Author: Various Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform ISBN: 9781533579027 Category : Languages : en Pages : 146
Book Description
This collection of heroic soldier's stories relays sobering accounts of combat on the Western Front during the First World War. Evocative and vivid descriptions of the early stages of the conflict populate these pages, from which the reader can gain lessons of the conditions of the stagnant front. Originally published in 1915, the set of tales within this book offer sobering accounts from various battlefields which took place during the early stages of the war. Although the war was not even halfway over by the time these stories found publication, the horrors of the conflict were already a fact of life, with casualties rapidly mounting on both sides. At that time public opinion hadn't yet fully turned against the war, and in Britain - the nationality of all the soldiers here - the need for showing progress was essential to sustain civilian and military morale. All of the soldiers in these pages were already serving in their regiments, or had volunteered for service, when the war commenced. They were commonly professional soldiers, possessed of a natural - even ingrained - patriotism, and more accepting of the official narrative than the increasingly sceptical and fearful citizenry back home. There is however no doubt that many were already disillusioned, and that the stories here are taken from an already thinning group of soldiers still possessed of some shred of belief in the war as a noble, or even glorious, conflict. Despite the mood which underpins the pages here, one can read between the lines for a picture. The stories are honest: thing got worse between those elated first weeks wherein the French welcomed their allies so gladly, and the war that was to be over by Christmas 1914 was nowhere near ending, and it is in these stories that we witness the germinal seeds of disillusion and hatred of conflict. The majority of the illustrations which originally accompanied these accounts prioritise the heroism of their subjects, while a few offer a toned down presentation of the horrific battlefields. In this modern edition, we include a number of relevant photographic illustrations alongside the original drawings which accompanied the stories when they were first published. While the imagery of World War I is generally quite ingrained in our minds, these supplementary pictures are designed as on-the-spot reminders of how war was more than a century ago, as well as to provide demonstration of the weapons and technology of the era.
Author: Ryan Jenkins Publisher: CreateSpace ISBN: 9781512006179 Category : Languages : en Pages : 96
Book Description
UPDATE: SECOND EDITION - WITH ADDED CONTENT!! World War I, also known in its time as the "Great War" or the "War to End all Wars," was an unprecedented holocaust in terms of its sheer scale. Fought by men who hailed from all corners of the globe, it saw millions of soldiers do battle in brutal assaults of attrition, which dragged on for months with little to no respite. Tens of millions of artillery shells and untold hundreds of millions of rifle and machine gun bullets were fired in a conflict that demonstrated man's capacity to kill each other on an unprecedented scale. The enduring image of World War I is of men stuck in muddy trenches and of vast armies deadlocked in a fight neither could win. There were heroes though. Men who fought against odds so great, that few would survive. These are the stories of just a few. Read about the "Devil Dog" who brought home not one, but two Medals of Honor and was even nominated for a third for his service. Find out more about the German general who came home a hero, and dared to challenge Hitler. He was one of the few that survived doing so. Learn about the "Jungle Fox" and his daring charges. War is hell. Many men don't survive that those that do are left with a lasting impression of the horrors witnessed. These stories honor those that fought for their countries and the other men who stood beside him. Pick up a copy of your own today. Comments From Other Readers "I'll be honest, I didn't pay much attention in my history class when it came to wars. They were over so why should I care? History is bound to repeat itself. In terms of war, that's generally with tragic results. While the war itself was brutal, these brave men highlighted in the book took on immeasurable odds to save the lives of those around them. Starting with a short history of the war, it runs into these amazing stories. I wish I had paid attention when I was younger, but I'm certainly paying attention now." - Hank (Montana, US) "The heroics of men under the strain of war are something of a marvel. Any man that would willingly sacrifice himself for the life of another is to be commended. To do so repeatedly is heroic. Those that fight in any war for the freedom of others should all be considered heroic. There are some that stand out amongst the rest though. These are some of such stories from men who fought with valour in World War I. The author excels in his description of the history surrounding the war as well as his efforts in extoling the actions of these men. Truly a wonderful book." - Jacques (Montreal, Canada) Tags: WWI, World War, the great war, war heroes, medal of honor, silver star, navy cross, Germany, French, Belleau Wood, Devil Dogs, Marines, Jungle fox, Africa, Paris, doughboys, mustard gas, Archduke Ferdinand, alliance system, Erik Larson, Dead Wake, The Fall of the Ottomans, Guns of August, Seek out and Destroy, Lawrence in Arabia, Winged victory, flanders field, dauntless, her privates we, the last of the doughboys, alan evans, thunder at dawn, eve of war
Author: Matthew J. Davenport Publisher: Macmillan ISBN: 1250056446 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 381
Book Description
The riveting true story of America's first modern military battle, its first military victory during World War One, and its first steps onto the world stage At first light on Tuesday, May 28th, 1918, waves of American riflemen from the U.S. Army's 1st Division climbed from their trenches, charged across the shell-scarred French dirt of no-man's-land, and captured the hilltop village of Cantigny from the grip of the German Army. Those who survived the enemy machine-gun fire and hand-to-hand fighting held on for the next two days and nights in shallow foxholes under the sting of mustard gas and crushing steel of artillery fire. Thirteen months after the United States entered World War I, these 3,500 soldiers became the first "doughboys" to enter the fight. The operation, the first American attack ever supported by tanks, airplanes, and modern artillery, was ordered by the leader of America's forces in Europe, General John "Black Jack" Pershing, and planned by a young staff officer, Lieutenant Colonel George C. Marshall, who would fill the lead role in World War II twenty-six years later. Drawing on the letters, diaries, and reports by the men themselves, Matthew J. Davenport's First Over There tells the inspiring, untold story of these soldiers and their journey to victory on the Western Front in the Battle of Cantigny. The first American battle of the "war to end all wars" would mark not only its first victory abroad, but the birth of its modern Army.
Author: John Laffin Publisher: The History Press ISBN: 0752495259 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 331
Book Description
A serious attempt to illustrate the humanity of the soldier on the Western Front, this title reflects World War I as they saw it: from first shot to last. These tales, told to fellow men in the trenches, behind the lines, at base hospitals and at the estaminets and billets during rest periods, have been recorded here.
Author: Peter Barton Publisher: Constable & Robinson ISBN: 9781472111920 Category : Photography, Panoramic Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Here are the great battlefields of the First World War as you have never seen them before, from the first cavalry skirmishes, through the horrors of the Somme and Passchendaele, to the final weeks of conflict. A revelatory, unique collection of panoramic photographs covering the whole of the British sectors of the Western Front, end to end. No other work shows like this the actual ground on which the battles were fought and about which so many words continue to be written. The vast battlescapes are interspersed with poignant individual photographs and the recollections of the soldiers caught in the action. The last time most of the panoramas were viewed - in the trenches - they were marked TOP-SECRET and destined for the eyes of the commanding officer only. Taken at huge personal risk by specialist photographers during the war, the panoramas reveal what no other photographs can - the view beyond the trench parapet - and a great deal more. Each panorama offers a view of up to 160 degrees, so sharply focused that the individual figures of a waiting sniper or a soldier picking lice from his shirt can be made out. They document a lost world. This slipcased edition features 60 recently discovered German panoramas, plus a DVD containing the full complement of 350 panoramas in interactive, zoomable form; as well as updated mapping throughout.
Author: Richard Holmes Publisher: TV Books ISBN: 9781575001630 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 224
Book Description
Drawing on the stories of the surviving soldiers themselves, who endured the indiscriminate slaughter & incomprehensible brutality that surrounded them, the vivid human experience of war is exposed.
Author: Martin Marix Evans Publisher: Arcturus Publishing ISBN: 178212912X Category : History Languages : en Pages : 408
Book Description
Presenting the Allied and German experience of war - both military and on a personal level - Victory on the Western Front is an immensely readable, visually striking account of the pivotal final stages of World War I, when two very different concepts went head-to-head on the battlefield. The Germans gambled on winning on the Western Front through the sophisticated use of artillery and new infantry tactics, whereas the Allies calculated that victory lay in the application of a balanced combination of infantry, artillery, AFVs and aircraft. The efforts of both sides were dogged by error, misunderstanding, uncertainty and mistrust. This fully illustrated book is the story of the search for victory - on both sides of the lines - and of the valour and steadfastness of the fighting men tasked with delivering it.
Author: Neil Hanson Publisher: Vintage ISBN: 030742989X Category : History Languages : en Pages : 429
Book Description
The First World War was a conflict of unprecedented ferocity. After the last shot was fired and the troops marched home, approximately three million soldiers remained unaccounted for. An unassuming English chaplain first proposed a symbolic burial in memory of all the missing dead; subsequently the idea was picked up by almost every combatant country. Acclaimed author Neil Hanson focuses on the lives of three soldiers — an Englishman, a German, and an American — using their diaries and letters to offer an unflinching yet compassionate account of the front lines. He describes how each man endured nearly unbearable conditions, skillfully showing how the Western world arrived at the now time-honored way of mourning and paying tribute to all those who die in war. From the Trade Paperback edition.
Author: Peter Englund Publisher: Vintage ISBN: 0307701387 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 580
Book Description
An intimate narrative history of World War I told through the stories of twenty men and women from around the globe--a powerful, illuminating, heart-rending picture of what the war was really like. In this masterful book, renowned historian Peter Englund describes this epoch-defining event by weaving together accounts of the average man or woman who experienced it. Drawing on the diaries, journals, and letters of twenty individuals from Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Venezuela, and the United States, Englund’s collection of these varied perspectives describes not a course of events but "a world of feeling." Composed in short chapters that move between the home front and the front lines, The Beauty and Sorrow brings to life these twenty particular people and lets them speak for all who were shaped in some way by the War, but whose voices have remained unheard.