Gareth Davies Posted 28 May , 2020 Share Posted 28 May , 2020 What are your top 5 (or even 10) Great War books? By top I mean the ones you cherish, or desire, books that give you pleasure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 28 May , 2020 Share Posted 28 May , 2020 Good question Gareth, I'll ponder that one when I've got sufficient caffeine in the system....... Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 28 May , 2020 Share Posted 28 May , 2020 (edited) A Muse at Sea - Edward Hilton Young Secrets of a Kuttite - E.O. Mousley Grey Ghosts and Voices - May Wedderburn Cannan On Four Fronts with the Royal Naval Division - Geoffrey Sparrow, MC And J N Macbean-Ross, MC, Surgeons RN Greenmantle - John Buchan In Parenthesis - David Jones Bullets and Billets - Bruce Bairnsfather The Fighting at Jutland - haven't got this one and would like it The Siege - Russell Braddon Men who March Away: poems of the First World War - Ian Parsons Edited 28 May , 2020 by seaJane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 28 May , 2020 Author Share Posted 28 May , 2020 A couple of them have piqued my interest, thank you Jane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 28 May , 2020 Share Posted 28 May , 2020 In no particular order..... The Price of Glory - Alastair Horne The book that re-awakened my interest in WW1. And while I've come to question some of its conclusions it remains a favourite. I'm onto my third copy and they have all been to Verdun with me.The 1st Day on the Somme - Martin Middlebrook Having got to know Martin a little on a couple of trips to Verdun this is both a classic and reminds me of him. I know the battle of the Somme lasted more than one day and my interest is now away from the July 1st front line, but I find myself going back to it regularly. The story of 2nd Lt. Phillip Howe of the 19th West Yorks at Fricourt for example still amazes me. The Quick and the Dead - Richard Van Emden Probably the most emotionally affecting book about WW1 and its aftermath I've ever read. I can't begin to think what it must have been like to research and write. It touches on the enduring trauma of the war which is not a subject I've read a lot about.Cheerful Sacrifice - Jonathan Nicholls I've got more and more interested in the Arras battlefield and this one book brought it to life in one reading. There is one paragraph that I'm dubious about, the rest is superb. Fragments from France - Bruce Bairnsfather The originals from 1914 or Bullets and Billets, either is perfect. I can guarantee that the list will have changed by the time I've had my first coffee tomorrow. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 28 May , 2020 Author Share Posted 28 May , 2020 I look forward to your post coffee thoughts tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 28 May , 2020 Share Posted 28 May , 2020 2 minutes ago, Gareth Davies said: I look forward to your post coffee thoughts tomorrow. Don't get your hopes up Gareth, and don't put anything important off in anticipation. Rearranging your sock draw might well be more intellectually simulating. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Jacket Collector Posted 28 May , 2020 Share Posted 28 May , 2020 Nothing of importance by Bernard Adams First day on the Somme As from Kemmel Hill by Arthur Behrend The Ebb and Flow of Battle by P.J.Campbell Soldier from the Wars Returning by Charles Carrington Somme Harvest by Giles Eyre There’s a Devil in the Drum by John Lucy Old Soldiers never Die by Frank Richards A Passionate Prodigality by Guy Chapman The Winding Road Unfolds by T. S. Hope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 28 May , 2020 Admin Share Posted 28 May , 2020 A life Apart-Alan Thomas Before Action -Charlotte Zeepvat Fifteen Rounds A Minute (Edited) JM Craster Some Desperate Glory -Edwin Vaughan A Fox Under My Cloak -Henry Williamson Covenant With Death-John Harris The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston- Siegfried Sassoon Cambrai 1917- Bryn Hammond There A Devil In The Drum-John Lucy Of Those We Loved-Dick Read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 28 May , 2020 Author Share Posted 28 May , 2020 (edited) Some great titles there, thank you. What about Regimental, Bde, or Div histories? Which are the stand outs? Edited 28 May , 2020 by Gareth Davies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithmroberts Posted 28 May , 2020 Share Posted 28 May , 2020 Seajane I have a spare modern reprint ot "The Fighting at Jutland", which I think replicates the original with all the contents.You are welcome to that and once life returns to normal I can drop it off to you at the Royal Dockyard. You are not going to get my original privately printed copy with the tipped in photos. That is a treasure. At an earlier stage in life I researchged one of the editors, Commander Harold Fawcett OBE, who was a younger son of a Bradford mill owning family. His four siblings also served, one KIA in Mesopotamia, one unfortunately mislayed an arm in Thiepval Wood on 01/07/1016, their one sister served in Egypt as a VAD, and the remaining brother having served with 1/6 West Yorks in the salient and on the Somme joined the Indian Army, and subsequently as as a brigadier lost his life in WW2 while being evacuated wounded from Singapore when the ship carrying him away was sunk. I have to find my spare copy, but its here somewhere. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 28 May , 2020 Share Posted 28 May , 2020 1 hour ago, keithmroberts said: I have a spare modern reprint ot "The Fighting at Jutland", which I think replicates the original with all the contents.You are welcome to that and once life returns to normal I can drop it off to you at the Royal Dockyard. That would be wonderful - thanks! 1 hour ago, keithmroberts said: You are not going to get my original privately printed copy with the tipped in photos May I look at it some time? (I promise not to drool all over it ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 29 May , 2020 Share Posted 29 May , 2020 15 hours ago, Gareth Davies said: What about Regimental, Bde, or Div histories? Which are the stand outs? For me: 11th Hussars (Lumley). Quite simply the best 23rd Division (Sandilands) 15th (Scottish) Division (Buchan) 4th Seaforth (Haldane) 52nd (Lowland) Division (Thompson) Historical Records of the Cameron Highlanders, Vols III & IV 18th (King George V's Own) Lancers (Watson - covers 18th KGO Lancers and 19th Fane's Horse, Indian Army Worcestershire Regiment (FitzM Stacke) An astounding piece of work 14th Hussars (Browne & Bridges) Black Watch (Wauchope) There are many, many others worthy of mention, particularly individual battalion histories, which tend (I used the 4th Seaforth as an example, but the 12th (Bermondsey) East Surreys and 11th (Lewisham) West Kents are also fine examples), when good, to have more personal detail and better descriptions of individual actions and life behind the scenes. Rutter's 7th Royal Sussex is also a jolly fine book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 29 May , 2020 Author Share Posted 29 May , 2020 (edited) Thank you Steven, some great suggestions. I had a quick look at the prices and I am going to need to start saving. I have Thompson's 52nd Div - it's very good. Edited 29 May , 2020 by Gareth Davies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 29 May , 2020 Share Posted 29 May , 2020 Some, at least, are available from N&M, I suppose. I know the 11th Hussars isn't though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulgranger Posted 29 May , 2020 Share Posted 29 May , 2020 Is your view of Stacke's history based on the content, or the physical book, which I have only ever seen one copy of, in Bethnal Green Children's Library, can you believe, when I was 9 or 10. It was, if I recall, a quality product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 29 May , 2020 Share Posted 29 May , 2020 It is a very good book. I can quite understand why the poor chap died (I think heart attack) shortly after completion. When you see some of the shoddy productions out there, The Worcesters did themselves proud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Jacket Collector Posted 29 May , 2020 Share Posted 29 May , 2020 21 hours ago, keithmroberts said: Seajane I have a spare modern reprint ot "The Fighting at Jutland", which I think replicates the original with all the contents.You are welcome to that and once life returns to normal I can drop it off to you at the Royal Dockyard. You are not going to get my original privately printed copy with the tipped in photos. That is a treasure. Keith I have Fawcett’s own copy of the original Edition which was specially bound for him in vellum by the publishers. It was republished in 1930 with the number of accounts reduced from 60 to 45. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithmroberts Posted 29 May , 2020 Share Posted 29 May , 2020 1 hour ago, Dust Jacket Collector said: I have Fawcett’s own copy of the original Edition which was specially bound for him in vellum by the publishers. It was republished in 1930 with the number of accounts reduced from 60 to 45. Now that is special indeed. I'm just chuffed to have one of the first edition at all as my budget is still quite modest.. There was a reprint with 45 accounts published quite soon after the original edition. I did have a copy, but moved it on once I was fortunate enough to find a decent copy of the original. 20 hours ago, seaJane said: May I look at it some time? (I promise not to drool all over it Surely. Once we are allowed movement again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaureenE Posted 30 May , 2020 Share Posted 30 May , 2020 (edited) The Stacke book is partly available online, as a Naval & Military Press reprint. Volume 2 is certainly sample pages only, Volume 1 appears to have more online pages available Worcestershire Regiment in the Great War Volume 1 https://books.google.com.au/books?id=VXa-BAAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 Volume 2 https://books.google.com.au/books?id=oHa-BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA311 Some of the books mentioned above are available online, see the FIBIS Fibiwiki page Western Front https://wiki.fibis.org/w/Western_Front, section Historical books online. Also mentioned above The Siege by Russell Braddon 1970. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Extra wording on cover The Forgotten Siege of Kut El Amarah, Mesopotamia, 1916 - A saga of heroism and military blunder, the greatest humiliation suffered by British Arms between Balaclava and Singapore. Greenmantle by John Buchan 1916 Archive.org. Librivox Audio, catalogued Version 2. (Other files are available). Archive.org. Wikipedia The Fighting at Jutland : the Personal Experiences of Sixty Officers and Men of the British Fleet April 1921. There was also an abridged edition with a similar title about Forty-five Officers and Men published September 1921. Both Archive.org. The 11th Hussars (Lumley) book is available on the pay website TheGenealogist as part of the "Regimental Records & Histories" requiring a Diamond subscription. Cheers Maureen Edited 30 May , 2020 by Maureene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelcave Posted 30 May , 2020 Share Posted 30 May , 2020 The Stacke book is a masterpiece of regimental history writing. Excellent - and copious - illustrations; numerous (admittedly all sketch, IIRC, but none the worse for that) maps which are all (?) pull out - i.e. they extend out from the body of the book for easy reference; extensive and useful foot notes; coherently narrated with clear references to the battalion under discussion in the margin; a superb index; the original all published on heavy 'art' type paper - the list goes on. The latter was, of course, its biggest problems - the binding of the original was often not up to the task and it weighs a ton. I got mine, excellently rebound, about twenty-five years ago and it was £100 then. It is a book any self respecting bibliophile would rush to get. A digital version just would not come close to doing it justice. Stacke, of course, also contributed to the OH as one of Edmonds' team and IIRC (I am still in lockdown in distant France - now on my 12th week) was the lead writer of at least one of the volumes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkalotloudly Posted 6 June , 2020 Share Posted 6 June , 2020 my 10 I most enjoyed? Ghosts have warm Hands {will bird} 1968 Soul of the camp {set on the Norfolk coast near to where my parents had a caravan }1919 Letters of an Australian Army Sister Lemos Egypt France etc 1919 Surgery on Trestles {Mesopotamia 1916 Begg 1968 Old soldiers never Die, Richards The war the infantry knew, surely the classic Great War book ? Dunn 1938 War is war by EX private Ex 1914 Lyn Macdonald {the best of her series ?} To the last ridge Downing 1920 The journal of Private Fraser there are others but these spring to mind With regards to unit histories I now very much tend to collect the small and scarce as they tend to contain much more information regarding those who served a complete roll of, names and in many cases home addresses all casualties etc Siege battery histories Histories of Ambulance units etc The ones that I think stand out are the 1/6 and 2/6 West Yorkshire The Cameron Highlanders great war volumes Stacke Worcestershire regiment and 16th Canadian Scottish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 7 June , 2020 Share Posted 7 June , 2020 That's a hard one... OK, here goes: John Keegan - The First World War. HAS to be in this list, as it was the first book I ever read on the Great War. Vera Brittain - Testament of Youth Vera still epitomizes to woman in the FWW for me. She is THE example of how women of that time transformed and took the war to heart, going so far as to immerse themselves in the suffering and for some, pay the ultimate price. Lyn McDonald - They called it Passchendaele This was my first encouter with Third Ypres, even before turning to the "textbooks". There's a story here too... I once copied out a few chapters and gave them to read to a small group of recruits. The weather reports had been bad and these three fell "ill" just on the day of the evening/night road march that was planned. I could of course not go against doctor's orders but gave them each a chapter to read (the worst of course, with loooots of rain and mud), nicely stuck in their warm beds while their comrades were out getting soaked following me on the road march. Next day they were better and were never ''ill" again at the approach of bad weather... I also got my ass kicked by Coy Cdr for good measure because apparently what I did was not nice at all... Neil Hanson - The Unknown Soldier also one the earliest WWI books I bought, and one that stuck and to which I go back on quite regular basis for reference, or just to get some perspective... Edwin Vaughn - Some desperate Glory That does not need any explanation... must be one of the rare occasions I had to take care of some dust in my eye after reading... M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 8 June , 2020 Share Posted 8 June , 2020 (edited) I have quite a lot which I dip into, and quite a few in French about the war in Alsace and the Vosges, but these on the list below I have read more than once. I'm afraid I don't do military histories, Ypres or the Somme, apart from enjoying the Lyn Macdonald books and certain others which users of this forum generally despise. The first three are riveting, harrowing, sobering insights into the French experience. Gabriel Chevallier Fear / La Peur Louis Barthas - Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918 Robert Pellissier - A Good Idea of Hell - Letters from a Chasseur à Pied [Pelissier served in the Vosges] David Jones - In Parenthesis Peter Barham - Forgotten Lunatics of the Great War Edited 8 June , 2020 by Dragon Typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richmond Posted 12 June , 2020 Share Posted 12 June , 2020 Quite a few to choose from, however here are some favourites; The Fateful Battle Line - Captain Henry Ogle Last Man Standing - Norman Collins They Called it Passchendaele - Lyn MacDonald There’s a Devil in the Drum - JF Lucy London Scottish - Mark Lloyd The White War - Mark Thompson Fire and Movement - Peter Hart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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