Book recommendations, specifically covering the opening months of the war.

[John_545]

Hello everyone! 

This is my first post on this forum. I've recently become very interested in the first world war, and I'm hoping you'll be able to give me some good book recommendations. I started with 'The Great War, 1914 - 1918' by Peter Hart which I really enjoyed and I thought gave me a pretty good overview of the war. After that I began reading Winston Churchill's 5 volume series 'The World Crisis'. It's been fascinating to see the war through Churchill's eyes and I very much enjoy his writing style. At the moment I'm approaching the end of the third volume so I still have two to go, but I was wondering if you have any suggestions of books that I can read once I'm finished with it. I'd particularly like to read more about the opening months of the war, the battle of the frontiers, and the battle of the Marne. If anyone has any recommendations of books that cover this period specifically, or any other books on the great war that you think I should read, I would appreciate it! 

[MaureenE]

You could look at the online books linked from the FIBIS Fibiwiki pages Western Front and First World War

https://wiki.fibis.org/w/Western_Front#Historical_books_online

https://wiki.fibis.org/w/First_World_War#Historical_books_online_2

 

For books in the Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library scheme, some books have an option to borrow for one hour, or 14 days. However some you can only borrow for one hour, but if no one else is on the waiting list, you can re-borrow.

 

Cheers

Maureen

Edited 21 June , 2020 by Maureene

[Derek Black]

Challenge of Battle by Adrian Gilbert.

 

I read this recently and it covers the 1914 actions with some depth.

 

Derek.

[David Filsell]

If you want a really sound overview of the British Army Stemming the Tide: Officers and Leadership in the BEF 1914. Published in 2014, it's just been reissued in hardback and the Helion, the publishers are offering it less than most dealers are asking for the earlier editions. Outstanding starts to describe the 15 expert pieces it contains'

Regards

David  

[fellop]

Re Post 4

David,

Do you have a link for that?. I have just looked at Helion website and it says the book is out of print. I expect I am not looking in the right place.

 

Regards

Peter

[593jones]

1 hour ago, fellop said:

Re Post 4

David,

Do you have a link for that?. I have just looked at Helion website and it says the book is out of print. I expect I am not looking in the right place.

 

Regards

Peter

 

From Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stemming-Tide-Leadership-Expeditionary-Wolverhampton/dp/1912866110/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=stemming+the+tide%3A+officers+and+leadership+in+1914&qid=1592745513&s=books&sr=1-1

 

You can also get it from Dagwoods Books for £17.50, just look on the hardback listing under '14 New from £17.50'.  Dagwoods Books are a subsidiary of Hellion, but sell their books for a substantial discount.

[fellop]

Re Post 6

Much obliged for the link, I will have a look, thank you.

Regards

Peter

[seaJane]

Hi Peter,

I enjoyed reading Barbara Tuchman's  The Guns of August, though I'm not the person to ask about its accuracy.

Best wishes,

seaJane

[Robert Dunlop]

Tuchman's book provides a dramatic flavour to the events. The impressions she creates are important, more so than the factual accuracy. Another book that covers the earliest weeks up to and including the Marne is Sewell Tyng's 'The Campaign of the Marne'. First published in 1935, it remains one of the most readable and balanced accounts. 

 

Robert

[fellop]

Re Post 8.

Jane I am not the OP but thank you for the recommendation. I shall look for it.

 

Regards

Peter

[barkalotloudly]

Lyn Macdonald  "1914" "The first three months" by Needham 

[Black Maria]

8 hours ago, barkalotloudly said:

Lyn Macdonald  "1914" "The first three months" by Needham 

One slightly more cheaper and easier to find than the other 

[Resurgam13]

For the opening on the Western Front, I would thoroughly recommend "Liaison 1914 : A Narrative of the Great Retreat" by Edward Spears.

[Black Maria]

This thread will probably have every book you ever want on 1914     

 

[Steven Broomfield]

Not necessarily. It started eight years ago and the last addition to the thread was six years ago (time flies!)

[Black Maria]

43 minutes ago, Steven Broomfield said:

Not necessarily. It started eight years ago and the last addition to the thread was six years ago (time flies!)

It was a bit tongue in cheek as it generally only covers the B.E.F and like you say there must be plenty more out there to choose from .

[Steven Broomfield]

2 hours ago, Black Maria said:

It was a bit tongue in cheek as it generally only covers the B.E.F and like you say there must be plenty more out there to choose from .

 

Me too!  (even though Martin G was pretty exhaustive!)

[Black Maria]

1 hour ago, Steven Broomfield said:

 

Me too!  (even though Martin G was pretty exhaustive!)

[joerookery]

If you're looking for something on the other side of the wire, may I recommend our own book: German Failure in Belgium August 1914. Stops at the battle of Mons basically the detail of everything that transpired prior to The BEF.

[John_545]

Thank you for all the recommendations everyone! I have a lot of reading to do