World War I utterly transformed the lives of Jews around the world: it allowed them to display their patriotism, to dispel antisemitic myths about Jewish cowardice, and to fight for Jewish rights. Yet Jews also suffered as refugees and deportees, at times catastrophically. And in the aftermath of the war, the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Russian and Ottoman Empires with a system of nation-states confronted Jews with a new set of challenges. This book provides a fascinating survey of the ways in which Jewish communities participated in and were changed by the Great War, focusing on the dramatic circumstances they faced in Europe, North America, and the Middle East during and after the conflict.

The Shelf2Life WWI Memoirs Collection is an engaging set of pre-1923 materials that describe life during the Great War through memoirs, letters and diaries. Poignant personal narratives from soldiers, doctors and nurses on the front lines to munitions workers and land girls on the home front, offer invaluable insight into the sacrifices men and women made for their country. Photographs and illustrations intensify stories of struggle and survival from the trenches, hospitals, prison camps and battlefields. The WWI Memoirs Collection captures the pride and fear of the war as experienced by combatants and non-combatants alike and provides historians, researchers and students extensive perspective on individual emotional responses to the war.

When on May 15, 1918 a French lieutenant warned Henry Johnson of the 369th to move back because of a possible enemy raid, Johnson reportedly replied: "I'm an American, and I never retreat." The story, even if apocryphal, captures the mythic status of the Harlem Rattlers, the African-American combat unit that grew out of the 15th New York National Guard, who were said to have never lost a man to capture or a foot of ground that had been taken. It also, in its insistence on American identity, points to a truth at the heart of this book--more than fighting to make the world safe for democracy, the black men of the 369th fought to convince America to live up to its democratic promise. It is this aspect of the storied regiment's history--its place within the larger movement of African Americans for full citizenship in the face of virulent racism--that "Harlem's Rattlers and the Great War" brings to the fore.

With sweeping vision, historical precision, and unparalleled research, this book will stand as the definitive study of the 369th. Though discussed in numerous histories and featured in popular culture (most famously the film "Stormy Weather" and the novel "Jazz"), the 369th has become more a matter of mythology than grounded, factually accurate history--a situation that authors Jeffrey T. Sammons and John H. Morrow, Jr. set out to right. Their book--which eschews the regiment's famous nickname, the "Harlem Hellfighters," a name never embraced by the unit itself--tells the full story of the self-proclaimed Harlem Rattlers. Combining the "fighting focus" of military history with the insights of social commentary, "Harlem's Rattlers and the Great War" reveals the centrality of military service and war to the quest for equality as it details the origins, evolution, combat exploits, and postwar struggles of the 369th.

The authors take up the internal dynamics of the regiment as well as external pressures, paying particular attention to the environment created by the presence of both black and white officers in the unit. They also explore the role of women--in particular, the Women's Auxiliary of the 369th--as partners in the struggle for full citizenship. From its beginnings in the 15th New York National Guard through its training in the explosive atmosphere in the South, its singular performance in the French army during World War I, and the pathos of postwar adjustment--this book reveals as never before the details of the Harlem Rattlers' experience, the poignant history of some of its heroes, its place in the story of both World War I and the African American campaign for equality--and its full importance in our understanding of American history.

The true and extraordinary story of the satirical newspaper created in the mud and mayhem of the Somme, interspersed with comic sketches and spoofs from the vivid imagination of those on the front line. In a bombed out building during the First World War in the French town of Ypres (mispronounced Wipers by British soldiers), two officers discover a printing press and create a newspaper for the troops. Far from being a sombre journal about life in the trenches, they produced a resolutely cheerful, subversive and very funny newspaper designed to lift the spirits of the men on the front line.

This lyrical memoir offers a fresh look inside the trauma of war and captivity during the First World War, with resonance for today's world.Georges Connes was a young literature graduate when he was drafted and served in the infamous and bloody battle of Verdun. A survivor, he was captured by the Germans in June 1916 and became a prisoner of war until his repatriation in January 1919. In the Second World War, he was active in the French Resistance, was arrested and detained, and ultimately went into hiding. After the war, he served as the interim mayor of Dijon before returning to his academic life as a professor of British and American literature.Connes referred to his time as a POW as 'The Other Ordeal', recognizing that the most important suffering continued for those who had to endure the 'firing, blood and mud' of war. Connes focuses on the human aspects of war, which are all too easy to forget in the age of mass media. He passionately argues against the predominant black and white view of 'us versus them' to unearth the complexities of war. Rather than demonizing his German captors, for example, he describes individual examples of gratuitous acts of kindness.Connes offers a pacifist, internationalist perspective on war. A survivor of two of the greatest conflicts in modern history, Connes remained optimistic about humanity. This voice of hope provides insight not only into the First World War but into the contemporary world.

Two accounts of men of the Legion during the First World War
The French Foreign Legion has earned its reputation in acts of heroism and aggression, in tenacious actions of resistance and in the spilling of much blood. It has always been recognised as a home for the dispossessed, criminals and soldiers of fortune, so among its ranks could be found hard men from a multitude of backgrounds and numerous nations. The Legion has been typified by the fierce loyalty of its men, its esprit de corps and its undying allegiance to the nation which had taken them under its protection. France has, however, always exacted a high price for its patronage. The Legion has habitually been asked to demonstrate that it is equal to its laurels and it has constantly been placed in the 'post of honour'-that bloody ground where the fighting is hardest and death more certain. In the warfare of the Western Front during the Great War that likelihood of annihilation was multiplied by the lethal nature of the battleground and losses were horrendous for Legion regiments-sometimes as high as one man killed out of three or four engaged. Yet still men flocked to the Legion's ranks. This book offers accounts of the experiences of two such men as they fought for the cause of France in the trenches. Each piece is comparatively short so they have been joined together in this special Leonaur good value edition.
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.

This volume contains Kipling's collected of essays, poems, theories, and reminisciences on sea warfare, from submarines to destroyers, with the personal and philosophical touches that mark all of his best works. Includes "The Fringes of the Fleet," "Tales of 'the Trade'," and "Destroyers at Jutland."

On His Majesty's Secret Service
The Duke of Wellington famously said that the art of war was discovering what you don't know by what you do-guessing what was on the other side of the hill. The best way to know what was over that hill was to send someone to look for you. The duke was no stranger to scouts, spies and intelligence officers and knew their value. As important as the spying itself was the need to stop enemy agents employed in the same work. By the later 19th century the means by which intelligence work could be undertaken was as a result of developments in communication, transport and technology in all its forms becoming more sophisticated. Countermeasures likewise became more difficult and complex. The decision made by many governments was to formalise the operations of espionage and counterespionage agents into dedicated services. This book, by a member of the British Secret Service, offers an essential insight into intelligence activities during the Great War. The narrative includes the riveting personal experiences and anecdotes of other agents, touches upon the methods used including codes and locating minelayers, and gives an overview of the secret service organisations operating at that time; it concludes with an examination of the 'Casement Affair.' For those interested in the world of the proto-Bond against Imperial Germany this is a highly entertaining read.
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 Gallipoli expedition was the bold and audacious plan of Winston Churchill, amongst others, to force the Dardanelles narrows, by sea and by land, to capture Constantinople from the Turks and to open the Black Sea to ships taking supplies and arms for the Russians on their immense German front. The campaign failed with catastrophic loss of life on all sides, but again and again, unbeknown to the Allies, they came close to achieving a goal that might have led to victory overall. This book, first published in 1956, is still regarded as the best and definitive account of the campaign. It won the Sunday Times Best Book of the Year Award as well as the inaugural Duff Cooper prize when the winner could choose who would present the award. Appropriately enough, Moorehead chose Churchill to make the presentation because the book demonstrated that the faults were not in the conception of the plan. Indeed, long after Churchill had resigned in disgrace, a new fleet was being assembled to again attempt to force the Dardanelles in 1919, which was cancelled when the war ceased and the Armistice was signed. Seen in the new light that Moorehead revealed, the Gallipoli campaign was no longer regarded as a blunder or a reckless gamble; it was the most imaginative conception of the war, and its potentialities were almost beyond reckoning. Certainly in its strictly military aspect its influence was enormous. It was the greatest amphibious operation which mankind had known up till then, and it took place in circumstances in which nearly everything was experimental: in the use of submarines and aircraft, in the trial of modern naval guns against artillery on the shore, in the manoeuvre of landing armies in small boats on a hostile coast, in the use of radio, or the aerial bomb, the landmine, and many other novel devices. These things lead on through Dunkirk and the Mediterranean landings to the invasion of Normandy in the Second World War. In 1940 there was very little the Allied commanders could learn from the long struggle against the Kaiser's armies in the trenches in France. But Gallipoli was a mine of information about the complexities of the modern war of manoeuvre, of the combined operation by land and sea and sky; and the correction of the errors made then was the basis of the victory of 1945. "the story of one of the great military tragedies of the twentieth century, which no writer has described better than Alan Moorehead." Sir Max Hastings.

World War I was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 1914 to 1918. Contemporaneously known as the Great War or "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. This series of Eight volumes provides year by year analysis of the war that resulted in the death of more than 17 million deaths worldwide.

Mersey to mud - war and Liverpool men Like many large cities, Liverpool raised a number of battalions in the Great War. Notable among them were the Pals, the Liverpool Irish and Scottish, but this book concerns the wartime history of the 9th Battalion - The Kings. Originally formed in 1859 for volunteers from the Liverpool newspaper and print industries, it was, by the outbreak of World War 1, an experienced part of the Territorial Force, but no previous experience could prepare the battalion for war on the Western Front. Once in the line, the exacting toll of modern warfare caused immediate casualties, including the commanding officer invalided home and another quickly killed in action. The King's endured gruelling life and death in the trenches to the full measure. In the course of the war the battalion fought at Aubers Ridge, Loos, the Somme, Third Ypres, Cambrai and Arras. This moving history of the battalion is essential reading for military students and genealogists since it includes a substantial Decoration Roll.

This study examines what led the leaders of Austria-Hungary and Germany to launch major military offensives at the beginning of the First World War. The focus is on understanding why these two countries adopted high-risk offensive strategies during an international confrontation rather than a defensive military stance. The decision to attack or defend did not occur in a political vacuum. The leaders of Austria-Hungary and Germany adopted offensive strategies as a way to achieve their political ambitions. The offensives undertaken by Austria-Hungary and Germany in 1914 thus reflected their political goals as well as the strategic doctrines of war planners. The concluding chapter of this study explores why deterrence failed in 1914.

Far from the battlefront, hundreds of thousands of workers toiled in Bohemian factories over the course of World War I, and their lives were inescapably shaped by the conflict. In particular, they faced new and dramatic forms of material hardship that strained social ties and placed in sharp relief the most mundane aspects of daily life, such as when, what, and with whom to eat. This study reconstructs the experience of the Bohemian working class during the Great War through explorations of four basic spheres-food, labor, gender, and protest-that comprise a fascinating case study in early twentieth-century social history.

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.

A remarkable man's view of three military disasters
This book is comprised of the journals of an intelligence officer of the British Army written in often difficult circumstances as the events he experienced unfolded around him. Readers will note that while the focus of this book concentrates on notable events within the Great War, they also happen to be some of the worst military failures for the allies. Inviting himself into the war on the Western Front as an interpreter, he experienced the irresistible human wave of the German advance as it rolled back the outnumbered BEF from Mons. His journal was compiled from brief notes during the retreat and from memory whilst in hospital following a wound, capture, brief imprisonment and escape. The second journal concerns the disastrous Dardanelle's adventure-written 'in idle hours between times of furious action.' The author was able to view the events in which he was involved with clear insight and objectivity. At one point he wryly reports an outraged officer complaining that the Turks were walking about the Gallipoli Peninsula, 'as if they owned the place ' The third journal was written in Mesopotamia on a Fly-boat upon the River Tigris as Kut fell. The accounts within Herbert's book are of undoubted and vital interest as source material of the First World War. Herbert was an interesting character. He was half brother to Lord Carnarvon of Tutankhamen fame, he was pivotal in the cause of Albanian independence and was offered its throne on two occasions and he was intimate with several of the notable figures of his time including T. E Lawrence, Belloc, Buchan, Mark Sykes and others. A talented Orientalist and linguist-he spoke 8 languages fluently-he was also a serving member of the British Parliament throughout the war whilst also fulfilling his military duties. Perhaps most significantly Herbert achieved all this whist under the handicap of being practically blind, an affliction he had suffered from birth. Available in softcover and hardcover with dust jacket.

For nearly all of the Great War, the Jewish doctor Bernhard Bardach served with the Austro-Hungarian army in present-day Ukraine. His diaries from that period, unpublished and largely overlooked until now, represent a distinctive and powerful record of daily life on the Eastern Front. In addition to key events such as the 1916 Brusilov Offensive, Bardach also gives memorable descriptions of military personalities, refugees, food shortages, and the uncertainty and boredom that inescapably attended life on the front. Ranging from the critical first weeks of fighting to the ultimate collapse of the Austrian army, these meticulously written diaries comprise an invaluable eyewitness account of the Great War.

This important translation looks at World War I from the perspective of German working-class women. The author demonstrates the intimate connection between 'general' social history and women's history while analyzing the dynamics between these different levels of interpretation. She asks:
- How did women view the war and whom did they hold responsible for it?
- How did military leaders and politicians perceive women at work, in the home, and
on the streets?
This book explores the ways in which the people themselves interpreted their world and their lives -- a perspective often neglected by historians but one becoming increasingly relevant in Germany today. Essential reading for all those interested in War Studies, German Studies, History and Women's Studies and an excellent text for course use.

The first year of war on the Western Front
The quality of medical and nursing care available to British soldiers on campaign had improved immeasurably since the days of the Crimean War in the middle of the nineteenth century when Florence Nightingale and her nurses had cared for wounded men who could scarcely believe that her presence was not other worldly. By the time of the First World War the organisation of medical care had become a fixture of the military establishment, though, of course, this was to be a war like no other. The reader joins the author of this book in the first days of the conflict and through the pages of her diary we follow her experiences on the Western Front as she cared for the wounded from the actions on the Aisne through the First Battle of Ypres and to the fighting to the middle of 1915. This book was originally published anonymously during wartime, but today most sources attribute the diary to Kathleen Luard. Clearly she was a dedicated nurse and her writings take the reader to the heart of a war of mud and attrition, revealing the incredible work she and her colleagues undertook to care for their beloved 'Tommies'-particularly on the ambulance trains which collected the wounded from the front line to transport them to base hospitals and close to the firing line in Field Ambulance stations where her accounts of the plight of the wounded makes poignant and touching reading. An essential source work of the Great war from the female perspective.
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.

Contrary to popular belief, Woodrow Wilson coordinated foreign and defense policies. Wilson viewed Imperial Germany as a threat to U.S. national security and acted accordingly. His urgent desire to mediate an end to World War I was driven by geo-political concerns. Forced into the war by tertiary issues, he decided to throw a great deal of weight upon the scale by intervening decisively in the Great War in order to dominate the postwar peace conference. There he intended to dictate "a scientific peace" and to create a League of Nations to insure collective security.