Great War Books 2003

[David_Blanchard]

It might be nice to keep a list of books released this year:

1. 'Mud Blood and Poppycock: Britain and the First World War' Gordon Corrigan ( Cassell ISBN 0-304-35955-6)

2. 'Writing the Great War: Sir James Edmonds and the Official Hitories: 1915-1918' Andrew Green (Frank Cass ISBN 0-7146-5495-7)

3. 'The Somme' Gary Sheffield (Cassell ISBN 0-304-35704-9)

[David_Blanchard]

4. 'Private Peaceful' by Michael Morpurgo (Collins ISBN )

5. 'Bringing Uncle Albert Home: A Soldier's Tale' David P. Whithorn (Sutton Publishing)

[Doug Lewis]

Magnificent But Not War

The Second Battle Of Ypres 1915

John Dixon

Pen & Sword ISBN 1 84415 002 X

[David_Blanchard]

'Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth ' By John Garth

Review from Amazon:

Synopsis

This biography explores J.R.R. Tolkien's wartime experiences and their impact on his life and his writing of "The Lord of the Rings". The period of Tolkien's life in which he fought in the Great War has remained largely unexplored and unresearched by his many and various biographers - this volume concentrates specifically on this period and relates it to his creation of some of the world's best-loved literary works. Written specifically for a general audience, and not just Tolkien fans, this book allows Tolkien's life, work, inspiration and success to be viewed from a new viewpoint. Having lost many of his friends from school and university in World War I, this, coupled with his time spent as a signaller in the Royal Lancashire Fusiliers, had a profound impact on him. As did, it would seem, the writing of G.B. Smith, a close friend who was sadly lost in the War. Invalided home from the Somme, Tolkien was able to reflect on his life, and John Garth agues that, far from being a flight of fancy, "The Lord of the Rings" is, in fact, a product of his wartime experiences and stands as a great war novel.

[David_Blanchard]

'Evidence, History and the Great War: Historians and the Impact of 1914-1918'

Gail Braybon

Amazon review

Synopsis

The Great War maintains a tenacious grip on the public imagination and also continues to draw historians to this period that is variously used as a symbol of modernity, as the midwife of the 20th century and as an agent of social change. A great many works have been written in response to previous work, as the original sources were fading away into the background. Consequently, errors remained uncorrected, once certain interpretations were considered common knowledge, and myths about the war and its aftermath emerged and remained unchallenged. Taking a fresh look at the Great War, this volume returns to the original oral, textual, pictorial, and artistic evidence and looks at how historians have used -- or abused -- this evidence over the years.