Conan Doyle's 'A History of the Great War'

[Sprucey]

Hi, has anyone read A History of the Great War by Conan Doyle? I'm not interested in it from a 'scholarly perspective' but I believe he provided a number of first hand accounts which could be interesting. Did he write the book with any particular biases? Is it worth reading? 

 

Best

 

David

[DavidOwen]

Not read it but volume two is here https://archive.org/details/ahistorygreatwa00doylgoog/page/n6

 

Just noticed it was published in 1917.

[MaureenE]

This is possibly the same series of books, as evidenced by volume two of A History of the Great War posted by David above.

The British Campaign in France and Flanders by Arthur Conan Doyle. Mainly Archive.org. 1914 Volume I 2nd Edition 1916; 1915 Volume II 2nd Edition 1917; 1916 Volume III 1918; 1917 Volume IV 1919; January to July 1918 Volume V 1919; July to November 1918 Volume VI 1920, Volume VI Project Gutenberg Australia transcribed version where maps may be clearer.

 

Cheers

Maureen

[phil andrade]

High marks to Conan Doyle’s depiction of the first phase of the war in The British Campaign in France and Flanders 1914 volume 1.

 

I bought it at a second hand book shop thirty years ago, and deigned not to read it because I suspected it would be jingoistic nonsense.

 

At least, that remained the case until many years had passed : curiosity prompted me to refer to his account of Mons and the Aisne, and I immediately repented of my earlier disdain.

 

It was being written as the war was raging , so there’s bound to be a significant bias......but, let me say, I have developed a profound respect for it, with its  elegant prose and a command of narrative which has served me well when I look for a “ what happened next” account.

 

Recommended.

 

Phil

 

 

Edited 6 July , 2019 by phil andrade