paul guthrie Posted 2 August , 2004 Share Posted 2 August , 2004 Many of you know this classic, anyone who has not read it should, now Naval & Military Press has it for E9 $9 L5.95 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Coulson Posted 2 August , 2004 Share Posted 2 August , 2004 Paul, Must agree, marvellous book. Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andigger Posted 2 August , 2004 Share Posted 2 August , 2004 Bought a copy a few months ago, but haven't started it yet. Is it easy to read/follow? You must admit the size is daunting.... Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stiletto_33853 Posted 3 August , 2004 Share Posted 3 August , 2004 Great book, well worth a read. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MaryFM Posted 3 August , 2004 Share Posted 3 August , 2004 I found this book hard to put down, the manner in which it is wriiten really held my attention, it is such an excellent book! Best wishes Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 3 August , 2004 Share Posted 3 August , 2004 remembering that a 'camel is a horse designed by a committee', it is a miracle that the book is un-put-downable, as so many men contributed. Dunn's prolific correspondence demonstrates the phenomenal amount of work in gathering, checking, and presenting information. My bible these 30 years. Now into my fourth copy, all the others fell apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 3 August , 2004 Share Posted 3 August , 2004 David I bought my copy months ago on your recommendation. Only reached the top of my "to read" pile a week ago (many cheap trashy novels ahead of it . I find it fascinating that, as you say, the book manages to come together through the different commentaries. I'm only mid-way through 1915 but am hooked. Unputdownable. Thanks John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyHollinger Posted 29 August , 2005 Share Posted 29 August , 2005 Well, guys, I am back ... first day of classes today and I should have daily time to enter, read and relax. I am currently reading this book and it is most delightful ... it's amazing how much HASN'T changed in the military over the years ... It is also interesting that I actually understand the arguments and personalities of described in the Introduction - all because of this forum ... Well ... into the breach gentlemen and ladies ... the world of America since 1876 awaits! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burlington Posted 29 August , 2005 Share Posted 29 August , 2005 Great book. I have been reading it for months! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 29 August , 2005 Share Posted 29 August , 2005 Agree - brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 30 August , 2005 Share Posted 30 August , 2005 This book and Captain Jack's Diary are absolutely indispensable for any serious study of WW1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyHollinger Posted 30 August , 2005 Share Posted 30 August , 2005 There is so much about this book that transcends it's WWI nature ... I keep on waiting for him to say "Hurry up and wait" ... or the nervousness before the first fire-fight before the Marne ... The scene in the beginning with a British General scooting about on a motor bike ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delta Posted 30 August , 2005 Share Posted 30 August , 2005 A wonderful book - the MO's perspective makes it stand out from others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyHollinger Posted 13 September , 2005 Share Posted 13 September , 2005 Currently it is my morning read ... after walking the dogs and before showering and preparing for morning lectures ... wonderful reading ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthergw Posted 13 September , 2005 Share Posted 13 September , 2005 I read this some years ago from the Public Library when I first got interested. I bought it and re-read it about two months ago and liked it very much, but...Did anyone else get the feeling that the strain of years in the trenches starts to show towards the end of the book? Nothing seems to have pleased him, nothing was as good as at the start of the war. Well worth reading and interesting to compare with Graves, Sassoon and Frank Richards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 13 September , 2005 Share Posted 13 September , 2005 I'd say it was a regular soldier of many years grousing about how standards had slipped compared to the regular army of 1914 and inevitably they had done as we know. Tiredness and fatigue would have been a factor influencing his view of course but nonetheless it is very honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyHollinger Posted 3 October , 2005 Share Posted 3 October , 2005 I have finished it now... a splendid book w/o plot ... the end of the book is very sad ... sad in the sense of the ebbing of his own attitude, the end of the "old" era ... and the war of movement is really a race against time and attitude - nobody wants to be the last killed ... In a sense it seems too real - even for a 1st person account ... Yes, I believe the dissallusionment of the authors is noticable ... Scary stuff, though ... hurry-up and wait ... never enough food ... all sorts of things are described that took me back to my own days in Sam's Service ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff. Hobson Posted 3 October , 2005 Share Posted 3 October , 2005 I bought this book, second hand cost £1 from a Charity shop, along with John Terraine's Haig the Educated General cost £2, both in very good condition,all in all it was a very good day. I cannot help but think he was somewhat prejudiced against the "Hostilities Only" Soldier, one who had served some three years plus, the K1 men, would be as good I believe as any Regular Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 4 October , 2005 Share Posted 4 October , 2005 I fail to understand how anyone who has actually read the book can miss the point that this account is in many voices: just read the list of contributors in the front. Dr Dunn's voice is heard indeed, but rarely in the foreground. All conditions of men: regular, hostilities-only, officer, other rank: all are here. Dunn's brilliance was to link the contributions in his inimitable way, and indeed to get men who would rather forget the whole war to write their accounts for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthergw Posted 4 October , 2005 Share Posted 4 October , 2005 I fail to understand how anyone who has actually read the book can miss the point that this account is in many voices: just read the list of contributors in the front. Dr Dunn's voice is heard indeed, but rarely in the foreground. . <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I had actually noticed that the book was a compilation from many contributors. In fact one of the annoying things about it, are the dates intruded into the narrative when it is spread over more than one day. Captain Dunn is meticulous in identifying and dating the source of his material. I assume that the parts of the narrative which are not attributed to anyone else, are Captain Dunn's own thoughts. These were the parts which I thought showed a growing pessimism as the war progressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 4 October , 2005 Share Posted 4 October , 2005 Of all the men in a battalion, the MO was the one to see most suffering: Dunn lost many dear friends during his lengthy spell with 2 RWF. Yes indeed, Dunn provides the linking material, much of it from his own destroyed diaries and notes, and some prompted by reading the Battalion War Diary after the war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ste Posted 24 October , 2005 Share Posted 24 October , 2005 Amazing work, for all the reasons expressed above. I'm sorry to say I only read for the first time earlier this year - for anyone with this lying at the bottom of a pile, fish it out and get started, you'll not regret it. Cheers, S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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