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August 1914: Surrender at St Quentin
By John Hutton. 2010
The great retreat of the British Expeditionary Force from Mons in August 1914 is one of the most famous in…
military history, and it is justly celebrated. But not all the British soldiers who were forced back by the German offensive performed well. Two colonels, Elkington and Mainwaring, tried to surrender rather than fight on, and were disgraced. This is their story. In this compelling account John Hutton shows, in graphic detail, the full confusion of the retreat, and the dire mental state to which brave men can be reduced by extreme stress, uncertainty and fatigue. But he also describes how Elkington redeemed himself. He joined the French Foreign Legion, fought gallantly, was severely wounded and was reinstated by King George V. His is one of the more remarkable stories to come out of the Great War, as is the story of the attempted surrender at St. Quentin itself.The Great War on the Western Front: A Short History
By Paddy Griffith. 2008
The war on Western Front from 1914 to 1918 remains one of the notoriously great tragedies of the twentieth century.…
Most people hold it in their minds as a milestone in modern history, yet many of them know less about this devastating clash of nations than they would like—and they would be interested to discover more. Paddy Griffith's short history of the conflict has been written with them in mind. It provides an accessible primer to an enormous and fascinating subject. His account is aimed at an English-speaking readership, and he concentrates on the part played by British Expeditionary Force and the Americans in the conflict. The French and German perspectives are also explained and the wider political and strategic evolution of the war as a whole is laid out as essential background.To Keep the British Isles Afloat: FDR's Men in Churchill's London, 1941
By Thomas Parrish. 2009
“Thomas Parrish’s account of Anglo-American relations in 1941 is a carefully researched and deftly written slice of history showing FDR’s…
hidden hand at work. It is a lesson on the virtues of diplomacy.” — Ted Morgan, author of CHURCHILLParrish’s book brings Hopkins and Harriman vividly to life--each was indeed a character, and the author’s perception of FDR’s thinking is exceptionally sensitive. For historians most useful. For the rest of us a very good read, a page turner for me. — Curtis Roosevelt, author of TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN: Growing Up in the Shadow of my Grandparents, Franklin and Eleanor“A vivid portrait of crucial maneuverings in the most crucial yet little-noted of years, Thomas Parrish’s new book…offers a fresh look at how Churchill’s Britain survived while Roosevelt’s America moved ever so slowly toward forming what became the Grand Alliance.” — Jon Meacham, author of FRANKLIN AND WINSTON“In an engaging, and authoritative voice, Thomas Parrish vividly depicts Harry Hopkins and Averell Harriman, and delineates their crucial role in saving Great Britain and, thus, America during the early part of World War II. This book shines a new light on Franklin Roosevelt and his partnership with Winston Churchill” — Will Swift, author of THE KENNEDYS AMIDST THE GATHERING STORM“Plays a valuable role in highlighting an often overlooked period of the Second World War, after the Battle of Britain but before Pearl Harbor, when President Roosevelt struggled to find and implement a policy of all possible material aid and support short of American military involvement and war. — Alan Packwood, Director, The Churchill Archives Centre“Parrish is a skilled writer, adept at conveying an authentic sense of the prevailing atmosphere...1941 is the compelling story here, now illuminated by this account of the successful efforts of two pathfinding American statesmen to help bring the liberal democracies together.” — Fraser Harbutt, Department of History, Emory University, author of The Iron CurtainParrish, the author of several books about World War II, uses Clare Booth to back into his thesis that a sleepy, isolationist America needed to be roused, and that Roosevelt relied on two remarkable men – Hopkins and Harriman – to help sound the alarm and secure aid for Britain. — New York Times Book Review“Larry Berman in his book—insightful, overdue, an authentic ‘Shock and Awe’ story—deftly humanizes the contradictions in An’s life” — -Bernard…
Kalb“Berman has done an excellent job… There’s plenty here for both supporters and critics of the Vietnam War to ponder.” — Dan Southerland, former correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor in Saigon“Berman has unraveled the mystery of his strange double life in an engrossing narrative.” — Stanley Karnow, author of Vietnam: A History and winner of the 1991 Pulitzer Prize in historyPraise for NO PEACE NO HONOR “A marvelous piece of work.” — Daniel EllsbergPraise for NO PEACE NO HONOR “Carefully researched, authoritative, and highly readable.” — Stanley Karnow, author of Vietnam: A HistoryPraise for LYNDON JOHNSON’S WAR “A masterful job.” — Marvin KalbPraise for LYNDON JOHNSON’S WAR “Highly readable, full of telling quoted from newly opened sources.” — Walter LafeberPraise for LYNDON JOHNSON’S WAR “Berman has delivered the coup de grace.” — Townsend Hoopes“A remarkable blend of biography, history, and personal experience... Highly recommended.” ---A.O. Edmonds — Library JournalBelgian Refugees in First World War Britain
By Jacqueline Jenkinson. 2018
Around 250,000 Belgian refugees who fled the German invasion spent the First World War in Britain – the largest refugee…
presence Britain has ever witnessed. Welcomed in a wave of humanitarian sympathy for ‘Poor Little Belgium’, within a few months Belgian exiles were pushed off the front pages of newspapers by the news of direct British involvement in the war. Following rapid repatriation at British government expense in late 1918 and 1919 Belgian refugees were soon lost from public memory with few memorials or markers of their mass presence.Reactions to Belgian refugees discussed in this book include the mixed responses of local populations to the refugee presence, which ranged from extensive charitable efforts to public and trade union protests aimed at protecting local jobs and housing. This book also explores the roles of central and local government agencies which supported and employed Belgian refugees en masse yet also used them as a propaganda tool to publicise German outrages against civilians to encourage support for the Allied war effort. This book covers responses to Belgian refugees in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales in a Home Front wartime episode which generated intense public interest and charitable and government action. This book was originally published as a special issue of Immigrants and Minorities: Historical Studies in Ethnicity, Migration and Diaspora.The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade
By Philip Jenkins. 2014
The Great and Holy War offers the first look at how religion created and prolonged the First World War. At…
the one-hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the war, historian Philip Jenkins reveals the powerful religious dimensions of this modern-day crusade, a period that marked a traumatic crisis for Western civilization, with effects that echoed throughout the rest of the twentieth century.The war was fought by the world's leading Christian nations, who presented the conflict as a holy war. Thanks to the emergence of modern media, a steady stream of patriotic and militaristic rhetoric was given to an unprecedented audience, using language that spoke of holy war and crusade, of apocalypse and Armageddon. But this rhetoric was not mere state propaganda. Jenkins reveals how the widespread belief in angels and apparitions, visions and the supernatural, was a driving force throughout the war and shaped all three of the Abra-hamic religions—Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—paving the way for modern views of religion and violence. The disappointed hopes and moral compromises that followed the war also shaped the political climate of the rest of the century, giving rise to such phenomena as Nazism, totalitarianism, and communism.Connecting numerous remarkable incidents and characters—from Karl Barth to Carl Jung, the Christmas Truce to the Armenian Genocide—Jenkins creates a powerful and persuasive narrative that brings together global politics, history, and spiritual crisis as never before and shows how religion informed and motivated circumstances on all sides of the war.The Myth of the Great War: A New Military History Of World War 1
By John Mosier. 2001
“Students of military history love to argue, and John Mosier gives them much to argue about. From armaments and tactics…
to strategy and politics, he challenges conventional wisdom and forces a rethinking of the war that inaugurated the modern era.” — H.W. Brands, author of The First American and TR: The Last Romantic“Ther is much in this book I really admire, not least its brilliant recasting of the traditional military narrative.” — Niall Ferguson, author of The Pity of War“A compelling and novel reassessment of World War I military history.”— — Kirkus Reviews“Packed with evidence, much of it ingeniously obtained and argued.” — Washington PostOne Day the Soldiers Came: Voices of Children in War
By Charles London. 2007
“A profound and deeply moving journey into the minds of children who live with war.” — Ishmael Beah, #1 New…
York Times bestselling author of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier“Charles London brings an uncomfortable truth to life. This book is often difficult reading, but attention must be paid.” — Ambassador Richard Holbrooke“The stories told by these children...are essential to our humanity...” — --Ben Fountain, author of BRIEF ENCOUNTERS WITH CHE GUEVARA“An unblinking account of a peculiar human reality...a wise and captivating story.” — Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Eat, Pray, Love“Shining a light on the horrors inflicted on those most vulnerable is noble work.” — New York Post, "Required Reading" reveiw“Eye-opening ...Searing and heartbreaking” — Kirkus Reviews“[London’s] passionate personal engagement will get readers thinking about elemental issues...” — Booklist“It is London’s sincerity, discernment, feelings, and penchant for analysis that are always on display...Children as well as adults should read this book.” — Baltimore TimesThe Magical Stranger: A Son's Journey into His Father's Life
By Stephen Rodrick. 2013
On November 28, 1979, squadron commander and Navy pilot Peter Rodrick died when his plane crashed in the Indian Ocean.…
He was just thirty-six and had been the commanding officer of his squadron for 127 days. Eight thousand miles away on Whidbey Island, near Seattle, he left behind a grief-stricken wife, two daughters, and a thirteenyear-old son who would grow up to be a writer—one who was drawn, perhaps inevitably, to write about his father, his family, and the devastating consequences of military service.In The Magical Stranger, Stephen Rodrick explores the life and death of the man who indelibly shaped his life, even as he remained a mystery: brilliant but unknowable, sacred but absent—an apparition gone 200 days of the year for much of his young son's life—a born leader who gave his son little direction. Through adolescence and into adulthood, Rodrick struggled to grasp fully the reality of his father's death and its permanence. Peter's picture and memory haunted the family home, but his name was rarely mentioned.To better understand his father and his own experience growing up without him, Rodrick turned to today's members of his father's former squadron, spending nearly two years with VAQ-135, the "World-Famous Black Ravens." His travels take him around the world, from Okinawa and Hawaii to Bahrain and the Persian Gulf—but always back to Whidbey Island, the setting of his family's own story. As he learns more about his father, he also uncovers the layers of these sailors' lives: their brides and girlfriends, friendships, dreams, disappointments—and the consequences of their choices on those they leave behind.A penetrating, thoughtful blend of memoir and reportage, The Magical Stranger is a moving reflection on the meaning of service and the power of a father's legacy.Airway to the East, 1918–1920: And the Collapse of No.1 Aerial Route RAF
By Clive Semple. 2011
The origins of what became officially known as No 1 Aerial Route lay in the newly formed Royal Air Forces…
desire to move several squadrons of the then recently designed first heavy bomber to enter service the Handley Page O/400, to the war in the Middle-East. The aircraft had served on the Western Front with some success, although not in the long-range capacity. During the spring of 1918, the Wing Commander of No 5 Wing, Billy Borton, requested that one of the HP O/400 aircraft be flown to Egypt. This was approved by Major General Sir Frederick Sykes. Before the flight could proceed a great deal of planning was required since the aircrafts maximum range was only 600 miles. Several refueling and maintenance bases along the route were required. When planned in 1918 the route was from Paris Lyons, Istres, Pisa, Rome, Barletta, Taranto, Athens, Crete, Mersa Matru and finally Cairo. Each landing station would require fuel, spares, and communications and back-up personnel. On July 50.00 1918 a new HPO/400 set off from Manston in Kent with Borton and his pilot Major McLaren plus two crew. After a comparatively trouble-free flight the bomber arrived in Aboukir, Alexandria on the evening of 7 August. As a result, the RAF decided to use this route to fly several squadrons of the Handley Page bombers shortly after the war had ended. The Arab leaders had found out that the Allies promise that the captured Turkish lands would be returned to them was a duplicitous lie and that France and Great Britain would take control of the area. This quite naturally lead to massive unrest and rioting throughout the middle-eastern lands. The bombers were needed to quell the rioting and sabotage that had broken out. Thus, on 3 May 1919 58 Squadron set of from France on No 1 Aerial Route. It was a premature departure since many of the refueling airfields along the route were not prepared for there incoming customers. Chaos ensued by 1 November Three Squadrons had been dispatched. Of the 51 bombers sent only 26 had arrived, ten were stuck en-route and 15 had been written-off as broken or lost at sea and 11 aircrew had perished.This is the story of the development of the route. It would eventually form the first stage of the Imperial Air Route to Australia.Aristocrats Go to War: Uncovering the Zillebeke Cemetery
By Jerry Murland. 2010
Zillebekes small churchyard military cemetery provides the inspiration for this charming piece of military and social history. The author has…
researched into the exploits and backgrounds of 27 fallen soldiers, the majority being officers of the Guards and Cavalry, as well as other ranks and six Canadians.The outcome is a fascinating and moving book that emphasizes the indiscriminate nature of war. Privilege and wealth were no protection against bullets and shells and all men regardless of background took their chances, standing shoulder to shoulder. The 1st Battle of Ypres in late 1914 was in many ways the last stand of Britains Contemptible Little Army (as the Kaiser called it) and the Ypres Salient was to remain the focus of so much fighting over the next four years.Thanks to detailed research and support from the families concerned, the author has unearthed letters, memorabilia and photographs."Henry Tyndall was a typical product of the Victorian age—an intensely patriotic army officer who served in India, on the…
North-West Frontier, on the Western Front and in East Africa at the height of the British empire. For 20 years, from 1895 to 1915, he kept a detailed diary that gives a vivid insight into his daily life and concerns, his fellow officers and men, and the British army of his day. He also left a graphic account of his experiences on campaign in the First World War and in the Third Afghan War. B.A. 'Jimmy' James has edited and annotated Tyndall's diary in order to make it fully accessible to the modern reader. As he notes in his introduction, 'this marching soldier of the queen was a gallant officer who conscientiously served his sovereign wherever duty called ... his diary deserves attention as it reflects the manners, customs and attitudes of this vanished age.' "Veterans: The Last Survivors of the Great War (Isis Reminiscence Ser.)
By Richard Van Emden, Steve Humphries. 1999
Using the veterans own words and photographs, the book brings to life a mixture of their excitement of embarkation for…
France, their unbound optimism and courage, the agony of the trenches, and numbing fear of going over the top. The fight for survival, the long ordeal of those who were wounded and the ever present grief caused by appalling loss and waste of life make for compelling reading.The veterans give us first hand accounts of stark honesty, as they describe in many cases more freely than ever before about experiences which have lived with them for over 80 years.Fromelles: French Flanders (Battleground Europe)
By Peter Pedersen. 2004
Historian Peter Pedersen examines the World War I battle on the Western Front that decimated an Australian regiment in Fromelles:…
French Flanders.The attack at Fromelles is significant for a number of reasons. It was the Australians’ first major operation on the Western Front and pitted them against a part of the German line that was an object lesson in the siting of a defense. Before the battle, the Australian Gallipoli veterans had airily dismissed the fighting in the new theater as “pleasant”. After it, they said grimly that Anzac was “a picnic” compared to France. Fromelles came as a terrible shock and was a foretaste of things to come. Both the genesis and aftermath of the operation were controversial. The objectives and the tactics employed to achieve them were changed several times and the sufficiency of resources vigorously debated. After the war, the British and Australian Official Historians argued as to how the battle should be interpreted. Most of the correspondence that accompanied their exchange of drafts has not been published. Peter Pedersen’s thorough account of the battle explores the genesis of the operation through the aftermath covering this monumental moment in World War I history.Harry Askin was 22 when he enlisted at Nottingham in September 1914 and was sent to train with the Royal…
Marines at Portsmouth.He set sail with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in late February 1915. On 25 April he was towed ashore to Gallipoli. So began a nine month ordeal of constant fighting and shelling on that bare and desperate Peninsula.In this diary he captures the atmosphere of danger and death, blazing heat in summer and rain and cold at other times. The smell of dead bodies was everywhere and while the fortitude of the troops was astonishing, at times confusion and panic prevailed. Harry was wounded twice in one day but the surgeon removed the bullet and he returned to the firing line.Harry was among the last to withdraw and his reward was to be sent to the Western Front. Again he was wounded. This is a stirring memoir which paints a vivid picture of the horrors of war.Star Shell Reflections, 1914–1916: The Illustrated Great War Diaries of Jim Maultsaid
By Jim Maultsaid. 2014
As the centenary of the Great War approaches, this book offers a unique perspective told in the words and illustrations…
of someone who was there , on the front line.Although an American citizen, Jim Maultsaid's parents were Irish and he lived in Donegal. He joined the Young Citizen Volunteers, a group drawn from the ranks of clerical and professional society, at the outbreak of war.Although he left school at age 13, the author was naturally gifted in both writing and drawing, with a great eye for detail, and has often been described as the unofficial war artist.Jim's personal style of writing is engaging, and along with his sketches and illustrations, which are witty at times, takes the reader on a journey through not only the dark days and misery but also reveals the gritty humour that helped him and his 'chums' cope with the horrors of life in the trenches.The diaries offer in words and illustrations, a true insight into the thoughts of the ordinary soldiers, and are filled with untold stories from the Great War, covering aspects that have never been addressed in other books. In particular there is new light shone on the Chinese Labour Corps, where Jim served as Captain, after he was certified unfit for active service due to his wounds.The book has great historical and educational value, and will give those of all ages a real understanding of how this brave generation faced war, and how they struggled to survive.Epehy: Hindenburg Line (Battleground Ser.)
By Bill Mitchinson. 2012
The village of Epehy gave its name to one of the most important battles of 1918.Evacuated by the Germans during…
their retreat to the Hindenburg Line, the ruins were occupied by British Forces until the German offensive. They were recaptured in some of the bloodiest engagements of September 1918.London: The British Capital Under Attack Since 1867
By Ian Jones. 2016
When it comes to being bombed, London is unique. Although it cannot claim to be the most bombed capital city…
in terms of the weight of explosive detonated it has endured the most varied and unrelenting attack since the discovery of explosives. From the first Irish Republican bomb in 1867, London and its population have been under almost constant assault. Terrorism features in virtually every decade from the 1860s to the present and has caused much damage, particularly during the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, by far the greatest destruction was from the air. The Zeppelin and Gotha bomber raids in the First World War being but a foretaste of what would happen in the Second. Then the capital was devastated, firstly by the Luftwaffes aeroplanes and then Hitlers vengeance weapons, the V-1s and V-2s. After the Second World War the bombers returned, in the form of the IRA and then the home-grown terrorists of 2005. Written by a former Explosives Officer who worked for the Counter Terrorism Command of the Metropolitan Police, this is the most comprehensive and record of Britains capital under attack that has ever been compiled.A Muddy Trench: Hamish Mann, Black Watch, Officer-Poet, 1896–1917
By Jacquie Buttriss. 2018
The recent discovery of a wooden chest, unopened for 100 years revealed a treasure trove of eloquent trench diaries, letters…
and poetry. The author was Hamish Mann, a young Black Watch subaltern killed in France in 1917 just five days after his 21st birthday.Thanks to Manns outstanding literary gifts and prodigious output, this book re-lives his fateful journey from the declaration of war, his voluntary work at a military hospital, his training and commission and, finally, his service with 8th Black Watch on the Somme.The daily hardship and trauma he experienced at the Front were shared with countless thousands of his comrades. But Hamishs extraordinary gift was his ability to record the traumatic events and the range of his emotions, writing often in his dug-out by the light of a guttering candle.A century on, thanks to the Familys discovery and Jacquie Buttrisss sensitive commentary, Hamishs tragically short life can be celebrated and his literary legacy given the recognition it so richly deserves.Women and the First World War (Seminar Studies)
By Susan R. Grayzel. 2024
In this revised version of a ground-breaking global history of women and the First World War, Susan Grayzel shows the…
multiple ways in which women faced the enormous challenges the war presented, both the losses as well as the opportunities that the war provided. The First World War was a total war requiring the mobilisation of millions of both civilians and combatants. It decisively shaped the modern world. A century after the signing of the last peace treaty to end this conflict, its experiences and legacies for women continue to inspire debate and interest. With new evidence from the tremendous outpouring of scholarship on women in all participant states, including those in occupied territories, Europe and its overseas empires, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the United States over the last twenty years, this edition greatly expands the coverage of the war geographically while continuing to showcase diverse women’s voices. Topical in its approach, it allows for a thorough exploration of the intersectional experiences of women. Including new documents highlighting the ways in which women wrote their wars and that detail the impact of this conflict on women of different statuses and geographies, this book opens the door to further inquiry on the women of the First World War. With documents providing first-hand accounts, a chronology and a glossary, the book is an ideal text for students studying the First World War or the history of women.