How the Great War came to the cinema screen
Everyone familiar with motion picture footage of the First World War on the Western Front will certainly have witnessed the talent, daring, uniquely invaluable and enduring work of the author of this book, Geoffrey Malins. Malins was one of two 'Official War Office Kinematographers' authorised to film the allied armies in action in France. There have been comments detrimental to Malins' character, he might have been guilty of embellishment as regards his own actions (no strange phenomenon in a military memoir) and he certainly downplayed the role of his colleague J. B. McDowell to the point of invisibility, but it is pointless to concentrate on the imperfections of the man when balanced against his indisputable achievements. One thing is certain, our knowledge of the Great War would be poorer without Malins. Here was a 'movie man' prepared to go into the danger zone to record the reality of the war of wire, the blood and trenches the ordinary 'Tommy' knew, while dragging around the most cumbersome equipment. His most famous film, 'The Battle of the Somme, ' filmed in 1916 and considered to be excessively graphic by many at the time, was viewed by over 20 million people and is shown on television to the present day. Despite producing some now well known fake 'over the top' sequences, Malins was responsible for the iconic footage of the blowing of the Hawthorn Crater and anyone interested in the Great War and the earliest days of war cinematography will be fascinated to read the story of how it came about. The exploits of Malins and his colleagues make no less gripping reading.
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 book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

This book is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

""In the following chapters I have merely aimed at setting down, in simple language, a record of my impressions, so far as I can recall them, of what I have seen of many and varied phases of the Great Drama which has now been played to a finish on the other side of the English Channel. Most of those recollections were penned at odd moments, soon after the events chronicled, when they were still fresh in mind, often within range of the guns. It was my good fortune for two years to be one of the Official War Office Kinematographers. I was privileged to move about on the Western Front with considerable freedom. My actions were largely untrammelled; I had my instructions to carry out; my superiors to satisfy; my work to do; and I endeavoured to do all that has been required of me to the best of my ability, never thinking of the cost, or consequences, to myself of an adventure so long as I secured a pictorial record of the deeds of our heroic Army in France."" This book is part of the World War One Centenary series; creating, collating and reprinting new and old works of poetry, fiction, autobiography and analysis. The series forms a commemorative tribute to mark the passing of one of the world's bloodiest wars, offering new perspectives on this tragic yet fascinating period of human history. Each publication also includes brand new introductory essays and a timeline to help the reader place the work in its historical context.

How the Great War came to the cinema screen
Everyone familiar with motion picture footage of the First World War on the Western Front will certainly have witnessed the talent, daring, uniquely invaluable and enduring work of the author of this book, Geoffrey Malins. Malins was one of two 'Official War Office Kinematographers' authorised to film the allied armies in action in France. There have been comments detrimental to Malins' character, he might have been guilty of embellishment as regards his own actions (no strange phenomenon in a military memoir) and he certainly downplayed the role of his colleague J. B. McDowell to the point of invisibility, but it is pointless to concentrate on the imperfections of the man when balanced against his indisputable achievements. One thing is certain, our knowledge of the Great War would be poorer without Malins. Here was a 'movie man' prepared to go into the danger zone to record the reality of the war of wire, the blood and trenches the ordinary 'Tommy' knew, while dragging around the most cumbersome equipment. His most famous film, 'The Battle of the Somme, ' filmed in 1916 and considered to be excessively graphic by many at the time, was viewed by over 20 million people and is shown on television to the present day. Despite producing some now well known fake 'over the top' sequences, Malins was responsible for the iconic footage of the blowing of the Hawthorn Crater and anyone interested in the Great War and the earliest days of war cinematography will be fascinated to read the story of how it came about. The exploits of Malins and his colleagues make no less gripping reading.
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 Western Front of World War I saw some of the first major steps in a newly founded tradition - the war documentary. Known as "kinematographers," these men braved the front lines - sometimes filming in shell holes and often mistaken for machine gun emplacements - to capture the war on film and bring it home to motion picture audiences. One of the most famous among them was Geoffrey H. Malins, cinematographer and editor of The Battle of the Somme.These are Malins' experiences, in his own words. Illustrated with over 40 photographs, Malins takes us from one end of the Western Front to the other, on the ground and in the air. He tells of his adventures, the remarkable people he encounters, his near-misses, and the history he witnessed and committed to film for posterity.Thrilling and horrifying, How I Filmed the Great War is the amazing story of the man who faced the German army and the terrors of the Western Front - not with a rifle or a machine gun, but with a movie camera.

Geoffrey Malins helped to create an enduring record of the Battle of the Somme for future generations using the new medium of film. Malins was a portrait photographer before he joined the Clarendon Film Company's studios in London in 1910.He soon became chief cameraman. In August 1914, aged 28, he left and became a freelance war correspondent in Belgium and France filming newsreels.In March 1915 the Kinematograph Manufacturers Association negotiated with the War Office to send two official cameramen to join the British Expeditionary Force. On 2 November Malins and Edward Tong went to France, as lieutenants. Tong was invalided home in December but by June 1916 Malins had made 26 films. The work was dangerous. By the end of his first year he had been wounded twice, deafened and badly shaken by explosions and gassed.In June 1916 the War Office agreed that the forthcoming Somme offensive could be filmed. Malins was joined by John McDowell of the British and Colonial Film Company. Malins was attached to the 29th Division opposite Hawthorn Ridge, McDowell to the 7th Division near Mametz. On 10 July they returned to London with 8,000 feet of film. The completed documentary was first shown on 7 August 1916. Although some scenes were recreated after the start of the Battle, the action footage Malins captured remains a lasting record of an important historical event.Malins continued filming in France but in spring 1917 he was forced to take sick leave. He returned in January 1918 but was not entirely fit and was discharged from the army in June. He continued his career as a film maker and his thirst for adventure took him abroad. In 1932 he settled in South Africa where he died of cancer in 1940.