The true classics

[Medaler]

The one I go back to again and again............

 

"Tommy" - Richard Holmes.

 

Regards,

Mike

[Marc Thompson]

Impossible choice but one would be...

A Sergeant-Major's War - From Hill 60 to the Somme

Ernest Shephard's diaries edited by Bruce Rossor

[sjustice]

History of the Great War based on official documents by direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence.

One hundred and nine volumes.

 

There are literally hundreds of other tomes I could choose but, as the series I look at every day, HGW is a clear winner for me.

 

Cheers,

SMJ

[SteveMarsdin]

"The Campaign of the Marne - 1914" by Sewell Tyng

 

Has stood the test of time better than most.

 

Steve

[neutrino]

So much reading to do and so many books to find.

 

Anyone recommend a book about the Battle for Arras or should that be Battle for Amiens.

 

If I've jumped in on this topic where I shouldn't have I'll delete this post.

[Canadian J]

Neutrino, you set me up perfectly! 

 

Vimy by Pierre Berton (not sure if this counts as a "Classic" but it seems so in Canada)

 

- J

[neutrino]

Thanks, but the only book my local library has by Pierre Berton is Klondike and the only book the library I use when overseas has is Niagara.

I'll ask my local library if they'll order it for me.

[David Filsell]

sjustice

Not sure a series of volumes - actually several series - quite meet the criterion of one. But the are certainly indispensable.

I pleased that my first post has stimulated such interest.

For information I have just had four paperbacks through for review from in the, I think, new series from Casemate under the tag Casemate Classic War Fiction which may be of interest here (I'm not putting them up for nomination merely for the interest of those who have participated on the thread

Andre Chamois - Roux the Bandit (unknown to me - about a Frenchman who evaded war service)

H G Well, - Mr Breitling Sees it Through

W F Morris - Behind the Lines

Ronald Gurner - Pass Guard at Ypres

They all have interesting 20s/30s style covers - - I'm trying to find out who he is.

Keep 'em coming.

Regards

David

[sjustice]

45 minutes ago, David Filsell said:

sjustice

Not sure a series of volumes - actually several series - quite meet the criterion of one. But the are certainly indispensable.

<snip>

Keep 'em coming.

Regards

David

 

I wonder how many pages it would represent in one volume...?

#challengeissued

 

 

Cheers,

SMJ

[Dust Jacket Collector]

3 hours ago, David Filsell said:

 

Andre Chamois - Roux the Bandit (unknown to me - about a Frenchman who evaded war service)

H G Well, - Mr Breitling Sees it Through

W F Morris - Behind the Lines

Ronald Gurner - Pass Guard at Ypres

They all have interesting 20s/30s style covers - - I'm trying to find out who he is.

 

I'd be interested to see the covers, David, to see if they've used the original designs. ( Roux the Bandit had the standard Gollancz design & the Wells was just plain text). Glad to see the Gurner back in print (I'd have nominated it myself had I not been sent to the naughty step for suggesting a second vote)!

[Black Maria]

The Pass guard cover is very similar to the original http://www.casematepublishing.co.uk/index.php/catalogsearch/result/?q=pass+guard+at+ypres

Edited 21 September , 2016 by Black Maria

[Dust Jacket Collector]

1 hour ago, Black Maria said:

The Pass guard cover is very similar to the original http://www.casematepublishing.co.uk/index.php/catalogsearch/result/?q=pass+guard+at+ypres

Thanks, John. The other 3 are quite different to the originals. Nice to see them all back in print though.

[Jim Hastings]

On Friday, September 09, 2016 at 00:37, Steven Broomfield said:

Possibly because we're limited to one book per contributor. That and the fact that 'literature' isn't that interesting to many. I suspect many (all) contributors to this thread so far could quickly get the numbers up!

Good idea, in that case to add to Somme Harvest I liked A Sergeant Majors War by Ernest Shephard and I know may be contentious as possibly too much a novel, but Liam O  Flaherty"s Return of the Brute. 

[Black Maria]

11 minutes ago, Jim Hastings said:

Good idea, in that case to add to Somme Harvest I liked A Sergeant Majors War by Ernest Shephard and I know may be contentious as possibly too much a novel, but Liam O  Flaherty"s Return of the Brute. 

 

6 hours ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

. Glad to see the Gurner back in print (I'd have nominated it myself had I not been sent to the naughty step for suggesting a second vote)!

Move over Alan, Jim is on the naughty step with you now

[David Filsell]

BM

I think the cover art very reminiscent of the late 20's 30's and very apt.

50 pages or so through on Gurner, and not as struck as you - so far.

Not least I'm uncomfortable with his style - veeery long over, and over, complex sentences, which no modern editor would countenance, and much word repetition within sentences. A style of writing now long departed. But that's just me I suppose an old ex journo and pr hack who was taught to keep it tight. I will finish it but not yet convinced of its merits. We'll see.

Regards

david

[Black Maria]

47 minutes ago, David Filsell said:

BM

I think the cover art very reminiscent of the late 20's 30's and very apt.

50 pages or so through on Gurner, and not as struck as you - so far.

 

I think it was DJC who was struck by it, but i did read it a while ago and I can't say it left a huge impression on me , although I did not dislike it. When it comes

to the original dust jacket however , I think it's magnificent !

[Dust Jacket Collector]

3 hours ago, Black Maria said:

I think it was DJC who was struck by it, but i did read it a while ago and I can't say it left a huge impression on me , although I did not dislike it. When it comes

to the original dust jacket however , I think it's magnificent !

It's so long since I read it that it may be a case of a rose-tinted memory. I'll take another look. The fabulous jacket design is quite similar to that used on his little volume of War verse, 'War's Echos'. He was headmaster of the Whitgift school where they're currently holding an excellent WW1 exhibition.

[David Filsell]

To reinforce the point - it is an initial impression. I'll come back later. Long train journey tomorrow and the Pass Guard will be on board.

Regards

David

Edited 22 September , 2016 by David Filsell

[David Filsell]

You are cheating Jim, see me after class please.

[Ron Clifton]

War Establishments 1914, Part I: Expeditionary Force.

 

Ron

[David Filsell]

Ah. Bedtime reading Ron!

[Ron Clifton]

No, bedtime reading would be "Transportation on the Western Front" by A M Henniker. It is the best cure for insomnia that I know.

 

Ron

[Terry_Reeves]

I am not sure how you classify "true" or "classic",  but "War is War" by Ex-Private X is one I still read now and again. He makes me laugh aloud, and it is a book that operates on a number of different levels which keeps me on my toes.

 

By the way,  the author is A.M. Burridge who served in 28th  Bn , London Regiment ( Artists Rifles). He never did get a commission. Give it a try.

 

TR

[Black Maria]

15 hours ago, Terry_Reeves said:

I am not sure how you classify "true" or "classic",  but "War is War" by Ex-Private X is one I still read now and again. He makes me laugh aloud, and it is a book that operates on a number of different levels which keeps me on my toes.

 

By the way,  the author is A.M. Burridge who served in 28th  Bn , London Regiment ( Artists Rifles). He never did get a commission. Give it a try.

 

TR

One of my favourite books too .Before I read it I was under the impression, reading some other posts, that the author was not a very nice character ,

but I liked his style . He did not suffer fools gladly and was not afraid to speak his mind , I wouldn't personally put it in the same class as 'Other Ranks ,

but it's an interesting and informative memoir, and it's not hard to find a copy.

[Terry_Reeves]

Burridge was a bit of an odd-bod and his book didn't go down well in some quarters. This is what Cyril Falls had to say in his publication "War Books" (published in 1930):

 

"This book is extremely uneven in quality. The account of the attack at Paschendaele and of conditions at Cambrai after the great German counter-attack are very good indeed; in fact among the best of their kind. But the rest is disfigured by an unreasoned and unpleasant vituperation of superiors and all troops other than those of the front line, which is all the more astonishing because the author is inclined to harp upon his social position as compared with that of many of the officers with whom he came in contact. He does not use as much bad language as many writers on the War, but his methods of abuse will leave on some of his readers at least a worse impression than the most highly-spiced language."

It is this "vituperation"  however that makes the book different. It does need careful reading though. He has things to say about private soldiers out of  of his social class , as Fall notes, but his best friend is a working class man. He lets rip at French provincial women, yet he has kindly things to say about the woman in whose house he is billeted in.

Burridge , it seems to me,  is rather more clever than Falls gives him credit for.

TR

 

 

 

Edited 25 September , 2016 by Terry_Reeves