such a sweeping notion.

Gabriele..my goodness what was Vera Brittain thinking when her husband was right there. It was almost as if she was saying that she settled. So odd.

Bentley, I did get the impression that she settled for what she considered the best of what was left of her generation. Wonder how that marriage really worked out!

That is exactly what I was thinking. Her husband should have taken umbrage and/or at the very least he had a point.

One of the best books that covers 1914 and the early battles on the Western Front is "1914" by Lyn Macdonald. This author has published some of the best accounts covering the Allied armies on the Western Front using numerous first-hand accounts. If you really wanted to read and learn more about World War One and its impact on the soldiers you shouldn't pass by any of Lyn Mcdonald's books.

by Lyn Macdonald
"Macdonald recounts the experiences of the British Expeditionary Force in World War I. This brief period saw the destruction of Britain's prewar army, which suffered casualties in excess of 90 percent. The text is interspersed with accounts by survivors. These, coupled with a vivid narrative style, are the book's strengths. The attention paid to the civilian's plight is also commendable. The causes of the war and broader issues of strategy have been covered in much greater depth elsewhere. The author focuses on the common soldier's point of view. A good account for the general reader." - Library Journal

Last Post: The Final Word from Our First World War Soldiers by Max Arthur is also well worth reading... the personal accounts bring the war alive in an anecdotal fashion that a traditional overview would not do.

Old News but still worthwhile remembering:(Sat July 18, 2009)

World's oldest man, WWI vet, dies aged 113

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/...

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

from For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon

Excellent tribute Harvey.

The BBC has some great information on World War I...very worthwhile:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwar...

The Summary of World War I on BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwar...

The Home Front in World War I:

The Home Front in World War One
By Peter Craddick-Adams

Before World War One British society largely denied women the recognition and rights enjoyed by men. This all changed, however, in the war described as 'everybody's war' - a war of unknown warriors.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/wa...

Source: BBC

This is a listing of many of the regiments:

http://www.ww1photos.com/OnlineSearch...

Of interest (well to me anyhow) is that I just noticed that the finishing date for the group reading of John Keegan's book is April 25, 2010, which will be the 95th anniversary of the Landing at Anzac Cove in WW1, ANZAC Day in Australia - happy coincidence?

Anzac Day

Aussie Rick..we have had a few such coincidences...a happy coincidence for sure.

Here are the 101 Indispensable Works of the Great War:

http://www.worldwar1.com/ref001.htm

There are some great films on this site:

http://www.nfb.ca/playlist/world-war-...

Hew Strachan

This collection of eyewitness accounts, taken from many areas across the Western Front, certainly isn't pleasurable reading, but it will augment your knowledge of the conflict.

Holger H. Herwig

This is the best English language book on the 'other' side of the war: Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Gary Sheffield

John Keegan's view of the Great War has opposition, and Gary Sheffield's splendidly revisionist work offers an entirely different view of the conflict. Sheffield argues that the Great War was entirely necessary in stopping military imperialism, a view that has angered many readers. A lot of folks do not like this book one bit.

It makes folks uncomfortable and I think it would make me uncomfortable too; but for those who like revisionist type works; thought you might be interested.

Hi Bentley, I have read Holger Herwig's book and whole heartily agree that it’s the best English language book offering the reader a perspective from the 'other' side. I also tend to agree with what you said about Gary Sheffield's book as well.

by Holger H. Herwig

That is good. I just wanted to point some of these offerings out that I came across. Glad you approve of them or in terms of Sheffield's book feel the same way.

Martin Gilbert

This was a review of this book done by someone else (I have not read this book): (top rated review on Amazon) - also, I do not agree with all of these viewpoints either -

This is what they said (I happen to like poetry and cultural histories!):

I've read a ton of books on WWI, including many on specific topics in the war, but it had been a long time since I'd read a general overall history of the war, so I picked this one up and just finished reading it.
I think it is an excellent introduction to the subject for those who haven't gone deeply into the history of the conflict, but who are interested in getting some knowledge of it.

However, it is written from a VERY British viewpoint. This doesn't mean it neglects the fronts in the war in which the British were not involved. However even covering the Eastern or Serbian fronts, or the Armenian tragedies, the view is British and the emphasis is on how events in these theatres of the war effected the British war effort. (Oddly, the one area that seems a little short in the book is the coverage of the French fighting. The book, f'rinstance, is somewhat skimpy on the battle of Verdun.)

Also, if you are American (like me), you'll wonder if we did anything in the war besides blunder around and die of Spanish Flu. Granted, the main effect of the American war effort was moral rather than military, convincing the Germans that they couldn't win, and that, because we were in it, we would moderate the demands of the British and French when it came time to make peace, making them (the Germans) more willing to give up before being completely beaten in the field; and also that the full weight of the American military was never felt, due to the quick ending of the war in late 1918. But I wonder if we were as incompetent as is portrayed in this book.

Two complaints. First, too much poetry, and too much emphasis on the poets and artists and writers in the trenches. That's my personal taste. I just don't like poetry.

Second, because the writer is British, he reveals a great deal of moral outrage at German atrocities committed in Belgium and occupied France, portraying Britain as the great defender of the rights of small nations. Of course, at the same time, the British were themselves occupying a small nation (Ireland), where they had committed untold atrocities, where they had starved millions to death and driven further millions from their home country in the short span of a lifetime of years before WWI. The British crimes in Ireland were no less atrocious than those of the Turks in Armenia, and the British moral hypocrisy in these matters is infuriating.

I would recommend this book to the general reader with these reservations. My favorite short, one-volume history of the war is Liddell Hart's "the Real War 1914-1918", but that is more of a military history with its emphasis on actual operations. This is more of a "cultural" history, and the general reader might like it better. Also, if you are interested in either the French or American war efforts, you'll have to look elsewhere.

Another excellent selection Bentley!
Sir Martin Gilbert's books on WW1 and WW2 are some of the best stand-alone single volumes covering these conflicts, if your not too read-out after Keegan's book I am sure you would enjoy this book.

by Martin Gilbert

Here's a funny story from my current book; "Anzacs", which occured after the batle of Hamel where some American units were attached to the Australians. To many Australians, Americans speak 'funny' (no offense intended). Here is how one Australian soldier recalled a conversation between himself and an American soldier after the batte.

" 'I guess we're shark troops now', one of a party of Yanks visiting us after Hamel remarked. Thinking he was referring to collecting souvenirs from Fritzs, and not being willing to take second or even equal place with anyone at that, our 'Souvenir King' took out a heap of German watches, marks, photos, soldbuchs, feldpostbriefs, revolvers and daggers, and proudly retorted, 'You'll have to be Some Shark Troops to beat that little heap, I guess, Guy. 'I wasn't referring to souvenirs, Aussie. I said I guess after that battle we'll be regarded as shark troops like you Australians. Shark Troops - SHARK Troops like you. S-H-O-C-K - shark troops.' The Digger's perplexed look vanished."

Souvenir King

by Peter Pedersen

Another good site:

http://www.scuttlebuttsmallchow.com/w...

Here is one of my favourite books covering the Western Front, which sadly isn't very accessible outside of Australia:

The Great War by Les Carlyon

Book Review - The Great War

Thank you for the add Aussie Rick.

My pleasure Bentley, this is a great book but like I said very inaccessible outside of Australia. The author wanted to get Australian's to start thinking past the idea that Gallipoli was the main campaign for us during WW1. The Western Front was were we lost the majority of our soldiers and where we really established our reputation as first-class soldiers. The book is an excellent read as this review states and I'd recommend it along with the ANZAC book above to anyone who wanted to learn more about Australians during WW1. Here is another, more detailed two page review:

Book Review - The Great War by Les Carlyon

The reviewer, Michael McKernan, leads tours to Gallipoli and the Western Front and is an established historian and author in Australia.