Waddell Posted 11 January , 2019 Share Posted 11 January , 2019 16 hours ago, nigelcave said: For a one-volume, accessible, work it deservedly ranks amongst the classics. Strongly recommend reading it in conjunction with the other books in his trilogy on France at war. Yes. I have a copy of ‘To Lose A Battle’ sitting at home that I have been waiting to read. I can see how he links the trilogy together. Horne talks about the ‘men of 50’ in 1940 and the origins of the Maginot Line in his conclusions. My copy of the book is the 1964 edition. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 11 January , 2019 Share Posted 11 January , 2019 Little trip to Ever and Defense Libray this morning gave the result: Antoine Prost & Jay Winter "Penser la Grande Guerre: un essai d'historiographie" . It's about how the world sees the war, how people, in particular those who write about it, film about, make music about is, see the Great War.... curious!! Philippe Conrad: "1914 - La guerre n'aura pas lieu": aside of the elements leading to war, the author identifies the evidence that would have given Peace a chance Pierre Crocq: "De la Somme à Verdun: épreuves d'un poilu de 14-18" Olivier Defrance: "L'Odyssée des auto-canons-mitrailleurs" ... a real piece of Belgian history !! and the good thing is: I can start right away, as the Boyfriend decided to stay at his place, because he's "cleaning up"... in other words: his house's a mess because he's not one bit organised!!! M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 31 January , 2019 Share Posted 31 January , 2019 Just finished 'The war behind the wire' John Lewis- Stemple.327 pages. Accounts of POW's. Taken from letters home, debriefs, camp records mens memories. Give details of conditions, escapes treatment etc, A good insight to a POW' daily life as a prisoner, Many camps named that |I had never heard of. All in all a good read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 31 January , 2019 Share Posted 31 January , 2019 A belated festive present from a friend who works for Amgueddfa Cymru, National Museum Wales, who published this in 2014. It's a reproduction of a set of 66 lithographs commissioned by the Bureau of Propaganda. The "Efforts" section consists of groups of monochrome lithographs as follows: Making Soldiers - Eric Kennington Making Sailors - Frank Brangwyn Making Guns - George Clausen Building Ships - Muirhead Bone Building Aircraft - C.R.W. Nevinson Work on the Land - William Rothenstein Tending the Wounded - Claude Shepperson Women's Work - A. S. Hartrick Transport by Sea - Charles Pears The "Ideals" section consists of single, coloured lithographs by: Frank Brangwyn - The Freedom of the Seas Augustus John - The Dawn Maurice Greiffenhagen - The Restoration of Alsace-Lorraine to France George Clausen - The Reconstruction of Belgium Edmund Dulac - Poland a Nation F. Ernest Jackson - United Defence Against Oppression (England and France, 1914) Gerald Moira - The Restoration of Serbia Edmund Joseph Sullivan - The Reign of Justice Charles Ricketts - Italia Redenta William Rothenstein - The Triumph of Democracy Charles Shannon - The Re-birth of the Arts WIlliam Nicholson - The End of War. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scalyback Posted 31 January , 2019 Share Posted 31 January , 2019 12 minutes ago, seaJane said: A belated festive present from a friend who works for Amgueddfa Cymru, National Museum Wales, who published this in 2014. It's a reproduction of a set of 66 lithographs commissioned by the Bureau of Propaganda. The "Efforts" section consists of groups of monochrome lithographs as follows: Making Soldiers - Eric Kennington Making Sailors - Frank Brangwyn Making Guns - George Clausen Building Ships - Muirhead Bone Building Aircraft - C.R.W. Nevinson Work on the Land - William Rothenstein Tending the Wounded - Claude Shepperson Women's Work - A. S. Hartrick Transport by Sea - Charles Pears The "Ideals" section consists of single, coloured lithographs by: Frank Brangwyn - The Freedom of the Seas Augustus John - The Dawn Maurice Greiffenhagen - The Restoration of Alsace-Lorraine to France George Clausen - The Reconstruction of Belgium Edmund Dulac - Poland a Nation F. Ernest Jackson - United Defence Against Oppression (England and France, 1914) Gerald Moira - The Restoration of Serbia Edmund Joseph Sullivan - The Reign of Justice Charles Ricketts - Italia Redenta William Rothenstein - The Triumph of Democracy Charles Shannon - The Re-birth of the Arts WIlliam Nicholson - The End of War. Any prints as posters? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 31 January , 2019 Share Posted 31 January , 2019 Not that I know of. Might be worth looking in the National Museum Wales online shop? (I presume they have one.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scalyback Posted 31 January , 2019 Share Posted 31 January , 2019 6 minutes ago, seaJane said: Not that I know of. Might be worth looking in the National Museum Wales online shop? (I presume they have one.) A hit and miss affair. Mostly twee Welsh or Roman item's. The friend based at St Fagn's or Cardiff Museum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 31 January , 2019 Share Posted 31 January , 2019 Abergavenny Castle. I'll ask her about posters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulgranger Posted 1 February , 2019 Share Posted 1 February , 2019 Just finished 'Passchendaele' by Nick Lloyd. Highly recommended, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Maria Posted 3 February , 2019 Share Posted 3 February , 2019 Just read ' Stanley Spencer's Great War diary ' and thought it was excellent . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 4 February , 2019 Share Posted 4 February , 2019 Ooh! I didn't know about that one *clickety-click-buy* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Jacket Collector Posted 4 February , 2019 Share Posted 4 February , 2019 19 hours ago, Black Maria said: Just read ' Stanley Spencer's Great War diary ' and thought it was excellent . Not ‘the’ Stanley Spencer’ though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted 4 February , 2019 Share Posted 4 February , 2019 Apokalypse Verdun 1916 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Maria Posted 4 February , 2019 Share Posted 4 February , 2019 1 hour ago, Dust Jacket Collector said: Not ‘the’ Stanley Spencer’ though. No , it's the other one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 4 February , 2019 Share Posted 4 February , 2019 Managed to find a lot of not-so-good reads lately ... like the aforementionned memoirs of Pierre Crocq. Prost & Winter's endeavour into the historiography of the war also left me more puzzled than ever before about some things but worked as well as counting sheep when it came to fall asleep in the evening... So looking for something I might actually use in my projects, I'm now reading Emily Mayhew's "Wounded" and waiting for the new (and hopefully rightly printed and bound) "Female Tommies" by Elizabeth Shipton. M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 4 February , 2019 Share Posted 4 February , 2019 15 hours ago, Dust Jacket Collector said: Not ‘the’ Stanley Spencer’ though. Ah... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 5 February , 2019 Share Posted 5 February , 2019 Also, just for your information and if you want it, just finished the updating of my bibliography = the complete list of all books I ever read on the war and their commentary (well those I deemed interesting enough to be put into the bibliography and that can be used for reference) ... 331 of them, 385 entries if you count novels, movies and plays in it, plus articles and internet sites... took me the good part of two evenings in my little "exile room" here in Marche barracks, but ... it's done ! if you want a copy, I can send you the PDF. M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joerookery Posted 5 February , 2019 Share Posted 5 February , 2019 I would love a copy of the PDF could you send me one please? I will send you my email by PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin kenf48 Posted 5 February , 2019 Admin Share Posted 5 February , 2019 Picked up a copy of Henry Williamson, ‘The Wet Flanders Plain’ in a second hand bookshop. I know he is considered beyond the pale by some but as his son points out in the 1987 foreword his politics were closely linked to his Great War experience. I can allow him that as I allow Kipling’s tarnished reputation amongst those who would rewrite history. Williamson’s DEvon books especially his ‘Pergegrine Saga’, and the struggles of Chakchek the Backbreaker have inspired a love of birds since reading it fifty years ago. Returning to the slim volume ‘The Wet Flanders Plain’ the descriptive writing of his battlefield tours/honeymoon is equally moving and evocative as he recalls where he fought, ‘I do not want to forget the War’. There is an extensive critique with commentary https://www.henrywilliamson.co.uk/bibliography/a-lifes-work/the-wet-flanders-plain Members of the GWF might note ‘Skindles’ was beyond his means both during the war and after! Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 5 February , 2019 Share Posted 5 February , 2019 Williamson is most certainly not beyond the pail in my book. His writing on the Great War and much else that he wrote is highly significant. That the man was troubled is equally so, that like many others in Britain he flirted with fascism does not diminish his work as an author. He needs no apologists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberley John Lindsay Posted 5 February , 2019 Share Posted 5 February , 2019 Dear All, For what it is worth, I found the following most worthy of note:- We stood silent and bare-headed before the Memorial, on ground but lately a horror of manifold agonies suffered by men who had not wanted to do the things they had done, . . . men who had suffered agonies which were now of Glory, Sacrifice, Heroism, Patriotism – all the abstract ideas which Europe still suffered her children to be taught. One feels it is all too terrible to put into words. Henry Williamson is, of course, looking at a scene in which he did not take part, but he knew only too well how bloody that battle had been – for both sides – the New Zealanders, Australians and Canadians taking the brunt for the Allies... Kindest regards, Kim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard_Lewis Posted 6 February , 2019 Share Posted 6 February , 2019 SeaJane mentions artist Frank Brangwyn. In Swansea there is the Brangwyn Hall, named after him since 1934 when it became the home of the Brangwyn (British Empire) panels. These were painted as a memorial to the war dead of the House of Lords IIRC, but the House decided they were a little too 'lively' and they were shunted off to Swansea. Swansea was building its then new civic centre and changed the dimensions of its under- construction concert hall to accommodate the panels. They have been described as 'an explosion in a paint factory'! Quite epic though, and they depict the flora and fauna of the good old Empire rather than the death and destruction of war. Mr B has a museum dedicated to him in Bruges. Well worth a visit, he was a talented artist. Bernard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 6 February , 2019 Share Posted 6 February , 2019 The first time I became aware of Brangwyn was on a visit to Bruges. Oddly enough we have a small amount of correspondence (greetings cards) from Brangwyn in the archive at work. I don't know how it happened, but he fostered / adopted / brought up a boy called (Horace) Cameron Wright, who grew up to be a bonkers but brilliant (or vice versa) expert on the effect of underwater explosions on the human body, and left his papers to us, having worked in the RN Physiological Laboratory across the road. In the same box are a couple of letters from R.V. Jones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain RHW Posted 7 February , 2019 Share Posted 7 February , 2019 On 05/02/2019 at 20:52, Kimberley John Lindsay said: Dear All, For what it is worth, I found the following most worthy of note:- We stood silent and bare-headed before the Memorial, on ground but lately a horror of manifold agonies suffered by men who had not wanted to do the things they had done, . . . men who had suffered agonies which were now of Glory, Sacrifice, Heroism, Patriotism – all the abstract ideas which Europe still suffered her children to be taught. One feels it is all too terrible to put into words. Henry Williamson is, of course, looking at a scene in which he did not take part, but he knew only too well how bloody that battle had been – for both sides – the New Zealanders, Australians and Canadians taking the brunt for the Allies... Kindest regards, Kim. Having written about Williamson recently, I agree that he is an outstanding writer whose extensive works on the war are important historical records, even his novels which were obviously based on his time there. As for his fascism, I have called him a tragic villain rather than an out-and-out villain. He was clearly severely damaged psychologically by the war and it is quite understandable he tried desperately to avoid another war between Britain and France. Having said that, he went much too far with his fascist sympathy and in general seems to have been a very difficult person to deal with (hardly the only trench survivor to attract that criticism). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 7 February , 2019 Share Posted 7 February , 2019 (edited) I think tragic villain overstates the case of a fine author and journalist who, although attracted, like many in Britain after the Great War, saw the concept of fascism as a preventer of future war. Wrong thinking seems to him sum him up from a modern point of view. He was certainly a difficult and troubled man but hardly villainous. Edited 8 February , 2019 by David Filsell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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