knittinganddeath Posted 7 January , 2023 Share Posted 7 January , 2023 I've been reading Margaret MacMillan's The War that Ended Peace for 3 months now. I can no longer renew it at the library so next week is the final sprint to the finish. Around 2/3 of the way through I lost a lot of motivation, so a few days I decided to read it backwards, starting with the final chapter and making myself get interested by the references to events that were discussed in earlier chapters (but that I haven't read yet). This strategy seems to be working, although I find that many of her sentences are needlessly convoluted and could be easily be rephrased to be clearer. As a treat for finishing this brick, I have saved for myself Above the Dreamless Dead, which can be read at no cost if you have a free account on Archive.org. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaureenE Posted 8 January , 2023 Share Posted 8 January , 2023 13 hours ago, knittinganddeath said: I've been reading Margaret MacMillan's The War that Ended Peace for 3 months now. Also available on Archive.org if you don't want to sprint to the finish USA edition, UK edition Both Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Maureen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron da Valli Posted 8 January , 2023 Share Posted 8 January , 2023 I am reading "Christmas Truce By The Men Who Took Part" by Mike Hill. I noticed a familiar name amongst those recounting there experiences on Christmas day. William Reginald Minshull Percey. He lived with his family in Rhyl. He was killed in action on the 27th February 1915. He is commemorated on my local war memorial in Rhyl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 9 January , 2023 Share Posted 9 January , 2023 11 hours ago, Ron da Valli said: I am reading "Christmas Truce By The Men Who Took Part" by Mike Hill. I noticed a familiar name amongst those recounting there experiences on Christmas day. William Reginald Minshull Percey. He lived with his family in Rhyl. He was killed in action on the 27th February 1915. He is commemorated on my local war memorial in Rhyl. This seems to have some good reviews on Amazon ... would you (or anyone else) recommend it, please? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron da Valli Posted 9 January , 2023 Share Posted 9 January , 2023 4 hours ago, The Scorer said: This seems to have some good reviews on Amazon ... would you (or anyone else) recommend it, please? Thanks. I would recommend it. It is full of personal accounts of the truce from various officers & men. It is in Naval & Military press' winter sale for £5.59. CHRISTMAS TRUCE BY THE MEN WHO TOOK PART Letters From The 1914 Ceasefire On The Western Front - Naval & Military Press (naval-military-press.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 9 January , 2023 Share Posted 9 January , 2023 42 minutes ago, Ron da Valli said: I would recommend it. It is full of personal accounts of the truce from various officers & men. It is in Naval & Military press' winter sale for £5.59. CHRISTMAS TRUCE BY THE MEN WHO TOOK PART Letters From The 1914 Ceasefire On The Western Front - Naval & Military Press (naval-military-press.com) Thank you; I've ordered a copy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knittinganddeath Posted 9 January , 2023 Share Posted 9 January , 2023 On 08/01/2023 at 08:55, MaureenE said: Also available on Archive.org if you don't want to sprint to the finish Thanks for this tip; I've made good progress and now have just one last chapter so hopefully will manage by the library due date. If not, back to Archive.org it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 17 January , 2023 Share Posted 17 January , 2023 On 09/01/2023 at 14:22, The Scorer said: Thank you; I've ordered a copy. It's arrived, and is now on the list to be read! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithmroberts Posted 23 January , 2023 Share Posted 23 January , 2023 Jusat getting into "Collision of Empires" by Prit Buttar. I'm new to this threatre of war, and the paperback edition is very light on maps, which is at least for the moment making it hard work for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron da Valli Posted 23 January , 2023 Share Posted 23 January , 2023 Picked this up today at "Bookwise" an independent bookshop in Llandudno, for a discounted price. It's my favourite bookshop, always a good selection of military books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 26 January , 2023 Share Posted 26 January , 2023 Hi all, So all bad stories have a good side, right?? As in being stuck at home and preferably on the couch with cushions up my back and the Boyfriend not too far away to bring me tea or something stronger to help my ribs grow back together and having all these days to read because I'm not allowed on the back of my horse or in the train to the office ... so I finally could take up my Reading List 2023. Started the year with finishing the last chapters of DUNN's magnificent "The War the Infantry Knew" and re-writing a chapter of my Girls-research but now off to serious work ... with the following pile laying next to the above-mentioned tea: Cynthia Toman "Sister Soldiers of the Great War", about the Canadian Nurses Susan Mann "Imperial Daughter": the biography of Major Margaret Mac Donald, the matron in chief of the Canadian nursing Services Lawrence Binyon "For Dauntless France" Mabel Clint "Our Bit" And newt to that I'm reading the superbe "Mayfair 100" mystery series, set in London during the Great War. these are a real treat!! give me a week... have a great evening, Marilyne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 29 January , 2023 Share Posted 29 January , 2023 Hope things are better Marilyne! I am currently reading 'Bringing Uncle Albert Home' by D.P.Whithorn, the reconstructed story of Albert Turley, 3rd Worcs Regiment, who died on the Somme and was the great uncle of the author. I really like this kind of very personal hisstory and the detective work involved in tracing 'Uncle Albert's story, bringing him back, in a sense, home again. Julian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWF1967 Posted 30 January , 2023 Share Posted 30 January , 2023 (edited) Just finished reading “Animals in the Great War” - Stephen & Tanya Wynn. I’ll have to declare it as one to miss unfortunately. Plenty of typos and repeats, some rather disjointed text, with a few howlers thrown in. A section on mascots mentions Jackie the Baboon, with no mention of Pte. Albert Maar. Jackie was adopted as the mascot of the 3rd (Transvaal) South African Infantry Regiment; the text describes him as the mascot of the South African Scottish (4th Regiment). A well known photograph of Jackie shaking hands with a young girl is captioned “Tame Monkey dressed as a soldier”. The section on Cavalry and other horses states that the Army Veterinary Corps merged with the Army Veterinary Department in 1906 to become the Royal Army Veterinary Corps; turn the page and it correctly states the Royal prefix wasn’t added until 27th November 1918. I nearly gave up when I read “A total of 207 men who served with the Corps died during the First World War, but 206 of them died after the signing of the Armistice” A CWGC search using “Royal Army Veterinary Corps” lists 210 casualties; “Army Veterinary Corps” bring up a further 549 men. Not one I’d recommend. Edited 30 January , 2023 by GWF1967 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffnut453 Posted 31 January , 2023 Share Posted 31 January , 2023 On 23/01/2023 at 14:25, Ron da Valli said: Picked this up today at "Bookwise" an independent bookshop in Llandudno, for a discounted price. It's my favourite bookshop, always a good selection of military books. Hi Ron, That's a new book to me. I'd welcome your thoughts on whether it's worth buying. Many thanks, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acknown Posted 31 January , 2023 Share Posted 31 January , 2023 On 23/01/2023 at 21:25, Ron da Valli said: Picked this up today at "Bookwise" an independent bookshop in Llandudno I have a copy and found it excellent. Acknown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 31 January , 2023 Share Posted 31 January , 2023 Apart from the obvious (Jünger and Remarque), can anyone recommend any first hand accounts from the German side of the Western front? I can manage the type of straightforward German Jünger uses (and I suspect he provided the model for Böll's writing on WW2), but not Remarque's literary flourishes, so I am more than happy to accept recommendations in translation! Julian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 31 January , 2023 Share Posted 31 January , 2023 Hi Julian You could give these a try, they are probably now only available via the library as they are out of print Herbert Sulzbach - "With the German Guns" - 1st published in 1935, it is a story of German artilleryman's four years service on the Western Front. William Hermans - "The Holocaust" - a German soliders account of being at Verdun. Vormarsch, by Hauptmann Walter Bloem, 12th Brandenberg Grenadiers, published in 1916. a Germans account of the first years on the Western Front. It was later published in english as The Advance From Mons, by Captain Walter Bloem, in both 1930 and again in 1967. I will have a look through my list and see if there are anymore that I’ve read. John PS, I have just started “On a Knife Edge (How Germany Lost the First Word War)” by Holger Afflerbach, published last year, must say it’s heavy going😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaureenE Posted 31 January , 2023 Share Posted 31 January , 2023 (edited) Herbert Sulzbach - "With the German Guns" is available online as a Book to Borrow at Archive.org https://archive.org/details/withgermangunsfo0000sulz Also Vormarsch, by Walter Bloem https://archive.org/details/vormarsch00bloegoog/page/n7/mode/2up Maureen Edit From the FIBIS Fibiwiki page Western Front/Historical books online/Germany Army https://wiki.fibis.org/w/Western_Front#German_Army The Diary of a German Soldier by Feldwebel C… First Sergeant 88th Infantry 21st Division, 18th Army Corps. 1919. Translated from the original 1918 French edition Archive.org A Fatalist at War by Rudolf Georg Binding translated from the German by Ian F. D. Morrow. 1929 Archive.org. Original title Aus dem Kreige 1925. Edited 31 January , 2023 by MaureenE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 31 January , 2023 Share Posted 31 January , 2023 45 minutes ago, MaureenE said: Herbert Sulzbach - "With the German Guns" is available online as a Book to Borrow at Archive.org https://archive.org/details/withgermangunsfo0000sulz Also Vormarsch, by Walter Bloem https://archive.org/details/vormarsch00bloegoog/page/n7/mode/2up Maureen Edit From the FIBIS Fibiwiki page Western Front/Historical books online/Germany Army https://wiki.fibis.org/w/Western_Front#German_Army The Diary of a German Soldier by Feldwebel C… First Sergeant 88th Infantry 21st Division, 18th Army Corps. 1919. Translated from the original 1918 French edition Archive.org A Fatalist at War by Rudolf Georg Binding translated from the German by Ian F. D. Morrow. 1929 Archive.org. Original title Aus dem Kreige 1925. Good call M, thanks for posting, will revisit at some point John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 1 February , 2023 Share Posted 1 February , 2023 On 31/01/2023 at 00:33, GWF1967 said: Just finished reading “Animals in the Great War” - Stephen & Tanya Wynn. Not one I’d recommend. Unfortunately counts for all books penned by this duo. I'm afraid they rode the 14-18 wave with quickly put together texts. A student of mine would have handed such badly researched and referenced texts, he's never have made it through exams ... enfin soit.. A (somewhat) better reference for animals is Jilly Cooper's "animals in war" M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 1 February , 2023 Share Posted 1 February , 2023 1 hour ago, Marilyne said: A (somewhat) better reference for animals is Jilly Cooper's "animals in war" M. The 'Jolly Sooper'? My flabber is truly gasted if so! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 1 February , 2023 Share Posted 1 February , 2023 1 minute ago, trajan said: The 'Jolly Sooper'? My flabber is truly gasted if so! oh-kay ... what did I say ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 1 February , 2023 Share Posted 1 February , 2023 1 hour ago, Marilyne said: oh-kay ... what did I say ??? Is the same Jilly Cooper as Jolly Sopper, writer or blockbuster fictions, referenced in Private Eye, the Guardian', etc., ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 1 February , 2023 Share Posted 1 February , 2023 3 minutes ago, trajan said: Is the same Jilly Cooper as Jolly Sopper, writer or blockbuster fictions, referenced in Private Eye, the Guardian', etc., ???? I have no clue... got the book from my sister once and it's still here in my library, so it's not that bad... M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWF1967 Posted 1 February , 2023 Share Posted 1 February , 2023 (edited) 9 minutes ago, trajan said: Is the same Jilly Cooper as Jolly Sopper, writer or blockbuster fictions, referenced in Private Eye, the Guardian', etc., ???? One and the same. As Paul Calf (Steve Coogan) would say - “every sack of s**t has a speck of gold”! Edited 1 February , 2023 by GWF1967 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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