Germany and the Causes of the First World War by Mark Hewitson ISBN: 1859738702
Published by Bloomsbury Academic on January 1st 2005
Pages: 224
Len's Summary: A response to revisionist historians who have allegedly attempted to refute Fritz Fischer's arguments, assertions and analyses that Imperial Germany's leaders were convinced they could win a continental war. Assumes a thorough knowledge of the historiography of WWI. Not for general readers.
Vienna and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire: Total War and Everyday Life in World War I
Vienna and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire: Total War and Everyday Life in World War I by Maureen Healy ISBN: 0521042194
Published by Cambridge University Press on December 1st 2008
Pages: 333
Len's Summary: A good companion to Winter and Robert's Capital Cities at War: London, Berlin, Paris, 194-1919 (Cambridge 1997).
Aubers Ridge (Battleground Europe)
Aubers Ridge (Battleground Europe) by Edward Hancock, Nigel Cave ISBN: 1844150933
Published by Pen & Sword Books on September 1st 2005
Pages: 192
Len's Summary: New addition to the Battlefield Europe series edited by Nigel Cave. Analyses the action of May 9, 1915 when battalions of the First and Seventh Divisions and the Indian Army Corps attacked in support of an ultimately unsuccessful French drive against Vimy Ridge .
The Battle of the Otranto Straits: Controlling the Gateway to the Adriatic in World War I
The Battle of the Otranto Straits: Controlling the Gateway to the Adriatic in World War I by Paul G. Halpern ISBN: 0253343798
Published by Indiana University Press on May 24th 2004
Pages: 208
Len's Summary: By the author of A Naval History of WWI and The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1914-1918. The story of the largest Mediterranean naval encounter of WWI involving surface and submarine vessels, mines and aircraft from five nations.
Out Here at the Front – The World War I Letters of Nora Saltonstall
Out Here at the Front - The World War I Letters of Nora Saltonstall by Nora Saltonstall ISBN: 1555535984
Published by Northeastern University Press on February 19th 2004
Pages: 312
Len's Summary: Wartime letters of the younger sister of Massachusetts Senator Leverett Saltonstall, himself a WWI veteran, and member of a politically and socially prominent family. Miss Saltonstall was an American Red Cross volunteer serving in the British sector at the time of the German spring offensives.
America in World War I: The Story and Photographs
America in World War I: The Story and Photographs by Donald M. Goldstein ISBN: 1574886150
Published by Potomac Books on May 3rd 2005
Pages: 208
Len's Summary: The eighth in Brassey's "America Goes to War" series. Profusely illustrated, pedestrian text.
Tunnelling to Freedom and Other Escape Narratives from World War I
Tunnelling to Freedom and Other Escape Narratives from World War I by Hugh Durnford ISBN: 0486434346
Published by Dover Publications on March 19th 2004
Pages: 320
Len's Summary: A reprint of Escapers All: Being the Personal Narratives of Fifteen Escapers from Wartime Prison Camps, 1914-1918, John Lane, London, 1932, available from www.doverpublications.com.
The Bonus Army: An American Epic
The Bonus Army: An American Epic by Paul Dickson, Thomas B. Allen ISBN: 0802777384
Published by Walker Books on March 21st 2006
Pages: 370
Len's Summary: A History Book Club selection. The story of the 1932 march on Washington by WWI veterans seeking bonuses promised, but not appropriated by Congress. Fearing a Communist-led insurrection, President Hoover order their eviction and Army Chief of Staff MacArthur overreacted with tragic and violent results seen in theatre newsreels throughout America.
The Old Army: A Portrait of the American Army in Peacetime, 1784-1898
The Old Army: A Portrait of the American Army in Peacetime, 1784-1898 by Edward M. Coffman ISBN: 0195045556
Published by Oxford University Press on December 8th 1988
Pages: 560
Len's Summary: This volume begins with the Spanish-American War and Philippine Insurrection and covers the major reforms instituted by War Secretary Elihu Root that created the modern general staff system and helped prepare the Army for World War One. Of particular interest to Western Front Association members is Coffman's analysis of the colonial Army's experience in the Philippines and later on the Western Front, as well as the postwar army.
The Regulars: The American Army, 1898-1941
The Regulars: The American Army, 1898-1941 by Edward M. Coffman ISBN: 0674012992
Published by Belknap Press on April 30th 2004
Pages: 519
Len's Summary: The long awaited second volume of "Mac" Coffman's monumental study of the United States Army. Volume one entitled:
Imperial Germany and the Great War, 1914-1918
Imperial Germany and the Great War, 1914-1918 by Roger Chickering ISBN: 0521547806
Published by Cambridge University Press on May 6th 2004
Pages: 248
Len's Summary: Revised edition of an excellent analytical treatment by an established WWI historian who teaches at Georgetown University.
Kitchener’s War: British Strategy from 1914-1916
Kitchener's War: British Strategy from 1914-1916 by George H. Cassar ISBN: 1574887092
Published by Potomac Books on October 1st 2005
Pages: 368
Len's Summary: How Lord Kitchener, a British icon, built the army that contested and won The Great War.
National Army Museum Book of the Turkish Front 1914-18: The Campaigns at Gallipoli, in Mesopotamia & in Palestine
National Army Museum Book of the Turkish Front 1914-18: The Campaigns at Gallipoli, in Mesopotamia & in Palestine by Richard Michael Power Carver ISBN: 0330491083
on June 30th 2004
Pages: 272
An Illustrated Guide to the ’03 Springfield Service Rifle
An Illustrated Guide to the '03 Springfield Service Rifle by Bruce N. Canfield ISBN: 1931464154
Published by Andrew Mowbray Inc. on December 31st 2004
Pages: 239
Len's Summary: By the author of U.S. Infantry Weapons of the First World War.
The Imperial War Museum Book of 1914
The Imperial War Museum Book of 1914 by Malcolm Brown ISBN: 1447270339
Published by Pan Macmillan on January 1st 2014
Pages: 337
Len's Summary: Also published as The Year of Lost Illusions. Part of a series of Imperial War Museum books on the Great War, many of them written by distinguished British historian and IWM staff member Malcolm Brown. These are all available online from Amazon.co.uk. // Draws on dairies and other personal materials the archives of the Imperial War Museum to delve into the minds of British soldiers serving in The Great War. A pastiche with no particular theme.
Evidence, History and the Great War: Historians and the Impact of 1914-18
Evidence, History and the Great War: Historians and the Impact of 1914-18 by Gail Braybon ISBN: 1571817247
Published by Berghahn Books on December 12th 2003
Pages: 248
Len's Summary: How the great war has influenced present-day historians.
The Advance from Mons 1914: The Experiences of a German Infantry Officer
The Advance from Mons 1914: The Experiences of a German Infantry Officer by Walter Bloem ISBN: 1907677046
Published by Helion & Company on October 1st 2011
Pages: 128
Len's Summary: The memoir of a German reserve officer, a company commander, tracing his service from mobilization to the Marne and retreat to the Aisne. Recommended by WFA member Tom Jones.
Ypres: The First Battle 1914
Ypres: The First Battle, 1914 by Ian F.W. Beckett ISBN: 1405836202
Published by Longman Publishing Group on October 1st 2006
Pages: 280
Len's Summary: Contains careful explanations of command decisions taken on both sides.
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry ISBN: 0143036491
Published by Penguin Books on October 4th 2005
Pages: 560
Len's Summary: The "Spanish Flu" pandemic of 1918-19 claimed over 20 million lives worldwide, including half a million in America and three million in India.
Forgotten Lunatics of the Great War
Forgotten Lunatics of the Great War by Peter Barham ISBN: 0300125119
Published by Yale University Press on August 21st 2007
Pages: 464
Len's Summary: Shell shock and its treatment; UK government reactions and public acceptance; written by a psychologist.
The Forgotten Front: The East African Campaign 1914-1918
The Forgotten Front: The East African Campaign 1914-1918 by Ross Anderson ISBN: 0750958367
Published by The History Press on November 1st 2014
Pages: 368
Len's Summary: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0750958367/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0750958367&linkCode=as2&tag=worlwaroneh0a-20&linkId=RUACECCR5SGBKIJY
China and the Great War: China’s Pursuit of a New National Identity and Internationalization
China and the Great War: China's Pursuit of a New National Identity and Internationalization by Guoqi Xu ISBN: 052128323X
Published by Cambridge University Press on September 22nd 2011
Pages: 342
Len's Summary: A neglected topic; billed as the first full-length study of China's involvement in the conflict.
The Great War in History: Debates and Controversies, 1914 to the Present
The Great War in History: Debates and Controversies, 1914 to the Present by Jay Murray Winter, Antoine Prost ISBN: 0521616336
Published by Cambridge University Press on September 1st 2005
Pages: 250
Len's Summary: Historiography: scholarly analysis of the multitude of ways WWI has been interpreted by French, American and British historians, literary scholars, film directors and writers over three generations. Winter teaches at Yale and Prost at the University of Paris.
Petain: How the Hero of France Became a Convicted Traitor and Changed the Course of History
Petain: How the Hero of France Became a Convicted Traitor and Changed the Course of History by Charles Williams ISBN: 1403970114
Published by Palgrave Macmillan on October 1st 2005
Pages: 298
Len's Summary: A sympathetic view of the hero of Verdun and leader of Vichy France from 1940 to 1944. Il ne passeron pas.
Labor, Loyalty, and Rebellion: Southwestern Illinois Coal Miners & World War I
Labor, Loyalty, and Rebellion: Southwestern Illinois Coal Miners & World War I by Carl R. Weinberg ISBN: 0809326345
Published by Southern Illinois University Press on April 28th 2005
Pages: 280
Len's Summary: A look at working class life in small coal mining towns around East St Louis during WWI.
Dew of Death: The Story of Lewisite, America’s World War I Weapon of Mass Destruction
Dew of Death: The Story of Lewisite, America's World War I Weapon of Mass Destruction by Joel A. Vilensky ISBN: 0253346126
Published by Indiana University Press on September 1st 2005
Pages: 240
Len's Summary: The story of Lewisite, a variation of mustard gas based on an arsenic compound, a weapon developed, but never deployed during WWI.
The Battles of the British Expeditionary Forces, 1914-1915: Historiography and Annotated Bibliography
The Battles of the British Expeditionary Forces, 1914-1915: Historiography and Annotated Bibliography by Fred R. van Hartesveldt ISBN: 0313306257
Published by Praeger on April 30th 2005
Pages: 204
Len's Summary: Three brief introductory chapters summarize BEF actions in 1914 and 1915. The annotated bibliography has over 1,000 entries.
The Pomp and Politics of Patriotism: Imperial Celebrations in Habsburg Austria, 1848-1916
The Pomp and Politics of Patriotism: Imperial Celebrations in Habsburg Austria, 1848-1916 by Daniel Unowsky ISBN: 1557534004
Published by Purdue University Press on January 1st 2006
Pages: 263
Len's Summary: Revisionist history of the last years of the multinational Habsburg Empire which suggests the political, economic and social systems of the Dual Monarchy were a good deal more dynamic and open to modernization than is usually credited and that the decline of the Empire was far from inevitable.
The Encyclopedia of World War I : A Political, Social, and Military History
The Encyclopedia of World War I : A Political, Social, and Military History by Spencer C. Tucker ISBN: 1851094202
Published by ABC-CLIO on September 27th 2005
Pages: 1661
Len's Summary: Dr. Tucker recently retired from VMI and is the editor of the The European Powers in World War I: An Encyclopedia (Garland, 1996) as well as an excellent one-volume history of the war.
The Great War: Myth and Memory
The Great War: Myth and Memory by Dan Todman ISBN: 1852855126
Published by Bloomsbury Academic on March 10th 2007
Pages: 304
Len's Summary: Shows how views of the war have changed over the years and how a distorted image of it emerged and became dominant.
Rewriting the First World War: Lloyd George, Politics and Strategy, 1914-1918
Rewriting the First World War: Lloyd George, Politics and Strategy, 1914-1918 by Andrew Suttie ISBN: 1403991197
Published by Palgrave Macmillan on January 21st 2006
Pages: 288
Len's Summary: Assesses Lloyd George's attempt to shape the history of the war (and the record of his own participation) concentrating on the alleged incompetence and Western Front fixation of Britain's military leaders.
The Lights that Failed: European International History, 1919-1933
The Lights that Failed: European International History, 1919-1933 by Zara S. Steiner ISBN: 0198221142
on May 12th 2005
Pages: 850
Len's Summary: Challenges the assumption that the Versailles Treaty led to WWII. A second volume, Triumph of the Night, will examine the years from 1933 to the early 1940s.
Armies in Exile: The Polish Struggle for Nation and Nationalism
Armies in Exile: The Polish Struggle for Nation and Nationalism by David R. Stefancic ISBN: 0880335653
Published by Eastern European Monographs on October 12th 2005
Pages: 231
Len's Summary: A collection of eight essays, three of which deal with Poland's rebirth in World War I, in particular the legion movement.
Jamaican volunteers in the First World War: Race, masculinity and the development of national consciousness
Jamaican volunteers in the First World War: Race, masculinity and the development of national consciousness by Richard Smith ISBN: 0719069866
Published by Manchester University Press on March 15th 2010
Pages: 192
Len's Summary: Scholarly examination of the experiences of West Indian soldiers in WWI and the war's impact on growth of nationalism and the pro-independence movement in Jamaica. Readers will recall that West Indian troops -- unlike French colonial troops -- were employed exclusively as laborers, not riflemen, on the Western Front.
Lost Battalions: The Great War and the Crisis of American Nationality
Lost Battalions: The Great War and the Crisis of American Nationality by Richard Slotkin ISBN: 0805081380
Published by Holt Paperbacks on October 3rd 2006
Pages: 656
Len's Summary: A social history of two AEF units: the African-American 369th Infantry Regiment; and, the Lost Battalion of the 77th Division) made up largely of Jewish, Italian and Eastern European Americans from New York City.
The British Working Class and Enthusiasm for War, 1914-1916
The British Working Class and Enthusiasm for War, 1914-1916 by David Silbey ISBN: 0415350050
Published by Routledge on January 20th 2005
Pages: 200
Len's Summary: British social history.
The Moral Disarmament of France: Education, Pacifism, and Patriotism, 1914-1940
The Moral Disarmament of France: Education, Pacifism, and Patriotism, 1914-1940 by Mona L. Siegel ISBN: 0521187788
Published by Cambridge University Press on March 3rd 2011
Pages: 317
Len's Summary: Examines the complexity of French teachers' views of war in the inter-war period and how these influenced French popular reactions to threatened German aggression in the 1930s.
The U-boat Century: German Submarine Warfare, 1906-2006
The U-boat Century: German Submarine Warfare, 1906-2006 by Jak P. Mallmann Showell ISBN: 1591148928
on October 10th 2006
Len's Summary: A selection of the History Book Club. In 1915, U-Boats sank 555 Entente merchant vessels; in 1916, the number climbed to 1.300; and, in 1917 over 3,000 Allied vessels were sent to the bottom by U-Boats. These losses were never replicated, even in the Battle of the Atlantic in World War Two, as is pointed out by the author.
German Army on the Somme, 1914-1916
German Army on the Somme, 1914-1916 by Jack Sheldon ISBN: 1844152693
Published by Pen & Sword Books on October 1st 2005
Pages: 432
Len's Summary: Unusual in that the author draws on German sources and tells the story of the Somme battles from that point of view.
They Called Us Devil Dogs
They Called Us Devil Dogs by Brian Scarborough ISBN: 9781411655744
on July 26th 2006
Pages: 208
Len's Summary: From the diaries of the author's grandfather who served in the 6th Marines of the Second Division, AEF. Available from www.lulu.com.
President’s Quarterly Update—April 2024
Dear Members and Friends,
I’m extremely pleased with the level of WW1HA’s activities, some of which may be unseen by you.
Our Journal, “World War One Illustrated,” is now published three times a year with an average length of 48 pages. Each issue is filled with high-quality articles covering a variety of topics, including the popular “My Kin in the Great War” series.
Our electronic newsletter, “Here and There with the WW1HA” is published monthly, with an assortment of Association events and articles covering WW1 topics.
Sal Compagno’s San Francisco Bay Area Chapter continues to hold monthly meetings via Zoom, while Mark Benbow’s Eastern Chapter is holding quarterly meetings.
As President, I am also hosting a quarterly “Fireside Chat” online. The last one emphasized WW1 poetry. The next one will emphasize WW1-era music.
If you’re already a member, I thank you for your membership and encourage you to take part in these activities. If you’re not a member, I ask you to join and participate in these activities. Participate in the events and consider submitting an article for the journal or newsletter.
Reach out to me with your comments: lavarennes@meuse-argonne.com.
Regards,
Randy Gaulke
