Title: French Poilu 1914-18

Author: Ian Sumner

Publisher: Osprey

Price: £11.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: French Army

Category: First World War

During World War One the French Army was in a state of disarray, plagued by indiscipline, mutinies and desertion. The ordinary French citizens that were called upon to defend their motherland - the Poilu - were disrespected and demoralized, and the infamous mutinies of 1917 by the Poilu were not protests against the war itself, but against how the war was conducted. Ian Sumner expertly charts the history of the Poilu, from the conscription of hundreds of thousands of men, through their training, to the horrors of the trenches and the fear of no man's land. Accompanied by new artwork and diagrams, this book provides a fascinating insight into the experiences of ordinary Frenchman called upon to defend their motherland.

Title: The White War

Author: Mark Thompson

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Price: £25.00

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Italy and the First World War

Category: First World War

In May 1915, Italy declared war on the Habsburg Empire, hoping to seize its ‘lost’ territories of Trieste and Tyrol. The result was one of the most hopeless and senseless modern wars - and one that inspired great cruelty and destruction. Nearly three-quarters of a million Italians - and half as many Austro-Hungarian troops - were killed. Most of the deaths occurred on the bare grey hills north of Trieste, and in the snows of the Dolomite Alps. Outsiders who witnessed these battles were awestruck by the difficulty of attacking on such terrain. General Luigi Cadorna, most ruthless of all the Great War commanders, restored the Roman practice of ‘decimation’, executing random members of units that retreated or rebelled. Italy sank into chaos and, eventually, fascism. Its liberal traditions did not recover for a quarter of a century - some would say they have never recovered. Mark Thompson relates this nearly incredible saga with great skill and pathos. Much more than a history of terrible violence, the book tells the whole story of the war: the nationalist frenzy that led up to it, the decisions that shaped it, the poetry it inspired, its haunting landscapes and political intrigues; the personalities of its statesmen and generals; and also the experience of ordinary soldiers - among them some of modern Italy’s greatest writers.

Title: Zeppelin over Suffolk

Author: Mark Mower

Publisher: Pen & Sword

Price: £12.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Zeppelin Raids

Category: First World War

Zeppelin Over Suffolk tells the remarkable story of the destruction of a German airship over East Anglia in 1917. The drama is set against the backdrop of Germany's aerial bombing campaign on Britain in the First World War, using a terrifying new weapon, the Zeppelin. The course of the raid on that summer night is reconstructed in vivid detail, moment by moment - the Zeppelin's take off from northern Germany, its slow journey across the North Sea, the bombing run along the East Anglian coast, the pursuit by British fighters high over Suffolk, and the airship's final moments as it fell to earth in flames near the village of Theberton in the early morning of 17 June 1917. Mark Mower gives a gripping account of a pivotal episode in the pioneering days of the air war over England.

Title: War on the Western Front

Author: Gary Sheffield

Publisher: Osprey

Price: £12.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus: First World War Index

Category: First World War

World War I stands as a watershed in the evolution of modern warfare, with the development of sophisticated trench systems forming a battlefield over 400 miles long, innovations in weaponry and equipment and the introduction of tanks in battle. Without the ordinary soldier, however, there could have been no war: the Great War was very much a conflict of infantrymen - the largely forgotten masses of Tommies, Fritzes, Poilus and Doughboys. With a foreword by renowned World War I historian Gary Sheffield, "War on the Western Front" examines the day-to-day lives of these men as they fought and died in the trenches, from their recruitment and training to combat experience, vividly recounting the shock of life on 'the front'.It also provides an extensive re-assessment of trench warfare, a revolutionary tactic that challenged the very idea of war, and details developments in weaponry and armoured vehicles, including terrifying innovations in the use of poison gas, flamethrowers and tanks.

Title: Famous 1914-1918

Author: Richard Van Emden & Victor Piuk

Publisher: Pen & Sword

Price: £25.00

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: George Mallory

Category: First World War

"Famous" tells the Great War stories of as many as twenty of Britain's most respected, best known and even notorious celebrities. They include politicians, actors, writers, an explorer, a sculptor and even a murderer. The generation that grew up in the late 19th Century enlisted enthusiastically in the defence of the country. Many would become household names such as Basil Rathbone, the definitive Sherlock Holmes, A A Milne, creator of Winnie the Pooh, and Arnold Ridley who found fame and public affection as the gentle and genial Godfrey, in Dad's Army. From politicians such as Harold Macmillan and Winston Churchill to writers including J B Priestley, and J R R Tolkein, from sculptors like Henry Moore, to composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, their fame and influence continue even into the 21st Century. The authors Richard van Emden and Vic Piuk have discovered the exact locations where these celebrities saw action. They tell the story of how J R R Tolkein led his men over the top on the Somme, where C S Lewis was wounded and invalided home, and how Basil Rathbone won the Military Cross for a trench raid (while dressed as a tree).

Title: The Faces of World War I

Author: Max Arthur

Publisher: Octopus

Price: £25.00

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Chronology of First World War

Category: First World War

In "The Faces of World War I" Max Arthur has delved into the superb photographic archives of the Imperial War Museum and other important collections to unearth remarkable, never before seen images that, when married with his contemporary eye-witness accounts, truly bring a unique perspective to the First World War. "The Faces of World War I" charts the changes that took place in Edwardian Britain and continental Europe following the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 that led to the outbreak of war. It paints a startling portrait of the recruitment and militarization of an entire generation of young men, beginning with the British Expeditionary Forces entry into warfare in 1914. Max Arthur tells the story in words and pictures of this newly conscripted army through their five years of slaughter and suffering. As well as the British troops and civilians, we also see pictures of German troops and their own suffering, in a journey that follows the armies right through to their return home or, in some cases, their tragic end on the battlefield. This photographic milestone brilliantly conveys not only the heroism, but also the universal horror, futility, humour and boredom of warfare. From the front-line troops and their daily dice with death, to the support lines, communications, enlistment, training and propaganda. Every aspect of the soldiers life is covered here, in this brilliant collection of images that brings the Great War to life in a way never done before.

Title: We Will Not Fight

Author: Will Ellsworth-Jones

Publisher: Aurum Press

Price: £18.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: No Conscription Fellowship

Category: First World War

In June 1916 Philip Brocklesby, a young second lieutenant just arrived in Boulogne, slipped away from his regiment in a desperate attempt to see his brother who had been imprisoned nearby. But it wasn't the enemy who were holding Bert, but his own army. Bert, along with 34 other conscientious objectors, had been court marshalled for refusing to fight, and was waiting to hear if he would be sentenced to death. The meeting was happy and affectionate, but then both brothers knew it may be their last.Through the amazing story of the Brocklesby family, Will Ellsworth-Jones explores the history of conscientious objection in World War I, charting the experiences of the men who took a stand despite being stigmatised, vilified and facing death. This amazing book also considers the men's lasting legacy. Without the courage of men such as Bert who were prepared to die for their beliefs, we wouldn't have the freedom to voice our beliefs and protest at our government's involvement in conflict. At the end of this touching book, the reader will ask themselves whether they would have had the courage to fight in the trenches, but more importantly whether they would have had the courage not to fight. Packed with unpublished letters, diaries, memoir extracts and oral interviews, "We Will Not Fight" is a fascinating look at conscientious objection in WWI, and its legacy.It explores Conscientious Objection in WWI through an extraordinary personal story of two British brothers - one who was prepared to die fighting; the other who was prepared to die refusing to fight. It contains well-researched and intensely moving history full of unpublished diaries, letters, trial notes and memoir extracts. Offering a unique perspective on an ever popular period of history, especially in light of recent protest over Iraq, this book is ideal for review and media coverage.

Title: The German Army Handbook of 1918

Author: Deryck Schreuder

Publisher: Frontline Books

Price: £19.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: German Army

Category: First World War

Compiled by British Intelligence, for restricted official issue by the General Staff, "German Army Handbook", April 1918, is a comprehensive assessment of the German Army during the latter stages of the First World War. Illustrated throughout with plates, diagrams, charts, tables and maps, it provides a detailed breakdown of the army, covering all aspects from recruiting and training, mobilization, command and organisation, weapons and signals to transportation, medical and veterinary services, and uniform. There are also two maps, showing Army Corps Districts, and Zones of Administration and Lines of Command in June 1917.The events of 1914 transformed the armies of Europe, and made much of the information contained in the amended 1912 handbook worthless. The emergence of trench warfare created conditions in which the traditional concepts of offence and defence had little meaning. Within a few months battle conditions had created a situation in which pre-war intelligence publications had only little relevance. "The German Army Handbook", April 1918 was a remarkable achievement. It provides solutions to many questions that histories of the First World War and accounts of its battles are unable to answer. It shows how the static conventions of trench warfare usurped the traditional role of cavalry, and how the German Army were able to take advantage of the dominance of the machine-gun on the Western Front in 1915.

Title: Dictionery of Tommies' Songs and Slang

Author: John Brophy & Eric Partridge

Publisher: Frontline Books

Price: £19.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Soldiers

Category: First World War

During the First World War the British soldiers were renowned for their chirpy songs and plucky sayings. Indeed nothing would lift the spirits of the often exhausted and demoralized troops more than a hearty singalong. These cheery and at times ribald and satiric songs and sayings have been collected together to give a fascinating insight into the more light-hearted side of trench life. The songs include marching tunes, songs for billets and rude chants for when no commanding officer was present. Each song is accompanied by a short passage that traces the origins of the melody and accounts for lyrical alternatives. There is also a large glossary of soldiers' slang words and phrases, revealing the Tommies' vocabulary in all its bawdiness. "The Daily Telegraph - Dictionary of Tommies' Song and Slang" reveals the courage, gaiety and astringent cynicism with which men armed themselves against the horrors of trench warfare.

Title: Landownership in Eastern Germany Before the Great War

Author: Scott M. Eddie

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Price: £65.00

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus: Chronology of First World War

Category: Travel Writing

The big landlords of eastern Germany have loomed large in the country's history, but the absence of official statistics on landownership has left their position and identity confined to folklore, without satisfactory quantification. This study, making extensive use of primary sources from the seven 'core provinces' of eastern Germany-the so-called 'East Elbian' region-establishes answers to questions pivotal to our understanding of pre-war Germany: who were the biggest landowners, both by area and by the tax assessment of their land? Which social groups held land? How much land did they own and where? How did this change, especially during the last decades before the Great War? Professor Eddie demonstrates that most of the inroads into landownership by the bourgeoisie had already been made by the mid-1850s, perhaps even before the mid-1830s. However, one of the most interesting findings in this study is that, despite rapid industrialization after 1880, there was a net exodus of the nouveaux riches from the ranks of large land owners. On the eve of war, the largest landowners were the Prussian state, the royalty, and the higher nobility. Meticulously researched and thoroughly documented, this book will be the benchmark for all future work in this area.

Title: Liverpool Pals

Author: Graham Maddocks

Publisher: Pen & Sword

Price: £25.00

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus: Pals Battalions

Category: First World War

"Liverpool Pals", is a record of duty, courage and endeavour of a group of men who, before war broke out in 1914, were the backbone of Liverpool's commerce. Fired with patriotism, over 4,000 of these businessmen volunteered in 1914 and were formed into the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th (Service) Battalions of the King's (Liverpool Regiment); they were the first of all the Pals battalions to be raised, and they were the last to be stood down.It is commonly held that the North of England's Pals battalions were wiped out on the 1st July, 1916, certainly this befell a number of units, but the Liverpool Pals took all their objectives on that day. From then on they fought all through the Somme Battle, The Battle of Arras and the muddy hell of Passchendaele in 1917, and the desperate defence against the German offensive of March 1918.

Title: Cheerful Sacrifice

Author: Joanthan Nicholls

Publisher: Pen & Sword

Price: £14.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus: Chronology of First World War

Category: First World War

Cheerful Sacrifice tells the story of the spring offensive of April - May 1917, otherwise known as the Battle of Arras. Probably because the noise had hardly died down before it started up again with the explosions at Messines, shortly to be followed by the even more horrible Third Ypres - remembered as Passchendaele - the Battle of Arras has not received the attention it deserves. Yet, as the author points out, on the basis of the daily casualty rate it was the most lethal and costly British offensive battle of the First World War. In the thirty-nine days that the battle lasted the average casualty rate was far higher than at either the Somme or Passchendaele. Jonathan Nicholls, in this his first book, gives the Battle of Arras its proper place in the annals of military history, enhancing his text with a wealth of eye-witness accounts. One is left in no doubt that the survivor who described it as 'the most savage infantry battle of the war', did not exaggerate. Nor can there be much doubt that the author is destined to rise high in the firmament of military historians.

Title: A Shattered Peace: Versailles 1919

Author: David A. Andelman

Publisher: Wiley

Price: £30.00

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Versailles Treaty

Category: First World War

In a Shattered Peace, veteran foreign correspondent David A. Andelman takes a fresh look at the Treat of Versailles as the point of origin for many of today's most critical international issues. This revealing history exposes the powerful lessons that a six-month period in a long ago era has for us today. Andelman turns the spotlight on the many errors committed by the peacemakers that led to crises and bloodshed from Algeria to Kosovo and wars from Israel to Vietnam.

Title: War Girls

Author: Janet Lee

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Price: £30.00

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: First Aid Nursing Yeomanry

Category: First World War

The fascinating story of the British women who volunteered for service in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry during the First World War; Accessible and enjoyable to read history of an interesting, quirky, audacious and pioneering sisterhood of women; Analyses the relationship between gender and war in the early twentieth century; The first full length book on the subject; The author's passion and enthusiasm for her subject are palpable; Includes personal testimonies e.g. diaries, letters and memoirs from the women themselves.

Title: Hard as Nails

Author: Michael Foley

Publisher: Spellmount

Price: £18.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Sport and the First World War

Category: First World War

This is the history of the Sportsmen's Battalion, Royal Fusiliers 23rd service battalion, which consisted almost entirely of men from the world of sport or entertainment. The battalion was privately raised and took men up to the age of 45. The battalion included a champion boxer, cricketers, footballers, MPs and the author John Chessire. They were men who did not need to serve in the First World War but had an unquestioning sense of duty. The history is enhanced by the letters and drawings by John Chessire, giving a first-hand account of their experiences. A man from the upper classes, a writer, poet and artist, he chose to serve as a private so he could do his duty, even when it conflicted with his religious beliefs and love for his family. The book covers the battalion's beginnings in London and progression to Hornchurch, France and then Germany. It includes their time at Vimy Ridge, at the Somme and at the Battle for Deville Wood.

Title: The US Army of World War I

Author: Mark R. Henry

Publisher: Osprey

Price: £9.50

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: US Army in the First World War

Category: First World War

Before the mid-1916 National Defense Act the US Army had a few tens of thousands of men, but by November 1918 there were nearly a million and a half American combat troops in France. General Pershing's American Expeditionary Force arrived in 1917 short of weapons, equipment, and experience of modern warfare; but it proved itself in the fighting on the Argonne, and played a major part in stopping Germany's last offensive in spring 1918, and in the final advance through the Hindenburg Line. This book details the organisation, uniforms, equipment and campaigns of the US Army in World War I.

Title: Healing the Nation

Author: Jeffrey S. Reznick

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Price: £35.00

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Women and the First World War

Category: Military History

Healing the Nation is a study of caregiving during the Great War, looking anew at life behind the lines for ordinary British soldiers who served on the Western Front. Using a variety of literary, artistic, and architectural evidence, this study draws connections between the war machine and the wartime culture of caregiving: the product of medical knowledge and procedure, social relationships, matériel, institutions and physical environments that informed experiences of rest, recovery and rehabilitation in sites administered by military and voluntary-aid authorities. Rest huts, hospitals, and rehabilitation centers served not only as means to sustain manpower and support for the war but also as distinctive sites where soldiers, their caregivers and the public attempted to make sense of the conflict, and the unprecedented change it wrought, within traditional frames of reference. Revealing many aspects of wartime life that have received limited, if any attention, including the phenomenon of rest huts as ‘homes away from home’ and the notion of ‘convalescent blues’, this study shows that Britain’s ‘generation of 1914’ was a group bound as much by comradeship of healing as by comradeship of the trenches.

Title: History of the Great War

Author: Punch Magazine

Publisher: Nonsuch

Price: £16.00

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus: Chronology of First World War

Category: First World War

This is no formal history of the Great War in the strict or scientific sense of the phase; no detailed record of naval and military operations. There have been many occasions on which silence or reticence seemed the only way to maintain the national composure. "Mr Punch's History of the Great War" is a mirror of varying moods, month by month, but also reflecting in the main how England remained steadfastly true to her best traditions.

Title: Soldier, Poet, Rebel

Author: Miles Hudson

Publisher: Sutton

Price: £19.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: First World War Soldiers

Category: First World War

Charles Hudson VC was one of the twentieth century's outstanding fighting soldiers. His military career through two world wars and in Russia in 1919 earned him a host of medals. He was also a man of deep feeling, an accomplished poet and, in many ways, a rebel. In this compelling biography, the author skilfully interweaves his own narrative insight with his father's wartime journals and other unpublished material. The narrative includes detailed personal descriptions of the Battle of the Somme and other actions. It recounts the authoress Vera Brittain's bitter reaction to the death of her brother Edward when under Hudson's command in Italy in 1918 and tells how Hudson, out of compassion for her feelings, did not reveal the truth until he met her in 1934. It tells of the extraordinary affair in the summer of 1940, when the Secretary of State for War, Anthony Eden, asked a meeting of senior army commanders in the then beleaguered Britain whether, in the event of a successful German invasion, their soldiers would agree to be evacuated to Canada or whether they would insist on going home to support their families. The author examines Hudson's motivation in both wars and delves deeply into his complex, and highly courageous, character.

Title: Forgotten Soldiers of the First World War

Author: David Woodward

Publisher: Tempus

Price: £12.99

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: First World War Battles

Category: First World War

We know a great deal about Lawrence of Arabia but what about the lot of the common soldier who fought on the Middle Eastern Front? Using personal accounts from the diaries and letters of British soldiers who served in the First World War, David Woodward describes the experience of combat in Egypt and Palestine. Drawing upon unpublished records in the Imperial War Museum, "Forgotten Soldiers of the First World War" paints a vivid picture of life for the British Tommy in conditions vastly different from the Western Front, where heat, sand storms and insects proved just as deadly as the enemy.

Title: Anzacs and Ireland

Author: Jeff Kildea

Publisher: Cork University Press

Price: £19.95

Bookshop: Amazon

Spartacus Website: Allied Forces

Category: First World War

The book offers an account of the activities of Australian soldiers on leave who ended up in Ireland as tourists and often found themselves caught up in the Easter Rising of 1916 and the Black and Tan War. The chapter on the Easter Rising adds a new dimension to the increasingly complex picture of that event, while students and scholars of the Irish diaspora will find much of interest also. The author makes use of participants' diaries. There are fascinating glimpses of rarely mentioned social aspects of wartime Ireland, such as the 'six bob a day tourists' (Australian soldiers on leave). Kildea also looks at the ongoing impact of the First World War on Australian and Irish identity, and compares recent commemorations of WWI in both countries.

Educational Websites

Standards Site, BBC History, PBS Online, Open Directory Project, Virtual Library,
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