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Ammoholic |
We re-watched Band of Brothers this Memorial Day weekend as a reminder of what Memorial Day is all about. One thought led to another and I realized that I know very little about WWI. What good books about WWI have you read? | ||
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| Just because you can, doesn't mean you should |
I’d be interested too. The WW1 era was a time when some things were seriously mishandled that resulted in major problem's, even up to today in the Middle East. Aside from the ending that led directly to WW2, the Russian Revolution also occurred during WW1. An under appreciated series of events. ___________________________ Avoid buying ChiCom/CCP products whenever possible. | |||
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Fighting the good fight |
If you're just wanting to increase your overall understanding of WW1 as a whole, then check out John Keegan's "The First World War". It's a great overview of the entire war. https://www.amazon.com/First-W...Keegan/dp/0375700455 Peter Hart's "A Combat History of the First World War" focuses on the battles and armies themselves (as advertised) and covers most of the major engagements. https://www.amazon.com/Great-W...First/dp/0190227354/ Max Hasting's "Catastrophe 1914" is a deep dive into the run-up to the war and initial year of the war, as the great powers were seemingly inexorably drawn into an ever-expanding conflict, then faced the more mobile early period of fighting before the war bogged down into what would become the more typical static trench warfare. https://www.amazon.com/Catastr...-1914/dp/0007519745/ For a more personal account, Ernst Junger's "Storm of Steel" is a famous memoir from a German infantry officer on the front lines, considered one of the best war memoirs of all time, and one of the most accurate depictions of the horrors of trench warfare. https://www.amazon.com/Storm-S...Deluxe/dp/0142437905 Or if podcasts are your thing, I highly recommend Dan Carlin's six part overview of WW1, "Blueprint for Armageddon". More casual than the above history books, and tends to focus on the fighting more than the politics/diplomacy, but also more engaging than many history books. Perfect for listening during commutes, road trips, or while mowing the lawn. https://www.dancarlin.com/prod...r-armageddon-series/
For this, I can recommend Anthony Beevor's "Russia: Revolution and Civil War, 1917-1921". https://www.amazon.com/Russia-...-1921/dp/B09XBXW6DQ/ | |||
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| Member |
"The Guns of August", by Barbara Tuchman. She also did a great biography on General "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell. | |||
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| Fighting the good fight |
Guns of August is a classic, and rightfully so, but it's also dated, having been published in 1962. Everything it covers is better covered by Hastings in "Catastrophe" (published 2014), thanks to his access to 50 more years of historical insights and additional archival material. | |||
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| in the end karma always catches up |
All Quiet on the Western Front and The Road Home by Remarque. The Road home starts the day after All Quiet on the Western Front ends. Storm of Steel is excellent as well. " The people shall have a right to bear arms, for the defense of themselves and the State" Art 1 Sec 32 Indiana State Constitution YAT-YAS | |||
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| Member |
"The First World War: A Complete History" by Martin Gilbert. | |||
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| The wicked flee when no man pursueth  |
Not a book, but a documentary series, this one is excellent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...World_War_(TV_series) You can watch in on Amazon and other places right now. WW2 is very easy to view simply as good vs evil (which it was). WW1 (which led to WW2) is much more complex. Proverbs 28:1 | |||
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Hop head  |
I am fairly certian I have that first book and read it 15+ yrs ago, it was a bit dry, as most history stuff can be, but in small bits it was extremely informative, lots of details and minutia, I thought I had lost it, and wanted to revisit, and fortunalely found it while moving some stuff, so I wil revisit in the near future https://chandlersfirearms.com/chesterfield-armament/ | |||
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| Member |
Great picks above; I think the first WW1 book I ever got was A Rifleman Went to War. I also enjoyed Poilu (found at my library) about a french solder. Attacks by Erwin Rommel is great as well. | |||
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| Member |
Also, it's not a book (I think), but They Shall Not Grow Old is a movie worth your time. The IWM, or International War Museum, also has interviews of WW1 service men. Great stuff and in their own words. You can find it on youtube or podcast for by searching for IWM voices of the first world war. | |||
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| Imagination and focus become reality |
I have both "The First World War" by Keegan and "The Guns of August" by Tuchman. Both are excellent. Especially Tuchmans book in my opinion. I don't remember the exact quote but something like the flower of Britain's youth gone in the First Battle of the Marne.(I think) It's been over 50 years since I read it and it still gets to me. | |||
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Don't Panic |
Tuchman's "Guns of August" will set the stage as to how the whole mess started and Keegan's "First World War" is very good at the big picture. If you want a great wrap-up of why the treaty that ended WWI mattered (and still does) you will want to read Macmillian's "Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World". I haven't read the newer ones Rogue suggested, but he's got a keen eye for this stuff, so they are now on the list. Over the past couple months, I've read a bunch of WWI autobiographies. For the big names, Rommel's "Infantry Attacks" is great if you like military tactics and leadership, although a bit in the weeds if you're not already familiar with military activities in that era. Von Richthofen's "The Red Baron" is a quick read and interesting also. In the trenches, first person narratives from participants from France: "Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914 – 1918", Germany: "The Storm of Steel", and England: "Old Soldiers Never Die" tell the story from the viewpoint of the people in the mud and barbed wire. Of course, so does "All Quiet on the Western Front", one of my all-time favorites, but AQotWF is fictional. That said, I didn't see anything in it contradicted by the first-person accounts. | |||
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Official Space Nerd |
If you REALLY want to understand the naval arms race and the geo-political situations leading up to the fighting, check out Dreadnought, by Robert K Massie. It is LONG, and I get bored easily by politics, but he did an amazing job of keeping my interest. He explained better than any author I've read (and I'm a Military History major) how Germany came to that point, and how crazy the Kaiser really was. He had a follow-on book Castles of Steel, where he gave a really good overview of the WWI naval war. Gallipoli by Allen Moorehead is excellent. It described perhaps the best chance the Allies had of winning the war, and failing badly (had the Brits succeeded, they could have knocked Turkey out of the war, preventing the collapse of Tsarist Russia, keeping Russia fighting in the war instead of dropping out and allowing Germany to focus on the Brits/Frogs, and possibly even preventing the rise of the USSR. . . Fear God and Dread Nought Admiral of the Fleet Sir Jacky Fisher | |||
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| Ammoholic |
Thanks for all the great suggestions. Summer reading and watching is set! | |||
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| Fighting the good fight |
I just finished "A World Undone" by GJ Meyer, and I now endorse that over Keegan's as possibly the best single volume overview on WW1. Certainly for the average reader. It's actually longer than Keegan, despite it having less detail on secondary theaters due to its heavy Western Front bias (as with nearly all Western books on WW1), but it makes up for that by being significantly easier to read, being more naturally flowing and less dryly verbose compared to Keegan, and thus more accessible to the average reader. Meyer also does a good job touching on the political and domestic aspects of the war's participants, whereas Keegan mostly focuses on just the military aspects. | |||
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Member |
I fully agree about the books mentioned. Should you find a copy of the Peter Jackson documentary movie about the Great War entitled “They Shall Not Grow Old”, view it. It gives a more personal account of that conflagration as the remembrances spoken are by those who actually lived those events. And listen to the extended version of "Mademoiselle from Armentières" at the end documentary; rather “racy” for the time.  --------------------- DJT-45/47 MAGA !!!!! "Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it." — Mark Twain “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” — H. L. Mencken | |||
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Member |
Another good read is "The Price of Glory, Verdun 1916" by Alister Horne. As a prelude, you could also read "The Fall of Paris, The Siege and the Commune 1870-71", also by Horne. In-between those two is "The Proud Tower" by Barbara Tuchman, which looks at the world before WWI (1890-1914). The French-German/Prussian hatred goes way back. For fiction, you could read "To the Last Man" by Jeff Shaara. _________________________________________________________________________ “A man’s treatment of a dog is no indication of the man’s nature, but his treatment of a cat is. It is the crucial test. None but the humane treat a cat well.” -- Mark Twain, 1902 | |||
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| Member |
And, just to hit all the bases… http://www.youtube.com/@TheGreatWar Sort videos by oldest first and it begins a chronological week-by-week coverage. What’s that to do with books? Their sources, which they cite. Aside… part of that group formed Timeghost and are did the same format for WWII and just started the Korean War this year. http://www.youtube.com/@WorldWarTwo http://www.youtube.com/@TheKoreanWarbyIndyNeidell -- I always prefer reality when I can figure out what it is. JALLEN 10/18/18 https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...610094844#7610094844 | |||
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