"Whiz-Bangs and Woolly Bears" is a story about a soldier of the Great War and his experiences as an artillery gunner in France. I used to listen carefully to his stories while we worked on his farm in Carleton County, New Brunswick. He had kept a diary during the war, and I later had a chance to look at it.

The short entries did not begin to describe the horrors of the Western Front in 1917 and 1918. As I grew older, I began to write him to ask about the details. He responded to questions about major battles in this example: "Passchendaele was just one glorious mudhole. We were there 42 days. Kept 24 men on the guns and lost 42 in the time, an average of one a day." This is the essence of what "Whiz Bangs and Woolly Bears" is about. It is a running discourse between a grandfather, Walter Ray Estabrooks and his grandson Hal Skaarup, now in the army as well.

Although the story is essentially about Walter Estabrooks, his experiences during the Great War, it is also about the fact that he lived to tell the tale. So many did not.

This book provides a thought-provoking and wide-ranging history of the whole of Europe between 1900 and 1945. Featuring six lively and stimulating chapters that have been specifically written for this volume, Europe 1900-1945 focuses on the political, economic, social, and cultural aspects of this time period. It also examines the international relations within Europe and the wider world. Particular care is taken to integrate developments in southern and eastern Europe (including the USSR) into the more familiar story of what occurred in western and central Europe. A guide to further reading, a chronology, and an index allow readers to follow up on interest in particular countries.

The Irish Guards in the Great War - The 2nd Battalion of the Irish Guards - The entire First World War History.This, the second volume of Rudyard Kipling's history of the Irish Guards in the First World War, focuses attention on the activities of the Second Battalion and its total war service. This junior battalion first saw action in 1915 and it is in the first pages of the book that we read of the death of Kipling's son John. The battles of the Western Front are described in detail from the battalion's perspective and there is much within the narrative to remind us that this is the work of a master writer. This volume contains a comprehensive honour roll of the men of both 1st and 2nd Battalions and the Reserve Battalion of the Irish Guards who were killed in action or died of wounds or disease during the war; also included is a full list of those decorated - making this book an invaluable resource for genealogists.

James D. Startt previously explored Woodrow Wilson's relationship with the press during his rise to political prominence. Now, Startt returns to continue the story, picking up with the outbreak of World War I in 1914 and tracing history through the Senate's ultimate rejection in 1920 of the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations. Woodrow Wilson, the Great War, and the Fourth Estate delves deeply into the president's evolving relations with the press and its influence on and importance to the events of the time. Startt navigates the complicated relationship that existed between one of the country's most controversial leaders and its increasingly ruthless corps of journalists. The portrait of Wilson that emerges here is one of complexity-a skilled politician whose private nature and notorious grit often tarnished his rapport with the press, and an influential leader whose passionate vision just as often inspired journalists to his cause.

British children were mobilised for total war in 1914-18. War dominated their teaching and school experience, it was the focus of their extra curricular activities and they enjoyed it as a source of entertainment in literature and play. Children were not shielded from the war because it was believed their support was vital for Britain's present and future.
The study of children's lives provides a unique perspective on British society during the First World War. It lets us get to the very essence of how Britain's adults perceived the war and allows us to explore the methods society used to communicate with itself. Children's connection to the war, however, was personal. Millions had a relative in the army and those that did not had friends, neighbours and teachers involved in the fighting. Their participation, therefore, while shaped by adults, was motivated by a desire to remain in touch with their absent fathers and brothers.

Karen Shelby addresses the IJzertoren Memorial, which is dedicated to the Flemish dead of the Great War, and the role the monument has played in the discussions among the various political, social and cultural ideologies of the Flemish community.

Words from the Front
This poignant firsthand account of war on the Western Front during the Great War was written by the colonel of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles a famous regiment of the British Army with its origins in Ulster. This is an intimate narrative of the experience of trench warfare with its attacks, raids, skirmishes, the slow loss of valued officers and men and the very debilitating matter of existing within the muddy confines of trenches and dugouts perpetually subject to the menace of the snipers bullet or the barrage of hostile artillery. Filled with detail and anecdotes, this is a fine view of a senior regimental officer's war told in letter form and an interesting addition to any library of the history of the Great War and the war the infantry knew.

The essays collected here suggest some of the ways in which an interdisciplinary perspective may contribute to our understanding of the Great War. Contributors examine the relationship between the character of the war and the nature of belligerent societies, and present original research on the comparative history of the First World War. In 1914-1918, the front lines did not only separate warring nations, but also cut across belligerent societies and ultimately determined the social responses to the conflict. Indeed, the 'totalizing logic' of the First World War entailed the blurring of boundaries between combatants and non-combatants, soldier and civilian. Subjects included are operational and tactical evolution, social mobilization, military discipline and morale, prisoners of war, veterans and demobilization, religion and politics, war literature and cinema, memory and commemoration. Contributors: Pierre Purseigle; Patrick Porter; Dennis Showalter; Leonard V. Smith; Nicolas Ginsburger; Elise Julien; Paul Mulvey; Keith Grieves; Leen Engelen; Nicolas Beaupre; Jennifer D. Keene; Elizabeth Fordham; Vanda Wilcox; Heather Jones; Gearoid Barry.

War of the Nations: is a continuation of the story begun in Admirals and Generals. This fourth book describes in vivid detail what may have occurred in the United States Military under the Wilson Presidential administration. The Narration is by the son a career naval officer, born in Beaufort, South Carolina. He will also become an admiral and serve in the Army Navy Building and the White House, Washington D.C. The historical events of 1912 through 1920 are carefully followed. The Imagination of the author provides rich characters in powerful settings from the harbors of America to the ports of the European countries during the World War. The time old love story between men and women is woven throughout the book when the naval officer sons, marry the women of their dreams. The two sons have five children and so the naval officer now has grandchildren. Three generations of Navy men and women who loved them, learn to survive the entire period of history known as the war to end all wars. Scenes are set carefully with attention to accurate research of the low country of South Carolina as well as our Nation's Capital circa 1912-1920. The People's Standard History of the United States written by Edward S. Ellis and published by Western Book Syndicate and copyrighted by Woodfall Company have provided background materials, maps of the period and needed information on how the federal government was organized and functioned during this period of our history.

Two battles of the first year of conflict
This concise book contains two accounts, by H. W. Carless-Davis, of the conflicts of the first year of the Great War, brought together in one value for money volume because the short length of each account means that it is improbable that either would be republished individually in modern times. Each account includes a campaign overview, illustrations and maps, dispatches and in some cases first hand accounts from those who fought. The first account concerns, 'the Great Retreat' which took place in the late summer of 1914 after the British Army had fought its holding action against the advance of the attacking Germans. This was a long, fighting withdrawal which might have spelled disaster at an early stage of the war but for the professionalism of the B. E. F and Smith-Dorrien's inspired command at Le Cateau. The second piece covers the Battle of Ypres-Armentieres fought in October of 1914. Available in softcover and hardcover with dustjacket.

When the United States went to war in April 1917 the Army's Air Service had one squadron of obsolete aircraft. By November 1918 the Air Service had aero squadrons which were specialized in air combat, observation, bombing, and photography. Each combat division habitually had an air observation squadron and a balloon company attached. This work also details the efforts of the Air Service to construct a massive system of supply, repair, and maintenance. Questions such as the training of flyers, observers, and balloonists are also explored.

Why did the British government declare war on Germany in August 1914? Was it because Germany posed a threat to British national security? Today many prominent historians would argue that this was not the case and that a million British citizens died needlessly for a misguided cause.
This book counters such revisionist arguments. Matthew Seligmann disputes the suggestion that the British government either got its facts wrong about the German threat or even, as some have claimed, deliberately 'invented' it in order to justify an otherwise unnecessary alignment with France and Russia. By examining the military and naval intelligence assessments forwarded from Germany to London by Britain's service attaches in Berlin, its 'men on the spot', Spying on the Kaiser clearly demonstrates that the British authorities had every reason to be alarmed. From these crucial intelligence documents, previously thought to have been lost, Dr Seligmann shows that in the decade before the First World War, the British government was kept well informed about military and naval developments in the Reich. In particular, the attaches consistently warned that German ambitions to challenge Britain posed a real and imminent danger to national security. As a result, the book concludes that the British government's perception of a German threat before 1914, far from being mistaken or invented, was rooted in hard and credible intelligence.

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.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the United States had already become an international power and a recognized force at sea, but its army remained little more than a frontier constabulary. In fact, when America finally entered World War I, the U.S. Army was still only a tenth the size of the smallest of the major European forces.

While most previous work on America's participation in the Great War has focused on alliance with Great Britain, Robert Bruce argues that the impact of the Franco-American relationship was of far greater significance. He makes a convincing case that the French, rather than the British, were the main military partner of the United States in its brief but decisive participation in the war-and that France deserves much credit for America's emergence as a world military power.

In this important new look at the First World War, Bruce reveals how two countries established a close and respectful relationship-marking the first time since the American Revolution that the United States had waged war as a member of a military coalition. While General Pershing's American Expeditionary Forces did much to buoy French morale and military operations, France reciprocated by training over 80 percent of all American army divisions sent to Europe, providing most of their artillery and tanks, and even commanding them in combat.

As Bruce discloses, virtually every military engagement in which the AEF participated was a Franco-American operation. He provides significant new material on all major battles--not only the decisive Second Battle of the Marne, but also St. Mihiel, Cantigny, Reims, Soissons, and other engagements--detailing the key contributions of this coalition to the final defeat of Imperial Germany. Throughout the book, he also demonstrates that there was a mutual bond of affection not only between French and American soldiers but between the French and American people as well, with roots planted deep in the democratic ideal.

By revealing the overlooked importance of this crucial alliance, A Fraternity of Arms provides new insights not only into World War I but into coalition war-making as well. Contrary to the popular belief that relations between France and the United States have been tenuous or tendentious at best, Bruce reminds us that less than a century ago French and American soldiers fought side by side in a common cause--not just as allies and brothers-in-arms, but as true friends.

How did Benito Mussolini come to fascism? Standard accounts of the dictator have failed to explain satisfactorily the transition from his pre-World War I 'socialism' to his post-war fascism. This controversial new book is the first to examine closely Mussolini's political trajectory during the Great War as evidenced in his journalistic writings, speeches and war diary, as well as some previously unexamined archive material. The author argues that the 1914-18 conflict provided the catalyst for Mussolini to clarify his deep-rooted nationalist tendencies. He demonstrates that Mussolini's interventionism was already anti-socialist and anti-democratic in the early autumn of 1914 and shows how in and through the experience of the conflict the future duce fine-tuned his authoritarian and totalitarian vision of Italy in a state of permanent mobilization for war. Providing a radical new interpretation of one of the most important dictators of the twentieth century, Mussolini in the First World War will appeal to anyone who wants to learn more about the roots of fascism in modern Europe.

The beginning of the age of independent armoured fighting vehicles
This fascinating book is essential reading for those who are interested in how the battle tank came into being and the first steps that led to the creation of the leviathans of the modern battlefield. Whilst this book contains elements of the progress of allied tanks in their first actions, its principal focus is upon the development of the tank itself, its associated equipment and the process of persuading a reactionary command structure as to its potential on the field of battle. This book benefits from the inclusion of diagrams of many of the types of battle tank together with specifications of engines, gearing etc. Available in soft cover and hard cover with dust jacket for collectors.

The counter attacks that saved the Allied cause
This concise book contains two accounts, by H. W. Carless-Davis and A. Neville Hilditch, of the conflicts of the first year of the Great War, brought together in one value for money volume because the short length of each account means that it is improbable that either would be republished individually in modern times. Each account includes a campaign overview, illustrations and maps, dispatches and in some cases first hand accounts from those who fought. The Battle of the Marne essentially halted the advance of the invading German Army in early September 1914. It brought to an end a successful, month long offensive by the Germans and was considered by many to be 'the Miracle of the Marne, ' because at the point they were halted the Germans were all but at the outskirts of Paris. The massive Allied counter attack by six French and one British field armies rolled the Germans back to the north-east . Eventually the Germans turned at bay and were attacked by the pursuing allies on the Aisne. The principal outcome of these engagements was an end to fluidity of warfare in Europe until the final stages of the war. In its stead would be the gruelling stalemate of attrition which was the trench warfare of 'the Western Front.' The second piece concentrates on a particularly notable engagement around Troyon which will be of particular interest to those who are fascinated by the more detailed aspects of the campaign. Available in softcover and hardcover with dustjacket.

An outstanding story of the aerial war and a daring escape from captivity
For the uninitiated this book's original title, 'My Escape from Donnington Hall, ' gave few clues as to the astonishing and unique nature of its contents. Its author was a young German, Gunther Pluschow. As an airman in German service at the outbreak of the First World War he was, unusually, serving in China flying a Rumpler-Taube aircraft from the East Asia naval station at Tsingtau that became besieged by joint Japanese and British forces. Pluschow's attempt to fly to safety, as it became obvious the position would fall, ended in a crash in rice paddies. He set out to walk back to Germany and the many adventures that followed would alone would qualify his story as a remarkable one. However, he was eventually captured and became a prisoner of war. Stories of wartime escape abound, but those who have been incarcerated in England have always been confounded by the difficulties of quitting an island.' In Pluschow's case this was exacerbated since in the east he had acquired a distinctive dragon tattoo; yet Pluschow he succeeded and is the only prisoner of war to escape from Britain and make the 'home run.' His remarkable narrative of his wartime adventures makes absolutely essential reading and is certainly beyond compare.
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.

Research into the impact of the First World War on European societies has recently begun on a major scale and Dr Waites has been one of the pioneers in this field in Britain. His book considers the War's effects on such major issues as popular images of class, the distribution of income and wealth in society, social relations within the working class, class consciousness and the educational experiences of children from different backgrounds. This study is noteworthy not only for its wide range of hitherto unpublished sources, but also for its attempt to bring social theory to bear upon the study of class relations in England during the first of this century's total wars.

An American journalist's view of the Great War
For the first thirty-three months of the Great War the United States of America was a neutral nation. This enabled her newspaper correspondents and other observers comparatively free access to the theatre of war in Europe, to witness and report to the American nation the progress of what was then the greatest conflict the world had ever seen. Journalist Granville Fortescue was a member of this elite cadre of war-zone reporters. This unique Leonaur volume, which brings together two of Fortescue's books on the Great War, will be of particular interest not only to those who are fascinated by the war as seen by an English language writer with access to 'enemy' held locations-something almost impossible for other English language speakers-but also to students of journalism who respect the work of the 'warcos' of all generations. Fortescue reports on all aspects of the conflict, both from behind and on the battle-line. He reports on Belgium under fire, the battles of Dinant and Mons, German perspectives on the war and home front, the bombardment of Rheims, the battle at Verdun, the war in the air and the coming of the tanks as well as many other interesting aspects of the First World War in Europe.
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 Irish Guards in the Great War - volume 1 - The first Battalion.The Entire Great War history of the 1st Battalion of the Irish Guards.Regimental histories are always fascinating for those who study the campaigns and battles in which regiments fought. This monumental work is a comprehensive unit account of a famous regiment during the First World War - and as such it will fascinate every military historian or genealogist. It is, of course, also much more. Written by Rudyard Kipling, whose son fought with the regiment, it benefits not only from being written by a great writer - which ensures that it suffers from none of the dryness usually associated with such tomes - but also, inevitably, is suffused with the humanity, humour and personality that is so familiar from his works of fiction. Mulvaney himself is just a step away within these pages - and that makes this history exceptional. Highly recommended!