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Alecras234

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Hi i want to learn a little about world war one but i don't want to get too complicated.   I found this book which i thought i'd ask you lot whether it's a good read?  I know it's basic and doesn't give much detail but it's got what i want to learn i think.  I thought after reading this, to then read the Forgotten voices book.   Thanks,   Ash

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Should i read soldiers memoirs rather than history books on WW1?  I can get the same information while reading memoirs yes?     I started reading a soldiers diary a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it but then i was told that maybe to get facts to read history book of WW1, but i find memoirs easier and more exciting to read.

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There is but one book to start you off. It is a history of a regular battalion as recounted by its members to its Medical Officer, with the narrative linked by reference to the war diary. It is justly famous, and very very readable. The battalion was the second to arrive in France and was continuously involved in just about every major battle and crisis.

 

"The War the Infantry Knew" by JC Dunn, DCM.

 

Available in lots of editions, the best are fully illustrated and with maps. The book has a comprehensive index.

 

Highly recommended.

 

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The War the Infantry Knew: A Chronicle of Service in France and Belgium

Dunn, J.C.

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 I speak as a retired bookseller- read whatever you like!!    No matter how good a book is, it is enthusiasm to read it that makes all the difference.

 

If you read lots of Great War memoirs, then a good little book to accompany them is:

 

Winter, Denis

Published by Penguin (1992)

 

       Winter's book draws on a great many memoirs,as well as the recollections of his father. What makes it good is that he deals with all the daily life of a soldier- what the rations were, how much a rifle weighed,etc- and the comments on these daily  matters from those involved.

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With all due respect Ash, you will never start learning until you actually start reading, rather than keep asking is something is any good, should you do this, that or the other. You have received plenty of recommendations both here and on Facebook. If you don't like a book, fine. Put it down and start another. If you learn  by writing  questions, again fine. You don't have to start at Mons and plough through the entire war, that's also fine. 

Everyone finds interest in different subjects, and in different genres. I know that you can't read heavy ( both physically and metaphorically ) books because of your head injury but you won't ever get anywhere until you get a book on the go and start to read it, it's up to you to find what interests YOU. 

 

 

Michelle 

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Ash, the book mentioned is available  read online for free on the Internet Archive (Archive.org) in the Books to Borrow/Lending Library section. You register, and then can borrow the book for one hour, but at the end of one hour, you can renew it for another hour, or borrow it again at a different time.

https://archive.org/details/deathsmensoldier0000wint_w2s8

 

If you are interested in memoirs, there are many available online,  linked from the FIBIS Fibiwiki page Western Front, most of which are free.

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

 

Also includes a category  "Collected Stories" with short accounts

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

 

Cheers

Maureen

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Ash, just to endorse the comments that Michelle made on Sunday.

 

Having a couple of minor cognitive problems myself, I can sympathise with your situation, but perhaps you're trying to bite off more than you can chew, as a general history of the war covers many different nations and conflicts. TBH I myself have never read an all-embracing history of the war and am not greatly interested in some aspects of it. Certainly I would struggle to say or write very much about the Balkans and Gallipoli, for example.

 

It seems that you're trying to read through an entire book - why not try skimming through one, concentrating on aspects that interest you and skipping other passages.

 

Or you could watch documentaries and feature films on YouTube to get a taste of a particular topic and then do a little research to find out how accurate they are.

 

(I'm sure that other members are leaping to their keyboards and keypads to point out that one can't depend on these  for accuracy.)

 

What other interests have you besides the war? My own enthusiasm relates mainly to Wiltshire, but when there's some other sort of connection - such as another locality I know well, postage stamps or cycling - then I broaden my horizons.

 

So, don't try to get your head around the war in its entirety (I couldn't), be selective.

 

Good luck!

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Hi Moonraker thanks for replying.  That's why i chose a simple book about world war one as it only gives summaries of events   and isn't heavy going at all, it has  short chapters and is vy brief.   I don't really want the ins and outs of ww1 just the summary and to know who the key players were, also i try to remember dates of battles and where they were faught which this book covers simply.  I'm worried though that this book isn't always accurate.   Shall i stay with reading this book?  Heres the link to it.  https://www.amazon.co.uk/WW1-Laymans-Entertaining-Educational-History-ebook/dp/B00AE323S0/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=laymans+ww1&qid=1600854182&sr=8-1

 

I watch documentaries, although some go over my head, but i find learning information easy by watching a documentary.   I'm interested in history, ancient history is fascinating, i also like archaeology.   I like plastic scale modeling, i play the keyboard, i paint pictures and draw.

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Ash

 

I wouldn't worry too much about it being completely accurate; very few books are, and there's usually someone like me with a good knowledge of a tiny part of the War who can find errors. I suggest that you go on reading a little at a time, concentrating on aspects that take your fancy.

 

And you could find well-known paintings and see what comments other people have made about them and do a little research of your own. Googling "great war forum paintings" will take you to some useful threads here on the GWF.

 

 

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Hey Moonraker, how do you remember information?   My friend told me that when she was studying she used to make questions from books and then answering them, and that helped her to remember.   I tried making question and answers from my books but i find it difficult to make questions.   I just wandered how you remember information from books or film?  Do you have a technique i could try?    I'm reading about the battle of tannenberg, and making questions is really difficult.

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On 23/09/2020 at 10:50, Alecras234 said:

I watch documentaries

 

Series currently being shown on PBS America (Freeview channel 91, Freesat channel 155).  Don't know if it is any good as haven't seen it yet (recording for later viewing).

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On 24/09/2020 at 11:16, Alecras234 said:

Hey Moonraker, how do you remember information? 

I hope Moonraker doesn't mind me answering this question.

Everybody's brain is different, and the process of remembering information is different for everyone.

Some people only need to look at an image, or read a page once, and they remember it.

I remember one student in college who had a photographic memory. He could read a book, and you could ask him what the 6th word on the 19th line of page 489 of a text book and he could tell you.

All that information just went in.

The point is though, you don't need to learn everything you read.

Unless you're a student and have to pass exams etc.

Most people read for enjoyment.

If any of what I now read, sticks, fine. If it doesn't, fine.

I don't read much to learn nowadays, certainly not to retain all the read information permanently.

 

We were told in the first week of lectures that there was two types of information:

That which you know,  - stuff you need to learn  was 10%

and that which you know where to find comprised the remaining 90%.

 

So you see, you don't need to learn it, just know where to find it.

That book I gave the link for earlier in the thread, I have one myself.

It isn't too detailed about any battle or operation, it gives an easily readable overview of the whole war.

But you don't need to read it as a novel.

Although novels and wars have beginnings, middles and ends, war histories don't flow neatly from one page to the next so you need to dip in to it to read about one campaign, one year, one general etc, rather than expect it all to tie in in 250 pages.

Give it a try as a starter.

If you find any topic that interests you, then go after that in detail.

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On 24/09/2020 at 11:16, Alecras234 said:

Hey Moonraker, how do you remember information ...

 

47 minutes ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

I hope Moonraker doesn't mind me answering this question...

Dai, I'm delighted that you got in first and posted a far better answer than I could have managed.

 

Being of more than a certain age, my short-term memory is terrible. Quite often I watch a programme on TV and sometimes only when I'm halfway through it do I begin to think that I might have seen it before - and it turns out that I have, and only two or three years before. I've even "forgotten" films that I reviewed on IMDB (International Movie Data Base).

 

For three weeks this month I've been watching the Tour de France on TV, but I would be hard-pressed to recall the names of individual stage-winners (and some of those names seem more difficult to pronounce nowadays). But when it comes to remembering stage-winners on the 1960s I'm OK.

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May I jump in and recommend an excellent documentary?    On You Tube- "A Game of Ghosts"- interviews done in the 1990s with some of the last survivors of the British Army of the Great War. All very fluent and informative-all thoughtful men at the end of long and varied lives. IMHO, the best doc. about the Great War

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Hi guys i am just wandering,  I am reading the book that Dai suggested i try which i am enjoying so far, called The Great War Explained.   However, i came across this book to have aswel as The Great War Explained.   What i was wandering,  would you recommend i read this book aswel please?  Here is the link  https://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Great-War-Beginning-Frontiers-ebook/dp/B01H4IRDOQ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_pdt_img_top?ie=UTF8

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That looks as if it's a very detailed book, mainly (only?) of interest to those who want a lot of detail  about the Battles of Liege, the Frontiers and Guise. It's self-published and I suspect that English may not be the author's first language - I note his calling the battles "the three beginning events". You can "Look Inside" at a few pages that will give you a flavour.

 

May I suggest that you continue reading The Great War Explained, skipping anything that doesn't interest you very much and concentrating on aspects that do.

 

 

 

 

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Ok yes, i shan't bother, i'll stick with The great war explained.  What about if i read memoirs or soldiers diaries,  am i alright to read those?

 

Also what documentary can i watch that covers battles?

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On 25/09/2020 at 14:01, Alecras234 said:

Which documentaries do you watch Don Regiano?

 

I tend to watch documentaries on specific aspects of WW1, which, hopefully, go into some depth on the subject matter and usually associated with the Western Front.  I think you are more interested in general aspects.  If you google you tube ww1 you will find a range of films available, many of which are fairly general in their approach.  Their quality is variable, to say the least but you might find something to your liking among them.

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