Chronology of the Great War

[Clive Maier]

Chronology of the Great War, Greenhill Books, 1988, 1-85367-012-X

This single-volume book consists of facsimiles of the three volumes of Chronology of the War that were published by Constable between 1918 and 1920.

What I would like to know from knowledgeable pals, is whether the book can be regarded as a reliable working tool for today.

One or two of the entries that I have glanced at seem to be less than objective, while that for 1st July 1916 on the Western Front is almost unrecognisable. It mentions only successes and prisoners taken. A reader would conclude that we had a thoroughly good day. This makes me feel the whole book may have been compiled in a partial and ‘patriotic’ spirit. This would be no surprise for the time, but it would make the book rather unreliable for a researcher today.

So is the book just an interesting relic or a sound record?

[andigger]

Clive, Its been a while since you made this post. Since no one else put their two cents in I was wondering if you found the book useful and accurate.

Andy

[Clive Maier]

Andy,

I have not got the book as no one came along to shake my unfavourable first impression. It is in the local reference library but at the moment I don't feel it's a must-have for home. I have been surprised to find that the book seems to be almost unknown, judging by the response.

[zooloo]

What I would like to know from knowledgeable pals, is whether the book can be regarded as a reliable working tool for today.

As far as I know... not really.

Besides it's bias it also contains errors, not surprising for such a large work.

Can be useful sometimes though but it's no gospel.

zoo