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Books > History > World history > From 1900 > First World War
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.
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.
An eye-opening interpretation of the infamous Gallipoli campaign
that sets it in the context of global trade. In early 1915, the
British government ordered the Royal Navy to force a passage of the
Dardanelles Straits-the most heavily defended waterway in the
world. After the Navy failed to breach Turkish defenses, British
and allied ground forces stormed the Gallipoli peninsula but were
unable to move off the beaches. Over the course of the year, the
Allied landed hundreds of thousands of reinforcements but all to no
avail. The Gallipoli campaign has gone down as one of the great
disasters in the history of warfare. Previous works have focused on
the battles and sought to explain the reasons for the British
failure, typically focusing on First Lord of the Admiralty Winston
Churchill. In this bold new account, Nicholas Lambert offers the
first fully researched explanation of why Prime Minister Henry
Asquith and all of his senior advisers-the War Lords-ordered the
attacks in the first place, in defiance of most professional
military opinion. Peeling back the manipulation of the historical
record by those involved with the campaign's inception, Lambert
shows that the original goals were political-economic rather than
military: not to relieve pressure on the Western Front but to
respond to the fall-out from the massive disruption of the
international grain trade caused by the war. By the beginning of
1915, the price of wheat was rising so fast that Britain, the
greatest importer of wheat in the world, feared bread riots.
Meanwhile Russia, the greatest exporter of wheat in the world and
Britain's ally in the east, faced financial collapse. Lambert
demonstrates that the War Lords authorized the attacks at the
Dardanelles to open the straits to the flow of Russian wheat,
seeking to lower the price of grain on the global market and
simultaneously to eliminate the need for huge British loans to
support Russia's war effort. Carefully reconstructing the
perspectives of the individual War Lords, this book offers an
eye-opening case study of strategic policy making under pressure in
a globalized world economy.
During the First World War, the Jewish population of Central Europe
was politically, socially, and experientially diverse, to an extent
that resists containment within a simple historical narrative.
While antisemitism and Jewish disillusionment have dominated many
previous studies of the topic, this collection aims to recapture
the multifariousness of Central European Jewish life in the
experiences of soldiers and civilians alike during the First World
War. Here, scholars from multiple disciplines explore rare sources
and employ innovative methods to illuminate four interconnected
themes: minorities and the meaning of military service,
Jewish-Gentile relations, cultural legacies of the war, and memory
politics.
This is the first scientific biography of Milan Rastislav Stefanik
(1880-1919) that is focused on analysing the process of how he
became the Slovak national hero. Although he is relatively unknown
internationally, his contemporaries compared him "to Choderlos de
Laclos for the use of military tactics in love affairs, to Lawrence
of Arabia for vision, to Bonaparte for ambition ... and to one of
apostles for conviction". He played the key role in founding an
independent Czechoslovakia in 1918 through his relentless worldwide
travels during the First World War in order to create the
Czechoslovak Army: he visited Serbia and Romania on the eve of
invasion by the Central Powers, Russia before the February
revolution, the United States after it declared war on Germany,
Italy dealing with the consequences of defeat in the Caporetto
battle, and again when Russia plunged into Civil War. Several
historical methods are used to analyse the aforementioned central
research question of this biography such as social capital to
explain his rise in French society, the charismatic leader to
understand how he convinced and won over a relatively large number
of people; more traditional political, military, and diplomatic
history to show his contribution to the founding of Czechoslovakia,
and memory studies to analyse his extraordinary popularity in
Slovakia. By mapping his intriguing life, the book will be of
interest to scholars in a broad range of areas including history of
Central Europe, especially Czechoslovakia, international relations,
social history, French society at the beginning of the 20th century
and biographical research.
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