The unprecedented scope and intensity of the First World War has prompted an enormous body of retrospective scholarship. However, efforts to provide a coherent synthesis about the war's impact and significance have remained circumscribed, tending to focus either on the operational outlines of military strategy and tactics or on the cultural legacy of the conflict as transmitted bythe war's most articulate observers. This volume departs from traditional accounts on several scores: by exploring issues barely touched upon in previous works, by deviating from the widespread tendency to treat the experiences of front and homefront isolation, and by employing a thematic treatment that, by considering the construction of authority and identity between 1914 and 1918, illuminates the fundamental question of how individuals, whether in uniform or not, endured the war's intrusion into so many aspects of their public and private lives.

Casting aside conventional narratives of The Great War, Jeremy Black returns to a vast range of original sources and investigates not only the key events of the war, but its consequences in restructuring the old order. Black also considers the struggle not only in its historical context, but also how it has been remembered and memorialised, especially as the generation who experienced it firsthand are passing away. Now in paperback, this book has been updated with a foreword and afterword to consider recent developments.

Interest in the First World War, or Great War, continues unabated. New angles are sought, fresh interpretations penned. Equally, much previously published material resides long-forgotten in the pages of now-rarely-consulted journals and periodicals. Landrecies to Cambrai reprints an extensive series of articles that ran, on an irregular basis, in the Army Quarterly from January 1924 until April 1939. Each article presents a detailed account of a specific German military operation on the Western Front- usually with detail down to battalion level. The author utilised an extensive array of original German sources, including regimental histories and operational-level narratives, ensuring a remarkable amount of colour and detail are present in the text. Operations covered include: The night attack at Landrecies, 25 August 1914; Neuve Chapelle, 10-12 March 1915; Aubers Ridge, 9 May 1915; The fight for Hill 70, 25-26 September 1915; The German attack at Vimy Ridge, May 1916; The German defence during the Battle of the Somme, July 1916; The German defence of Bernafay and Trones Woods, 2-14 July 1916; Mametz Wood and Contalmaison, 9-10 July 1916; Delville Wood, 14-19 July 1916; The Somme, 15 September 1916; The capture of Thiepval, 26 September 1916; In front of Beaumont-Hamel, 13 November 1916; Battle of Arras, 9 April 1917; The Battle of Vimy Ridge, 9 April 1917; The fight for Inverness Copse, 22-24 August 1917; The fight for Zonnebeke, 26 September 1917; Cambrai - the action of the German 107th Division. All original maps are also included. Landrecies to Cambrai offers a unique perspective and much hitherto-overlooked material relating to a wide variety of German operations on the Western Front 1914-17.

Battleships conjure a golden age of naval history, when these floating powerhouses ruled the waves, carrying the military might of their respective countries around the globe. The battleship was the ultimate embodiment of naval power during the latter stages of the British Empire, with the Royal Navy the first to build the dreadnought battleship in 1906. The new design, with a uniform main battery and steam turbines making it faster and more accurate than ever before, sparked a naval race with the German navy which culminated in the Battle of Jutland in 1916, the only fleet-to-fleet naval battle during the First World War. With major losses on both sides, and several treaties during the inter-war years banning the construction of new battleships, a new generation emerged only in the Second World War, with Japan secretly creating Yamato and Musashi, two of the most powerful battleships ever built. World War Two saw the zenith of the battleship, with many pivotal battles such as the battle of Denmark Strait during which the iconic battleships HMS Hood was sunk, the second battle of Guadacanal and the battle of Leyte Gulf to name but a few. The Germans, the Japanese, the Royal Navy and the US Navy were locked in a titanic struggle across vast distances, in which battleships for a time played a decisive role, until the development of new aircraft carriers and growing use of torpedoes began to make them obsolete. Since the 1990's, no battleship has seen active service. This accessible short history gives an expert overview of the history of the battleship, looking at its origins, the role played by battleships in both World Wars, famous ships and their stories, as well as the weaponry and technology they employed.

Wlodzimierz Borodziej and Maciej Gorny set out to salvage the historical memory of the experience of war in the lands between Riga and Skopje, beginning with the two Balkan conflicts of 1912-1913 and ending with the death of Emperor Franz Joseph in 1916. The First World War in the East and South-East of Europe was fought by people from a multitude of different nationalities, most of them dressed in the uniforms of three imperial armies: Russian, German, and Austro-Hungarian. In this first volume of Forgotten Wars, the authors chart the origins and outbreak of the First World War, the early battles, and the war's impact on ordinary soldiers and civilians through to the end of the Romanian campaign in December 1916, by which point the Central Powers controlled all of the Balkans except for the Peloponnese. Combining military and social history, the authors make extensive use of eyewitness accounts to describe the traumatic experience that established a region stretching between the Baltic, Adriatic, and Black Seas.

The year of 1914 had been a difficult one for the British Expeditionary Force, the war that had started in August had not been over by the expected time of Christmas. Additionally many of its original members had become casualties and replacements were difficult to find. 1915 did not go much better, the BEF was still a minor player with only a relatively small number of divisions compared to the many in the French Army. The culmination of several attacks by the BEF in 1915 was the attack in the Loos sector in September where in a mining area north of Arras, the largest British offensive of the war thus far took place. Forced into an offensive in an area which as one senior commander put it was on 'most unfavorable ground', the BEF suffered heavy casualties and little material gain. Probably for these reasons the 1915 battles have been largely ignored and there has been a dearth of decent publications on Loos. Helion and Co Ltd are therefore pleased to announce the publication of a major new work Most Unfavourable Ground. The Battle of Loos 1915 by Niall Cherry. Most Unfavourable Ground offers a detailed look at the planning, execution and aftermath of the fighting. As well as using official records and reports, numerous personal stories have been woven into the account. The author's grandfather was present at Loos as a Chemical Corporal with the Royal Engineers gas units and this major new work reflects the author's passion for the subject. Key sales points: A major new work on an oft-neglected and overlooked offensive launched by the British forces in 1915, Draws on a large number of personal accounts in addition to official sources to provide a rich and detailed account, Includes much information about overlooked aspects of the Battle, including the British use of gas, and medical facilities, Features a large number of rare photographs, a comprehensive selection of maps and an extensive number of statistical tables.

The early years of the 20th Century saw many advances in technology, for example aeroplanes were taking to the skies and wireless telegraphy becoming more widely available. There were also new war machines such as submarines and tanks. Additionally, pharmaceutical drugs and photographic components previously supplied from German manufacturers were no longer available during the Great War of 1914-18. Responding to some of the technical challenges, the Council of the Royal Society formed a War Committee, which in turn commissioned sub-committees concerned with chemistry, physics and engineering. Later, sub-committees relating to food, grain pests and the use of natural products were also initiated. For its part the Government formed the Admiralty Board of Invention and Research, the Munitions Invention Department, the Chemical Advisory Committee and others. Fellows of the Royal Society were key to both the Royal Society and Government initiatives. But who were the Fellows and why should they be of such strategic importance? Fellowship of the Royal Society is restricted, and requires individuals to be at the peak of their chosen scientific professions. All Fellows are experts in their chosen fields, which not only includes the traditional sciences, but also engineering and medicine. They are individuals whose scientific acumen, knowledge and skills are vital to solving seemingly intractable problems. It is no wonder that their expertise, opinions and help were sought during the dark days of the Great War. Remarkably, the exploits of the Fellows during the war are relatively unknown. Drawing from previously unpublished documents from the Royal Society archives deemed 'Secret' at the time, and wartime documents from the National Archives classified during the Great War as 'Subject to the Official Secrets Act', Top Secret: British Boffins in World War One brings a unique perspective on wartime inventions, research and developments from one of the darkest periods of 20th Century warfare. There are some remarkable examples of co-operation and effort often to tight deadlines using the utmost discretion. Some names may be familiar to you, some may not. All played their part, this is their story....

If the Wright brothers' 1903 flights in Kitty Hawk marked the birth of aviation, World War I can be called its violent adolescence--a brief but bloody era that completely changed the way planes were designed, fabricated, and flown. The war forged an industry that would redefine transportation and warfare for future generations. In First to Fly, lauded historian Charles Bracelen Flood tells the story of the men who were at the forefront of that revolution: the daredevil Americans of the Lafayette Escadrille, who flew in French planes, wore French uniforms, and showed the world an American brand of heroism before the United States entered the Great War. As citizens of a neutral nation from 1914 to early 1917, Americans were prohibited from serving in a foreign army, but many brave young souls soon made their way into European battle zones: as ambulance drivers, nurses, and more dangerously, as soldiers in the French Foreign Legion. It was partly from the ranks of the latter group, and with the sponsorship of an expat American surgeon and a Vanderbilt, that the Lafayette Escadrille was formed in 1916 as the first and only all-American squadron in the French Air Service. Flying rudimentary planes, against one-in-three odds of being killed, these fearless young men gathered reconnaissance and shot down enemy aircraft, participated in the Battle of Verdun and faced off with the Red Baron, dueling across the war-torn skies like modern knights on horseback. Drawing on rarely seen primary sources, Flood chronicles the startling success of that intrepid band, and gives a compelling look at the rise of aviation and a new era of warfare.

Cataclysm 1914 brings together leftist scholars from a variety of fields to explore the many different aspects of the origins, trajectories and consequences of the First World War. The collection seeks to visualise the conflict and all its immediate consequences (such as the Bolshevik Revolution and ascendency of US hegemony) as a defining moment in 20th century world politics, rupturing and reconstituting the 'modern' epoch in its many instantiations. Appeals to general readers and those focused on Marxian theory and strategy and leftist histories of the war.

Republished to coincide with the new ITV film, My Boy Jack? starring Daniel Radcliffe, this is the full account of the tragic life of John 'Jack" Kipling. On 27th September 1915 John Kipling, the only son of Britain's best loved poet, disappeared during the Battle of Loos. The body lay undiscovered for 77 years. Then, in a most unusual move, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)re-marked the grave of an unknown Lieutenant of the Irish Guards, as that of John Kipling. There is considerable evidence that John's grave has been wrongly identified and for the first time in this book, the authors name the soldier they believe is buried in 'John's grave'. This is the first biography of John's short life, analysing the devastating effect it had on his famous father's work.

First World War espionage was a fascinating and dangerous affair, spawning widespread paranoia in its clandestine wake. The hysteria of the age, stoked by those within the British establishment who sought to manipulate popular panic, meant there was no shortage of suspects. Exaggerated claims were rife: some 80,000 Germans were supposedly hidden all over Britain, just waiting for an impending (and imagined) invasion. No one could be trusted - Against this backdrop, as head of Scotland Yard's Criminal Investigation Department, it was Basil Thomson's responsibility to hunt, arrest and interrogate the potential German spies identifi ed by the nascent British intelligence services. Thomson's story is an extraordinary compendium of sleuthing and secrets from a real-life Sherlock Holmes, following the trails of the many specimens he tracked, including the famous dancer, courtesan and spy, Mata Hari. Yet his activities gained him enemies, as did his criticism of British intelligence, his ambition to control MI5 and his efforts to root out left-wing revolutionaries - which would ultimately prove to be the undoing of his career. Odd People is the insightful and wittily observed account of Thomson's incomparably exciting job, offering us a rare glimpse into the dizzying world of spies and the mind of the detective charged with foiling their elaborate plots. The Dialogue Espionage Classics series began in 2010 with the purpose of bringing back classic out-of-print spy stories that should never be forgotten. From the Great War to the Cold War, from the French Resistance to the Cambridge Five, from Special Operations to Bletchley Park, this fascinating spy history series includes some of the best military, espionage and adventure stories ever told.

This book covers the tenure of Kitchener as Proconsul in Egypt in the years preceding the First World War. Based mostly on unpublished sources - including government records and private papers - it not only fills a gap in the life and career of Kitchener, the most famous soldier in Britain since Wellington, but it also deals with an important but practically unknown period in Egyptian history. George Cassar shows Kitchener to be an ardent imperialist, but one who had a sense of responsibility to the country he governed. Exchanging his field marshal's uniform for the dress of a statesman, he arrived in Egypt when British prestige was at a low point on account of his predecessor's policies. He restored political stability, created conditions that bolstered the economy, and introduced a wave of reforms. Kitchener as Proconsul of Egypt, 1911-1914 reveals how Kitchener's interest extended beyond Egypt, and how throughout these years he worked quietly to prepare the ground in an attempt to create an Arab Empire under Britain's suzerainty.

A complete history of World War I, by Francis A. March, Ph.D., in collaboration with Richard J. Beamish, Special War Correspondent and Military Analyst. With photographs by James H. Hare and Donald Thompson, plus official photographs of the U.S., Canadian, British, French, and Italian governments.

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The 'Pals' battalions were a phenomenon of the Great War, never repeated since. Under Lord Derby's scheme, and in response to Kitchener's famous call for a million volunteers, local communities raised (and initially often paid for) entire battalions for service on the Western Front. Their experience was all too frequently tragic, as men who had known each other all their lives, had worked, volunteered, and trained together, and had shipped to France together, encountered the first full fury of modern battle on the Somme in July 1916. Many of the Pals battalions would not long survive that first brutal baptism, but their spirit and fighting qualities have gone down into history - these were, truly, the cream of Britain's young men, and every single one of them was a volunteer.

The First World War was the biggest conflict in Irish history. More men served and more men died than in all the wars before or since that the Irish fought in. Often forgotten at home and written out of Irish history, the Irish soldiers and their regiments found themselves more honoured in foreign fields. From the first shot monument in Mons to the plaque to the Royal Irish Lancers who liberated the town on Armistice Day 1918, Ronan McGreevy takes a tour of the Western Front. At a time when Ireland is revisiting its history and its place in the world, McGreevy looks at those places where the Irish made their mark and are remembered in the monuments, cemeteries and landscapes of France and Flanders.

In 1925, Lewis R Freeman became a correspondent for the United States Navy Fleet, living and working among them. Traveling all around the Pacific Ocean, Freeman observed both the environment and his fellow travelers. Separated into three sections, Stories of the Ships is a collection of narratives about this time in Freeman's life, depicting firsthand experiences and retelling the accounts and tales of the men that served in the Navy around this time. The first section, titled, Stories of the Ships introduces Freeman's background as a correspondent and discusses the temperament of the sailors. This section also includes the tale of an old ship that sailed through most of the seven seas-the Cornwall. The next section, Life in the Fleet chronicles Freeman's day-to-day adventures, explaining his routines, responsibilities, and revealing his conversations with the crew members and captains. With nine chapters, this section contains the most stories and is the largest section of the book. Finally, the last section before the endnotes, America Arrives, examines the relationship between America and other countries such as France and Britain through the conversations and attitudes of the sailors from those other countries. Freeman recounts several discussions where he was referred to being unlike other Americans. With these three sections and the endnotes, Stories of the Ships provides a thorough account of the many years Lewis R. Freeman spent as a correspondent. Through the depiction of real-life conversations and experiences collected around the globe, Stories of the Ships by Lewis R. Freeman is a fascinating narrative that gives modern day audiences an intimate and authentic perspective on nautical life. With the focus on the United States Navy Fleet, Freeman provides privileged information on the innerworkings of the U.S Navy during the 20th century. This edition of Stories of the Ships by Lewis R. Freeman features a striking new cover design and is printed in a modern and readable font. With these accommodations, Stories of the Ships is restored to modern standards, while preserving the original mastery of Lewis R. Freeman.

Habsburg Sons describes Jewish participation in the Habsburg Army, 1788-1918, concentrating on their role in World War I. Approximately 300,000-350,000 Jews fought in the Austro-Hungarian Armies on all fronts. Of these, 30,000-40,000 died of wounds or illness, approximately 25,000 were officers. At least 17% were taken prisoner in camps all over Russia and Central Asia. Many soldiers were Orthodox Ostjuden, and soldiers came into regular contact with Jewish civilians. Over 130 Feldrabbiner (chaplains) served mainly on Eastern and Italian Fronts. Antisemitism was present but generally not overt. The book uses personal diaries and newspaper articles (most available in English for the first time) to describe their experiences. The comparative experiences of Jews in German, Russian, Italian Armies is also summarized.

Salford was late in recruiting for its Pals battalions, with many of its men already joining Territorial units and a new Pals battalion in Manchester. Yet within a year it had raised four Pals battalions and a reserve battalion. Raised mainly from Lancashire's most notorious slums, the men trained together in Wales, North East England and on Salisbury Plain, they had great expectations of success. On the 1st of July 1916 the Somme offensive was launched and in the very epicentre of that cauldron the first three of Salford's battalions were thrown at the massive defences of Thiepval - the men were decimated, Salford was shattered. Michael Stedman records the impact of the war from the start on Salford and follows the difficulties and triumphs. Whether the actions small or great the author writes graphically about them all. Unusual photographs and a variety of sources make this both a readable and a scholarly account.

The Victorian private solider was a despised figure. A working man had to be desperate indeed to take the Queen's shilling. Yet in the first sixteen months of the Great War two and a half million men from the UK and many more from the empire, flocked to the colours - without any form of legal compulsion. There had never been a volunteer army like it. What was in the air of England in the generation or so before 1914 to bring about such collective exultation? How did it come about that, in a society which - in oft-proclaimed contrast to Germany - rejected conscription and prided itself on having no taint of militarism, men could be induced to volunteer in such numbers? The nation's general state of mind, system of values and set of attitudes derived largely from the upper middle class, which had emerged and become dominant during the nineteenth century. The book examines the phenomenon of 1914 and the views held by people of that class, since it was under their leadership that the country went to war. -- .

The First World War changed the map of Europe forever. Empires collapsed, new countries were born, revolutions shocked and inspired the world. This tumult, sometimes referred to as 'the literary war', saw an extraordinary outpouring of writing. The conflict opened up a vista of possibilities and tragedies for poetic exploration, and at the same time poetry was a tool for manipulating the sentiments of the combatant peoples. In Germany alone during the first few months there were over a million poems of propaganda published. We think of war poets as pacifistic protestors, but that view has been created retrospectively. The verse of the time, particularly in the early years of the conflict-in Fernando Pessoa or Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, for example-could find in the violence and technology of modern warfare an awful and exhilarating epiphany. In this cultural history of the First World War, the conflict is seen from the point of view of poets and writers from all over Europe, including Rupert Brooke, Anna Akhmatova, Guillaume Apollinaire, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Rainer Maria Rilke and Siegfried Sassoon. Everything to Nothing is the award-winning panoramic history of how nationalism and internationalism defined both the war itself and its aftermath-revolutionary movements, wars for independence, civil wars, the treaty of Versailles. It reveals how poets played a vital role in defining the stakes, ambitions and disappointments of postwar Europe.

The first day of the Somme has had more of a widespread emotional impact on the psyche of the British public than any other battle in history. Now, 100 years later, Robert Kershaw attempts to understand the carnage, using the voices of the British and German soldiers who lived through that awful day. In the early hours of 1 July 1916, the British General staff placed its faith in patriotism and guts, believing that one 'Big Push' would bring on the end of the Great War. By sunset, there were 57,470 men - more than half the size of the present-day British Army - who lay dead, missing or wounded. On that day hope died. Juxtaposing the British trench view against that from the German parapet, Kershaw draws on eyewitness accounts, memories and letters to expose the true horror of that day. Amongst the mud, gore and stench of death, there are also stories of humanity and resilience, of all-embracing comradeship and gritty patriotic British spirit. However it was this very emotion which ultimately caused thousands of young men to sacrifice themselves on the Somme.

When Britain was compelled to introduce conscription in 1916, the question arose of what to do with its 'friendly aliens'its 30,000 Russian-Jewish refugees of military age. The Tsar didn't want them back to serve in his army, and they had no desire to help his war effort. But when sections of the British press commented that as asylum seekers they should show gratitude and join up, a campaign with strong anti-Semitic overtones took off and became Parliamentary business. Then the Tsar was overthrown, and by the summer of 1917 the question was settled with the new regime: Russian Jews of military age had to choose either to join the British Army or to return to Russia to serve there. MI5 and Special Branch kept watch on the Communist Club in the West End, where Russian revolutionaries agitated tailors, cobblers and cabinet-makers who agonised over what to do. Many ended up in the British Army or were exempted for war work, but nearly 4,000 chose to go back to Russiafor a variety of rea

Early on 1 September 1914, the Germans surprised 1st Cavalry Brigade harboring in the little town of Ne'ry. Their initial bombardment caused chaos and destruction and the British took time to organize themselves. The actions of two batteries of the Royal Horse Artillery were eventually so successful that even today there is a battery known as Ne'ry Battery RHA. The Queen's Bay's a cavalry regiment, charged in classic style and the Germans, who mistakenly thought they were out numbered, withdrew with heavy casualties.Of the three VCs, two were posthumous.While a small engagement by later Great War standards, Ne'ry is a classic case study of an artillery duel and cavalry action.