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Books > Humanities > History > World history > From 1900 > First World War
The Forgotten Appeasement of 1920 examines a turning point in East
European history: the summer of 1920, when Lenin's Soviet Russia
decided to challenge the Versailles system and launch a military
attack on the continent. The outcome of this attack might have been
the occupation of all of Poland and East Central Europe, and a Red
Army sweep further west. This book probes the British-Soviet
negotiations and diplomatic operations behind the scenes. Professor
Nowak uses hitherto unexamined documents from Russian and British
archives to show how (and why) top British politicians were ready
to accept a new Russian imperial control over the whole of Eastern
Europe. Nowak unravels this previously untold story of that first
and forgotten appeasement, stopped only by the Polish military
victory over the Red Army. His excellent historical craftsmanship
and new sources contribute to the book's quality, filling up a
lacuna in contemporary historiography. This book will appeal to
researchers of geopolitical affairs and the Great Powers, the
history of Poland, and the political mentality of Western elites.
It will also be of interest to university students and tutors,
scholars of history and international relations and - thanks to the
book's brisk and fascinating narrative - amateur historians and
history aficionados.
Modernist texts and writings of protest have until now received
most of the critical attention of literary scholars of the First
World War. Popular literature with its penchant for predictable
storylines, melodramatic prose, and patriotic rhetoric has been
much-maligned or at the very least ignored. Boys in Khaki, Girls in
Print: Women's Literary Responses to the Great War redresses the
balance. It turns the spotlight on the novels and memoirs of women
writers - many of whom are now virtually forgotten - that appealed
to a British reading public hungry for amusement, news, and above
all, encouragement in the face of uncertainty and grief. The
writers of 1914-18 had powerful models for interpreting their war,
as a consideration of texts from the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902
shows. They were also bolstered by wartime publishing practices
that reinforced the sense that their books, whether fiction or
non-fiction, were not simply 'light' entertainment but a powerful
agents of propaganda. Generously illustrated, Boys in Khaki, Girls
in Print is a scholarly yet accessible illumination of a hitherto
untapped resource of women's writing and is an important new
contribution to the study of the literature of the Great War.
The motorised wheels of war begin to turn
In 1914 as the B. E. F was quickly hurried to the battle lines-by
whatever means possible-British troops were amused to see familiar
commercial vehicles trundle past, resplendent with their colourful
advertisements for household products. The French civilian
population was equally amused, bemused and occasionally confused by
this incongruous sight. The Great War, with powered flying
machines, submarines, motor transport and tanks, was the first
major mechanised war. The invention of the internal combustion
engine metamorphosed the waging of war. Motor transport could
efficiently move both men and materials, the dispatch rider was no
longer the glittering aide-de-camp but a drab, goggled corporal on
a motorcycle, and weapons of destruction could be carried behind
the steel plating of motorised armoured cars and tanks. This
subject fascinates those interested in the history of modern
warfare and to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First
World War in 1914, the Leonaur Editors have compiled this special
three-in-one book about the Great War from the perspective of 'the
motor.' The first title here is an excellent overview of the
subject, accompanied by useful illustrations and diagrams, which
covers each aspect of the motor at war. Next is a manufactures
catalogue with detailed views and elevations of the very commercial
vehicles that carried British troops to the front in 1914. The
final piece is an extract about motor transport and armoured
vehicles in the first decades of the 20th century. This is a useful
reference guide for all military vehicle enthusiasts.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each
title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our
hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their
spines and fabric head and tail bands.
Glasgow men on the Western Front
As every student of the Great War is aware, the escalating scale of
the conflict on the Western Front required the formation of new
battalions-a new citizen army formed to be equal to the size of the
challenge. This is the unit history of one of them, The Seventeenth
Highland Light Infantry (Glasgow Chamber of Commerce) Battalion. As
its name suggests it was but one of many additional battalions
raised in Scotland which would bear the name of an old regiment of
the British Army in this case the 71st Foot, the HLI. Many of these
battalions, particularly those raised in large urban centres, took
on the character of their place and community of origin. This
battalion's sister unit, the Sixteenth, for example was styled,
'The Glasgow Boy's Brigade' Battalion. The Glasgow men were
dispatched to France and into the trenches with all its hardships,
grinding routine and frequent raiding. The battalion served through
the Battle of the Somme and went on the see action around Hulluch,
Beaumont-Hamel and the Ypres Salient among others. This invaluable
book also contains honours and award rolls making it invaluable for
genealogists. Available in softcover and hard over with dust
jacket.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS' ASSOCIATION CROWN AWARDS
2022 'Compelling and often horrifying' THE TIMES Best Paperbacks of
2022 The epic, moving stories of Britain's search to recover,
identify and honour the missing soldiers of the First World War By
the end of the First World War, the whereabouts of more than half a
million British soldiers were unknown. Most were presumed dead,
lost forever under the battlefields of northern France and
Flanders. In The Searchers, Robert Sackville-West brings together
the extraordinary, moving accounts of those who dedicated their
lives to the search for the missing. These stories reveal the
remarkable lengths to which people will go to give meaning to their
loss: Rudyard Kipling's quest for his son's grave; E.M. Forster's
conversations with traumatised soldiers in hospital in Alexandria;
desperate attempts to communicate with the spirits of the dead; the
campaign to establish the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior; and the
exhumation and reburial in military cemeteries of hundreds of
thousands of bodies. It was a search that would span a century:
from the department set up to investigate the fate of missing
comrades in the war's aftermath to the present day, when DNA
profiling continues to aid efforts to recover, identify and honour
these men. As the rest of the country found ways to repair and move
on, countless families were consumed by this mission, undertaking
arduous, often hopeless, journeys to discover what happened to
their husbands, brothers and sons. Giving prominence to the
personal battles of those left behind, The Searchers brings the
legacy of war vividly to life in a testament to the bravery,
compassion and resilience of the human spirit.
This book deals with an aspect of the Great War that has been
largely overlooked: the war reportage written based on British and
American authors' experiences at the Western Front. It focuses on
how the liminal experience of the First World War was portrayed in
a series of works of literary journalism at different stages of the
conflict, from the summer of 1914 to the Armistice in November
1918. Sara Prieto explores a number of representative texts written
by a series of civilian eyewitness who have been passed over in
earlier studies of literature and journalism in the Great War. The
texts under discussion are situated in the 'liminal zone', as they
were written in the middle of a transitional period, half-way
between two radically different literary styles: the romantic and
idealising ante bellum tradition, and the cynical and disillusioned
modernist school of writing. They are also the product of the
various stages of a physical and moral journey which took several
authors into the fantastic albeit nightmarish world of the Western
Front, where their understanding of reality was transformed beyond
anything they could have anticipated.
This is the most complete guide to the First World War Battlefield
of Ypres that has ever been published. Here are concise
descriptions of the military elements of the battles woven into a
kaleidoscope of human, literary and travel information. There are
recommended, timed itineraries representing one day's travelling.
Every stop on the route has an accompanying description and often a
tale of heroic or tragic action. Memorials large and small, private
and official, sites of memorable conflict, the resting places of
personalities of note--they are all here and joined together by a
sympathetic and understanding commentary that gives the reader a
sensitivity towards the events of 1914-1918 that can only be
matched by visiting the battlefield itself. This is a guide book
written by people who because they have been directly involved in
taking tours themselves, know the form and type of information that
best serves the visitor to the battlefield.
The execution of British matron Edith Cavell by occupying German
forces was portrayed by the allies as one of the key atrocities of
the Great War. This book recovers and interprets the worldwide
reaction to Cavell's death, exploring its contextual relationship
within imperial and international history, as well women's history
and gender history.
• Designed to be concise yet comprehensive with the undergraduate
student in mind • Will serve as a companion to many secondary and
primary sources on Wilson • Contains primary source documents to
help bring the subject to life
Over the seas and far away-the world at war
In the late summer of 1914, the eyes of the world were fixed upon
Europe as seemingly unstoppable German armies simultaneously
marched eastwards and westwards subduing nations and forcing their
armies to retreat. This was the beginning of an industrial war
without precedent which would send shockwaves across the globe.
This book, specially compiled by Leonaur's editors from John
Buchan's excellent writings on the First World War, concentrates on
the world beyond mainland Europe in the early months of the war.
Readers will discover the naval battles of Heligoland Bight,
Coronel, the Falkland Islands and Dogger Bank as the Imperial
German Navy tested its mettle against the might of the Royal Navy.
Here are accounts of German naval raiders such as the 'Emden' and
the naval bombardments of British seaside towns. German and British
colonial and regular troops clashed in East and West Africa and
actions were fought on the coast of China and upon remote Pacific
Islands. Disaffected Boers rose in rebellion in South Africa and
Germany's ally, the Ottoman Turkish Empire joined the fray making
advances in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and towards the strategically
vital Suez Canal in Egypt. In 1914 this was a conflict far removed
from the familiar mud, wire and trenches that have become
emblematic of the First World War. This is a highly recommended
overview of the world at war created especially to mark the
centenary of the outbreak of hostilities; it includes many
illustrations, photographs and maps.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each
title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our
hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their
spines and fabric head and tail bands.
In incorporating Black African soldiers on the European
battleground in their war against the Germans in WWI, France needed
to change the image of the African from that of savage to a loyal
and courageous soldier, a non-threat to French citizenry. What
emerged was the Grand Enfant, a child-like figure with a winning
grin who nonetheless could be ruthless in pursuit of the Hun.
Meanwhile, German propaganda persisted in portraying the African as
a cannibal, being unjustly deployed by France against the civilized
European. Postcards of the era were an important means of
disseminating these images and demonstrate how the African
soldier's image was manipulated to serve the changing needs of the
European belligerents. The book contains over 150 stunning images
from this propaganda war and places them in historical context. It
is a pioneering study in English of a long-neglected aspect of the
First World War.
A unique and vivid first hand account of a young soldier, one of
the millions who fought in World War I. Walter Williams volunteered
at age fifteen and after completing his initial training in
Shrewsbury, passed through the notorious training camp at Etaples
before being plunged into the horrors of trench warfare. He fought
in some of the major battles of the war including Passchendaele,
the Somme and Vimy Ridge - and was badly wounded during the final
attack on the Hindenburg line in September 1918, when he was hit by
machine-gun fire from an enemy plane. After spending some months in
a French hospital in Dieppe, he was repatriated to England where he
made a full recovery. Walter's story was captured on an ancient
reel-to-reel tape recorder during long conversations with his two
nephews, Michael and Derek, who went on to research and verify the
events he described before producing this remarkable story. Walter
died in 1998, by which time he was one of the last veterans of
World War I.
The Titanic. The Britannic. The Olympic. They are some of the most
famous ships in history, but for the wrong reasons. The Olympic
Class liners were conceived as the largest, grandest ships ever to
set sail. Of the three ships built, the first only lost the record
for being the largest because she was beaten by the second, and
they were both beaten by the third. The class was meant to secure
the White Star Line's reputation as the greatest shipping company
on earth. Instead, with the loss of both the Titanic and the
Britannic in their first year of service, it guaranteed White
Star's infamy. This unique book tells the extraordinary story of
these three extraordinary ships from the bottom up, starting with
their conception and construction (and later their modification)
and following their very different careers. Behind the technical
details of these magnificent ships lies a tragic human story - not
just of the lives lost aboard the Titanic and Britannic, but of the
designers pushing the limits beyond what was actually possible,
engineers unable to prepare for every twist of fate, and ship
owners and crew who truly believed a ship could be unsinkable. This
fascinating story is told with rare photographs, new
computer-generated recreations of the ships, and unique wreck
images that explore how well the ships were designed and built.
Simon Mills offers unparalleled access to shipbuilders Harland
& Wolff's specification book for the Olympic Class, including
original blueprints and - being made widely available for the first
time - large fold-out technical drawings showing how these
extensive plans were meant to be seen.
Chaplain G.A. Studdert Kennedy has been described as the most
popular British chaplain of the First World War. Widely known as
"Woodbine Willie" for the cigarettes he distributed to the troops,
his wartime poetry and prose communicated the challenges, hardships
and hopes of the soldiers he served. As a chaplain, he was subject
to the same hardships as his soldiers. This book analyses his
experiences through the contemporary understanding of
psychological, moral and spiritual impact of war on its survivors
and suggests that the chaplain suffered from Combat Stress, Moral
Injury, and Spiritual Injury. Through the analysis of his wartime
and postwar publications, the author illustrates the continuing
impact of war on the life of a veteran of the Great War.
Exiting war explores a particular 1918-20 'moment' in the British
Empire's history, between the First World War's armistices of 1918,
and the peace treaties of 1919 and 1920. That moment, we argue, was
a challenging and transformative time for the Empire. While British
authorities successfully answered some of the post-war tests they
faced, such as demobilisation, repatriation, and fighting the
widespread effects of the Spanish flu, the racial, social,
political and economic hallmarks of their imperialism set the scene
for a wide range of expressions of loyalties and disloyalties, and
anticolonial movements. The book documents and conceptualises this
1918-20 'moment' and its characteristics as a crucial three-year
period of transformation for and within the Empire, examining these
years for the significant shifts in the imperial relationship that
occurred and as laying the foundation for later change in the
imperial system. -- .
• Designed to be concise yet comprehensive with the undergraduate
student in mind • Will serve as a companion to many secondary and
primary sources on Wilson • Contains primary source documents to
help bring the subject to life
This book explores the ramifications of 1917, arguing that it was a
cataclysmic year in world history. In this volume, thirteen
scholars reflect on the myriad legacies of the year 1917 as a year
of war, revolution, upheaval and change. Crisscrossing the globe
and drawing on a range of disciplinary approaches, from military,
social and economic history to museum, memory and cultural studies,
the collection highlights how the First World War remains 'living
history'. With contributions on the Russian revolutions, the entry
of the United States into the war, the Caucasus and Flanders war
fronts, as well as on India and New Zealand, and chapters by
pre-eminent First World War academics, including Jay Winter,
Annette Becker, and Michael Neiberg, the collection engages all
with an interest in the era and in the history and commemoration of
war.
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