Great war books

[Dawson]

Having just read Some desperate glory by Edwin Campion Vaughan,

and thanking my luck that i stumbled on it second hand,

why is this book out of print? Is this a well known diary?

Beg borrow or steal this book if you can.

But after reading it now, i'd would like any suggestions on further reading

that i might be interested in. i.e first hand accounts.

Thank you.

Ian.

[Conor Dodd]

Forgotten Voices of the Great War the whole book is acounts I found it very good.

Conor

[Andrew Hesketh]

Ian,

Take a look at the thread entitled 'To The Last Man:Spring 1918' under Sales/Swaps etc. There was a good recent discussion of recommendations.

All the best,

Andrew

[Terry Carter]

Hi all

Just to add a little bit more info for those not familier with the book mentioned at the start of this topic. "Some Desperate Glory" by Edwin Campion Vaughan. Whilst doing his Officer Training, Campion vaughan was advised by a friend to put his name down for the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Thus he was posted to the 1/8th Royal Warwicks (Territorials from Aston, in Brum, virtually wiped out on 1/7/16) prior to the 3rd Battle of Ypres. A very good read indeed and the description of conditions at Passchendeale is harrowing.

Terry

[CROONAERT]

For a look at the war from "the other side of the wire" try "The Storm of Steel"or "Copse 125" by Ernst Junger. A real antidote to "All Quiet on the Western Front",written by a guy who actually seemed to enjoy the war,despite being wounded 14 times.He decided at Verdun that he didn't want to live to be old (He died about 3 or 4 years ago!!).

Storm of steel is especially recommended.

[Paul Reed]

For some more ideas have a look at:

http://battlefields1418.50megs.com/ww1_rea...ading_lists.htm

I will be adding more in due course.

[CROONAERT]

Another excellent first hand account that springs to mind is "The Winding Road Unfolds" by T.S.Hope. This is based on his diary extracts from July 1917 untill Dec.1917 when he received a "Blighty". It may now be out of print,but is well worth looking up in a second hand book shop.

Incidentally,its 1972 reprint was entitled "Rage of Battle".

[Guest John Orfei]

Dawson, "Some Desperate Glory" by Vaughan is a great first read it's one of my personal favorites. The journal of his 8 months during 1917 ending up in the killing fields of Passchendaele tells what combat was like in the trenchs for a young man of nineteen year old. Did you know that Vaughan won the Military Cross for bravery in 1918. I think his journal entry for 5th of June 1917 says it all ("I told you to insist on joining the 1/8th" and so on). Just an afterthought how does one play the game called "Slippery Ann".

[Jonathan Saunders]

The Letters of Agar Adamson - an original officer of the Princess Patricia's arrived in UK late 1914, France and Flanders 1915. Was at Mount Sorrel, teh Somme and then was Lt-Col of teh Patricia's at Vimy and Passchendale. Fantastic account of what life was like in the trenches albeit from a privileged officers perspective.

[Somme1916]

"Some Desperate Glory" was the very first "war diary" I read. I enjoy it so much I've sense read several others, two of which I highly recomend:

"Old Soldiers Never Die" by Frank Richards

"Stand To, A Diary of the Trenches 1915 - 1918" by F.C. Hitchcock

Richard's diary is written in story format and has some very good accounts on what battle was like. Most memorable to me was his description of the fighting for High Wood during the 1916 Battle of the Somme!

Hitchcock's book is written more like a traditional personal diary:

18th July (1915)

Good weather again. Marsland, Piper, and I went to see "Stink Post" in the evening. It was quite a job getting out to the end of the sap as the communication trench was frightfully low, and we had to crawl along as the enemy snipers were particularly hostile. (I'll stop there but the entry continues.)

[robwilliams]

Two years ago I walked around the area described by Vaughan in 'Some Deperate Glory'. The book helped greatly in visualising what went on. That and a trench map an we were in seventh heaven. It made the shrapnel balls I found in the area some much more poignant.

I would also recommend 'The War the Infantry Knew' by Capt Dunn, 'A Subaltern's War' by Carrington.

Rob

[Jonathan Saunders]

I would add a recent publication "Harry's War" by Harry Stinton who was in the Suicide Squad. Another first hand account of life on the Western Front.

[Guest Len Shurtleff]

One the WFA-US website, we try toi keep track of new and reissued works on World War One. Look under RESOURCES for Len's Bookshelf

Len Shurtleff

http://www.wfa-usa.org/

[CROONAERT]

Years ago, I remember reading an excellent account of life as a French infantryman 1915 -1917,with seperate chapters on the author's (deceased) comrades and places where they served (Arras/Artois 1915, Somme 1916 and Champagne 1917)

I cannot remember the name of the author of the book.What I do remember is that it was entitled " LICE ",and that my copy (a reprint)was a paperback published in the late 1960's.

[Kate Wills]

'Lice' was written by Blaise Cendrars, who had served as an NCO with the French Foreign Legion during WW1. I think he was Swiss. It was originally published in French as La Main Coupee (The Severed Hand), an allusion to Cendrars losing an arm in the conflict. The French version is widely available in France as a cheap paperback.

Another French author who has been translated into English is Jean Giono, who died quite recently, and specialised in nature subjects. I have yet to read 'To the Slaughterhouse' but I can recommend his novella 'The Man who Planted Trees' which was read on Radio 4 a few years ago. It does not cover Giono's war experiences directly, but is a parable of post-war regeneration. It concerns a shepherd who secretly wanders the countryside planting seeds. Eventually a group of government scientists arrive and declare the area is undergoing a natural process of forestation. This, of course, was written at a time when the French Government were encouraging couples to plant a few seeds in the comfort of their own homes...

[CROONAERT]

Thanks Kate,that's the name I was looking for.

For an American viewpoint ,you can't go far wrong with "Over the Top" by Arthur Guy Empey (another probably long out of print book),who served in France in a U.S.machine gun outfit 1917-1918. This book also contains a dictionary of "trench slang",which in itself is worth the asking price of the book.

[Dawson]

Hello All,

Many thanks to you all for all your suggestions on the books i might like,

my wife will be most pleased to see more books ariving at the front door.

I've just read Gary Sheffield's new book, it's called The Somme, and very good it is too,and in it , it recommends Frederick Manning's book,

WOW what a book, i thought A Covenant with Death was was a great ww1 fiction book, but this beats it hands down, It's called Her Privates we,

and is available in the shops.

Thank you all again.

Ian.

Just a comment: Frederick Manning's book is entitled "The Middle Parts of Fortune". "Her Privates We" is an 'expurgated' version of the same. I'm not sure exactly what was expurgated, but there's some fruity language in the original. A brilliant read. Both titles are from Shakespeare. Chris.

[Annette Burgoyne]

Hi Ian

Her Privates We, is an expurgated edition of The Middle Parts of Fortune, with certain prunings and excisions, to quote the 1977 reprint of The Middle Parts of Fortune. Both versions are a very good read.

Regards

Annette

[Simon_Fielding]

I really enjoyed reading "The Secret Battle" by AP Herbert - 1982 Oxford Paperback with 1930s introduction by WS Churchill and 1980s introduction by John Terraine. Fantastic description of the trenches at Gallipoli - where Herbert served with the Royal Naval Division.

Simon