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Books > History > World history > From 1900 > First World War
A great war correspondent reports from the Great War
Richard Harding Davis is well regarded as a writer of fiction, but
it is for his work and writings as a journalist-particularly when
covering the battle front-that posterity has awarded him the
accolade 'the first famous American war correspondent.' Davis'
first experience as a war correspondent was during the
Spanish-American War and he later covered the Boer War in South
Africa. The outbreak of the Great War saw him travelling to Europe
and once there his pursuit of the story and vital information
propelled him through many theatres of the conflict. The passage of
time filters away those who have experienced momentous events until
the few who are remembered are those who have left a written
record. Each account is beyond value when their number is finite,
but occasionally we are blessed not only with an invaluable account
but also a fine author to convey it. By this time Davis had
perfected his craft and these two books brought together by Leonaur
for good value demonstrate that perfectly. They are augmented here
with some of Davis' letters sent during the Great War. This was to
be Davis' last campaign on returning home to New York he fell ill
and died suddenly in 1916 aged just 52 years old. Available in
softcover and hardback with dust jacket for collectors.
A unique Leonaur edition-never before available in this form
John Buchan was a popular author of historical and adventure
fiction whose works remain in print to the present day. He also
wrote important works of non-fiction that are less well remembered.
Among these was a commissioned, multi-volume history of the First
World War that was so well regarded that it became a source-work
for other historians. This Leonaur Original, drawn from Buchan's
history, and including many maps, battle plans, photographs and
illustrations, has been published to mark the centenary of the
outbreak of the First World War on the Western Front as
overwhelming German forces swept through Belgium and France. This
was a mobile war-much like the wars fought in Europe for hundreds
of years-of marching infantry and cavalry armed with lances and
swords. The battle at Mons, the dogged retreat of the 'Contemptible
Little Army' of the B. E. F., the incredible resistance of the
out-dated Belgian Forces, the battles of the Marne and Aisne as the
tide turned, and the carnage of the First Battle of Ypres as the
war became a stalemate of wire, mud and trenches at the close of
the year, are all covered in Buchan's brilliant take on just six
months of war in 1914.
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.
The 'Cockney Jocks' at war in Flanders and France
The wide distribution of Scots throughout Britain and the Empire
led to the formation new 'Scottish' regiments and the London
Scottish, formed in 1859 as a volunteer rifle corps and originally
commanded by Lord Elcho, was a primary example. Elcho, anxious to
embrace all the fighting men of Scotland into one brotherhood
irrespective of their clan origins, uniquely clad the regiment in
kilts of 'Hodden Grey, ' a traditional hard wearing Scottish
homespun cloth devoid of the tartan check and, as he perceived,
being a drab colour suited for life on military campaign in the
most practical way. Pinkerton, the author of this book was a
soldier among the ranks of the regiment who answered the nation's
call to arms during the First World War. The regiment was mobilised
at the outbreak of hostilities and the 1st battalion had the
distinction of being the first Territorials to go into action
during operations at Messines in October 1914. Pinkerton takes his
readers to war with the London Scottish on the western front where
it took part in all the major offensives of the conflict.
Predictably this vital account is filled with immediate first hand
account action and anecdotes and is essential reading for anyone
interested in the war in the trenches the kilted infantry
knew.
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.
The quantity of journalism produced during World War I was unlike
anything the then-budding mass media had ever seen. Correspondents
at the front were dispatching voluminous reports on a daily basis,
and though much of it was subject to censorship, it all eventually
became available. It remains the most extraordinary firsthand look
at the war that we have. Published immediately after the cessation
of hostilities and compiled from those original journalistic
sources-American, British, French, German, and others-this is an
astonishing contemporary perspective on the Great War. This replica
of the first 1919 edition includes all the original maps, photos,
and illustrations, lending an even greater immediacy to readers a
century later. Volume X features personal sketches by war leaders,
the formulation of postwar treaties, a chronology of the war, and
the index for all 10 volumes. American journalist and historian
FRANCIS WHITING HALSEY (1851-1919) was literary editor of The New
York Times from 1892 through 1896. He wrote and lectured
extensively on history; his works include, as editor, the
two-volume Great Epochs in American History Described by Famous
Writers, From Columbus to Roosevelt (1912), and, as writer, the
10-volume Seeing Europe with Famous Authors (1914).
Submarines and U-boats-killers beneath the waves
Newbolt's excellent overview of the undersea conflict of the First
World War is an essential book for any student of the subject. The
author, a recognised authority on naval and maritime history,
considers the evolution of the submarine as a weapon of naval
warfare before turning his attention to the use of the submariner
service during the war. The operations of British submarine bases
are described as are the policies of the government of the day
regarding the use of submarines in war. Tactical issues concerning
the engagement of submarines against warships and vice-versa are
also considered. The book describes the activities of British
submarines in the Baltic and Mediterranean, and particularly as
they were employed in the Dardanelles initiative. An important
focus of Newbolt's book is the destructive influence of the highly
effective German U-Boat blockade in the Atlantic Ocean. Whilst
submarines were employed by the Royal Navy it would be fair to note
that the principal objective of the Allies was to pursue the
destruction of enemy submarines. The activities of anti-submarine
trawlers, smacks and drifters is discussed as are the more
aggressive roles of the destroyers, P-Boats, Q-Boats and the
activities of the Auxiliary Patrol. Newbolt concludes with the work
of the ultimate submarine killer-the submarine itself, before
describing the closing stages of the war with the destruction of
enemy bases in Belgium. Recommended.
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.
The quantity of journalism produced during World War I was unlike
anything the then-budding mass media had ever seen. Correspondents
at the front were dispatching voluminous reports on a daily basis,
and though much of it was subject to censorship, it all eventually
became available. It remains the most extraordinary firsthand look
at the war that we have. Published immediately after the cessation
of hostilities and compiled from those original journalistic
sources-American, British, French, German, and others-this is an
astonishing contemporary perspective on the Great War. This replica
of the first 1919 edition includes all the original maps, photos,
and illustrations, lending an even greater immediacy to readers a
century later. Volume IX covers the war in Italy and the war at
sea, including submarine warfare, from August 1914 through November
1918. American journalist and historian FRANCIS WHITING HALSEY
(1851-1919) was literary editor of The New York Times from 1892
through 1896. He wrote and lectured extensively on history; his
works include, as editor, the two-volume Great Epochs in American
History Described by Famous Writers, From Columbus to Roosevelt
(1912), and, as writer, the 10-volume Seeing Europe with Famous
Authors (1914).
The end of a dynasty
It is likely that few of those who contributed to the outbreak of
the First World War would have imagined its consequences or
predicted which nations would prevail, which would fall in defeat
and which would all but cease to exist. Very few would have
foreseen the fall of so many of the royal houses of Europe and yet
this came to pass; most prominent among them were the Romanovs of
Russia. It was almost inconceivable that the Tsar, who ruled over a
vast territory and many millions of subjects, would be murdered (or
executed, according to one's sensibility) with all of his immediate
family such a short time from when the power and influence of the
Romanovs had seemed immutable. But this was an age of global
warfare on an industrial scale, and of revolution and political
change that would affect the nature of war and peace for a century
to come. This highly regarded book considers in detail the downfall
of the Russian Imperial family, and the authors have drawn upon
eyewitness testimony of those who were close to these historic
events. The narrative follows the Romanovs to their deaths, ordered
by Lenin, in a Yekaterinburg cellar, so preventing the Tsar
becoming a figure for the White Russians to rally around. An
essential and recommended work for any student of the fall of
monarchy, Russian involvement in the Great War and the rise of
Bolshevism.
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.
Translated into English as the Winner of the Geisteswissenschaften
International Translation Prize for Work in the Humanities and
Social Sciences 2015. During the Great War, mass killing took place
on an unprecedented scale. Violence and the German Soldier in the
Great War explores the practice of violence in the German army and
demonstrates how he killing of enemy troops, the deaths of German
soldiers and their survival were entwined. As the war reached its
climax in 1918, German soldiers refused to continue killing in
their droves, and thus made an active contribution to the German
defeat and ensuing revolution. Examining the postwar period, the
chapters of this book also discuss the contested issue of a
'brutalization' of German society as a prerequisite of the Nazi
mass movement. Biographical case studies on key figures such as
Ernst Junger demonstrate how the killing of enemy troops by German
soldiers followed a complex set of rules. Benjamin Ziemann makes a
wealth of extensive archival work available to an Anglophone
audience for the first time, enhancing our understanding of the
German army and its practices of violence during the First World
War as well as the implications of this brutalization in post-war
Germany. This book provides new insights into a crucial topic for
students of twentieth-century German history and the First World
War.
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