World War I

[Xanthe]

Not a book recommendation, but something interesting for those of you interested in WWI:

Operation War Diary - a project of Zooniverse/National Archives/Imperial War Museum: http://www.operationwardiary.org/

Archives of official British war diaries from WWI have been digitized and the project involves volunteer "citizen historians" going through the diaries and tagging various bits of information so that the diaries themselves will become searchable at a fine detail level.

It's one of the Zooniverse projects that I work on when I have some free time.

https://www.zooniverse.org/projects#all

[Lynx-lynx]

I just finished the infamous Greenmantle by John Buchan, and found it's approach very interesting - it really is a boy's own yarn on a grand scale and most enjoyable. Here's what Buchan said about the writing of it:

During the past year, in the intervals of an active life, I have amused myself with constructing this tale. It has been scribbled in every kind of odd place and moment — in England and abroad, during long journeys, in half-hours between graver tasks; and it bears, I fear, the mark of its gipsy begetting. But it has amused me to write, and I shall be well repaid if it amuses you — and a few others — to read.

Considering that so many espionage novels seem to have encapsulated similar themes since (and perhaps even the various spy agencies themselves have used similar devices as those described) I think Buchan has been well 'repaid'.

For those who haven't got a copy of this ebook then the University of Adelaide has a number of his works for free.

Also the Delphi Classics Complete Works of John Buchan can be purchased quite cheaply. Around $4 if I recall.

[bfisher]

Yes, aside from his racist and anti-semetic diatribes, he keeps the action moving along in his stories. Have you read his Dickson McCunn and the Gorbal Die-Hards series (starts with Huntingtower)? Very similiar feel, like a really good boys story.

[Lynx-lynx]

@bfisher, no I haven't read any of his books previously, but I've moved onto book 3 of the Richard Hannay series, Mr Standfast (written in 1919). I suspect that from time to time I shall continue to dip into his writings as I've got the Delphi Classics Complete Works.

Oh yep I noticed that he wrote according to the mores of his day, which don't accord with the mores of today.

[aceflor]

It is fiction, but so well written and so profound, and yet never describing directly the horrors of WWI but much more its effect on the society. I would definitely recommend the Parade's End tetralogy by Ford Madox Ford.

[Xanthe]

I recently picked up two non-fiction ebooks that Amazon had offered at a reduced price:

The Last of the Doughboys: The Forgotten Generation and Their Forgotten War by Richard Rubin

There may be as many as a million surviving veterans of WWII, and their stream of memoirs continues, contributing to their place as part of the “Greatest Generation.” But the last known American veteran of the Great War died in 2011. Determined to obtain and document the remembrances of the surviving “doughboys,” journalist Rubin began an effort to locate and interview many of them a decade ago. The result is this fascinating and deeply moving collection of individual stories. These veterans, between the ages of 101 and 113, tell their stories in sometimes halting ways; but aided by the patience and prompting of Rubin, they provide a vivid picture of their wartime experiences as well as the vastly different American society from which they sprang. Most of these men came from rural backgrounds, and they used horsepower rather than tractors to plow fields. Some describe their shock at their first exposure to industrial-scale warfare, while others stepped easily into the beginnings of aerial combat. Some recall the comradeship, while others emphasize the terror of trench warfare. This is an important and masterful tribute to those who participated in a conflict that continues to shape the world today.

Home Before The Leaves Fall: A New History of the German Invasion of 1914 by Ian Senior

The German invasion of France and Belgium in August 1914 came within an ace of defeating the French armies, capturing Paris, and ending the First World War before the autumn leaves had fallen. But the German armies failed to score the knock-out blow they had planned. The war would drag on for four years of unprecedented slaughter.

There are many accounts of 1914 from the British point of view. The achievements of the British Expeditionary Force were the stuff of legend, but in reality there were only four divisions in the field; the French and Germans had more than 60 each. The real story of the battle can only be told by an author with the skill to mine the extensive German and French archives. Ian Senior does this with consummate skill, weaving together strategic analysis with diary entries and interview transcripts from the soldiers on the ground to create a remarkable new history. In addition, all previous classic histories on the subject either focus virtually exclusively on the British experiences or are now very out-of-date such as Barbara Tuchman's Guns of August (1962) or Sewell Tyng's Campaign of the Marne (1935).

Supported by up numerous sketch maps, extensive archival research and poignant first-hand accounts, Home before the leaves fall is an accessible, narrative account of the German invasion that came within an ace of victory, that long hot summer.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by Xanthe

I recently picked up two non-fiction ebooks that Amazon had offered at a reduced price:

[B]The Last of the Doughboys . . .

I'll mention this for the benefit of anyone who stumbled into this thread but isn't sure if they want to read a whole book about WWI: This title is as much about what it is like to be a centenarian as it is about the war. And living past age 100 is a better experience than I would have thought.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by aceflor

It is fiction, but so well written and so profound, and yet never describing directly the horrors of WWI but much more its effect on the society. I would definitely recommend the Parade's End tetralogy by Ford Madox Ford.

Thanks for the recommendation.

I've just bought the Works of Ford Madox Ford from Delphi Classics (using a Kobo voucher code for just under $2).

[Lynx-lynx]

I recently finished John Biggin's fiction book A Sailor of Austria (book 1 of a 4 book series).

Biggins weaves into his narrative the historical perspective on the Austro Hungarian Empire, and for me, illuminated just how all those diverse peoples/tribes/religions related to each other and their Empire. It was most illuminating when at the end of the War and the Hapsburg's empire crumbled, how those disparate peoples virtually turned on each other.

I recommend this book also because it gives an account of 'the other side's' activities during WW1, a perspective not as commonly addressed.

(And I hadn't realised that Japan's navy was in the Mediterranean and the Adriatic!!)

Edit
Thanks to issybird who I'm fairly sure recommended this series to me some time ago now.

[bfisher]

Ring Of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I by Alexander Watson is a good recent history of what was happening internally in Germany and Austria-Hungary.