I Was a Spy! The Classic Account of Behind-the-Lines Espionage in the First World War

I Was a Spy! The Classic Account of Behind-the-Lines Espionage in the First World WarI Was a Spy! by Marthe McKennaWinston Churchill
ISBN: 9781910860052
Published by Pool of London Press on September 19, 2015
Genres: History, Military, World War I, Europe, Germany, True Crime, Espionage, Political Science, Intelligence & Espionage, Social History
Pages: 288

The author and her family were overrun in Belgium at the outbreak of the war. Instead of completing her medical studies to become a physician, Marthe became a nurse in a hospital run by the Germans. She also fed information to the British who had set up an underground network as they retreated. Marthe proved to be intelligent, fast thinking, reliable and cautious.

An excellent nurse, she was honored with others for their efforts by the King of Württemberg. As the war continued the Germans were able to staff and monitor the occupied areas with troops whose job was to suppress resistance and locate spies. When she was finally captured for her participation in sabotage the Germans wanted to shoot her. However, her former supervisors at the hospital vouched for her work and reminded the review board that it would look awfully bad to be killing heroines with German medals. She escaped the firing squad, spending the remainder of the war in prison.

Well-written, the reader comes to appreciate the stress that accumulates back when communications were much slower than today.

Reviewed by Anne Merritt

Soldiers’ Songs and Slang of the Great War

Soldiers’ Songs and Slang of the Great WarSoldiers’ Songs and Slang of the Great War by Martin Pegler
ISBN: 9781472804150
Published by Osprey Publishing on August 20th 2014
Genres: History, Military, General, World War I, Europe, Great Britain, Technology & Engineering, Military Science, Social History
Pages: 408

Citizen Soldiers: The Liverpool Territorials in the First World War

Citizen Soldiers: The Liverpool Territorials in the First World WarCitizen Soldiers: The Liverpool Territorials in the First World War by Helen B. McCartney
ISBN: 0521848008
Published by Cambridge University Press on December 12th 2005
Pages: 275

Len's Summary: A social history of the British Tommy drawing on official records and soldiers' correspondence. From the series Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare edited by Jay Winter and Paul Kennedy.

The Great War and Urban Life in Germany: Freiburg, 1914-1918

The Great War and Urban Life in Germany: Freiburg, 1914-1918The Great War and Urban Life in Germany: Freiburg, 1914-1918 by Roger Chickering, Paul Kennedy, Jay Murray Winter
ISBN: 0521852560
Published by Cambridge University Press on February 26th 2007
Pages: 646

Len's Summary: A social history by a distinguished historian of World War I and professor at Georgetown University.

Remembering War: The Great War between Memory and History in the 20th Century

Remembering War: The Great War between Memory and History in the 20th CenturyRemembering War: The Great War between Memory and History in the 20th Century by J. M. Winter
ISBN: 9780300110685
Published by Yale University Press on 2006
Genres: Military, Social History, Great Britain
Pages: 340

Len's Summary: Another in a series of social histories by prolific social historian Jay Winter about how war is remembered in Great Britain.

The Home Front 1914-1918: How Britain Survived the Great War

The Home Front 1914-1918: How Britain Survived the Great WarThe Home Front 1914-1918: How Britain Survived the Great War by Ian F.W. Beckett
ISBN: 9781472908896
Published by A&C Black on December 31st 2013
Genres: Great Britain, Military, Social History
Pages: 224

Len's Summary: The author suggests Britain survived by working hard and keeping a stiff upper lip.

Nation, Memory and Great War Commemoration: Mobilizing the Past in Europe, Australia and New Zealand

Nation, Memory and Great War Commemoration: Mobilizing the Past in Europe, Australia and New ZealandNation, Memory and Great War Commemoration: Mobilizing the Past in Europe, Australia and New Zealand by Shanti Sumartojo, Ben Wellings
ISBN: 3034309376
Published by Peter Lang on April 23rd 2014
Pages: 329

Len's Summary: Social history.

A Land of Aching Hearts: The Middle East in the Great War

A Land of Aching Hearts: The Middle East in the Great WarA Land of Aching Hearts: The Middle East in the Great War by Leila Tarazi Fawaz
ISBN: 9780674735491
Published by Harvard University Press on November 17th 2014
Genres: Middle East, Social History
Pages: 416

Len's Summary: Finds the First World War to have been a socially and politically transformative experience that shaped the Middle East of today. He author teaches at Tufts University.

We Also Served: The Forgotten Women of the First World War

We Also Served: The Forgotten Women of the First World WarWe Also Served: The Forgotten Women of the First World War by Vivien Newman
ISBN: 1783462256
on November 30th 2014
Genres: Women, Social History, Military
Pages: 224

Len's Summary: British women at war, a social history. See also: They Also Served: American Women in World War I, Lettie Gavin, University Press of Colorado, 1906, and The First, the Few, the Forgotten: Navy and Marine Corps Women in World War I, Jean Ebbert & Mary-Beth Hall, US Naval Institute Press, 2002.

The Politics of Wounds: Military Patients and Medical Power in the First World War

The Politics of Wounds: Military Patients and Medical Power in the First World WarThe Politics of Wounds: Military Patients and Medical Power in the First World War by Ana Carden-Coyne
ISBN: 9780199698264
Published by Oxford University Press on October 1st 2014
Genres: Social History
Pages: 382

Len's Summary: Social history; explores patient experiences.

Britons Experience the Great War: Life at Home and Abroad 1914-1918

Britons Experience the Great War: Life at Home and Abroad 1914-1918Britons Experience the Great War: Life at Home and Abroad 1914-1918 by Peter Liddle
ISBN: 1473821169
Published by Pen & Sword Books on October 19th 2014
Pages: 232

Len's Summary: Draws on previously unpublished material on the war and home fronts from the Liddle Collection at the University of Leeds. // Social history. The author is founder of the Liddle Collection on WWI at Leeds University.

British Army Uniform and the First World War: Men in Khaki

British Army Uniform and the First World War: Men in KhakiBritish Army Uniform and the First World War: Men in Khaki by Jane Tynan
ISBN: 9781137318312
Published by Palgrave Macmillan on November 27th 2013
Genres: Fashion, Great Britain, Military, Social History
Pages: 232

Len's Summary: Weaves the themes of soldiers’ wartime clothing requirements, home front propaganda, and psychology with contemporary politics.

The Great War and Modern Memory

The Great War and Modern MemoryThe Great War and Modern Memory by Paul Fussell
ISBN: 9780199971954
on August 8th 2013
Pages: 384

Len's Summary: A canonical work first published in 1970. Winner of The National Book Award and The Critics Circle Award.

The Aesthetics of Loss: German Women’s Art of the First World War

The Aesthetics of Loss: German Women’s Art of the First World WarThe Aesthetics of Loss: German Women's Art of the First World War by Claudia Siebrecht
ISBN: 9780199656684
Published by Oxford University Press on September 19th 2013
Genres: Social History, Art, Gender Studies, Women
Pages: 208

Len's Summary: The unique responses of German women to wartime tragedy.

German Anglophobia in the Great War, 1914-1918

German Anglophobia in the Great War, 1914-1918German Anglophobia and the Great War, 1914-1918 by Matthew Stibbe
ISBN: 9780521782968
Published by Cambridge University Press on May 3rd 2001
Pages: 282

Len's Summary: Scholarly analysis of German attitudes toward Great Britain during WWI and the related development of extreme right wing political networks in Munich and Berlin.

Doughboys, the Great War, and the Remaking of America

Doughboys, the Great War, and the Remaking of AmericaDoughboys, the Great War, and the Remaking of America by Jennifer D. Keene
ISBN: 9780801865923
Published by Johns Hopkins University Press on August 29th 2001
Pages: 294

Len's Summary: A social history of the impact of The Great War on the United States and its people.

America’s Great War: World War I and the American Experience

America’s Great War: World War I and the American ExperienceAmerica's Great War: World War I and the American Experience by Robert H. Zieger
ISBN: 9780847696451
Published by Rowman & Littlefield on 2001
Pages: 275

Len's Summary: A social history of America in the Great War era by a professor of history at the University of Florida.

British Culture And The First World War

British Culture And The First World WarBritish Culture And The First World War by George Robb
ISBN: 9780333715710
Published by Palgrave Macmillan on June 29th 2002
Pages: 274

Len's Summary: A social history examining how WWI changed England and how much remained the same; received a strongly favorable review in War in History.

A Distant Grief: Australians, War Graves and the Great War

A Distant Grief: Australians, War Graves and the Great WarA Distant Grief: Australians, War Graves and the Great War by Bart Ziino
ISBN: 9781920694890
Published by University of Western Australia Press on March 1st 2007
Pages: 243

Len's Summary: The role of war graves and cemeteries in private grief and mourning for Australia’s 60 thousand dead of WWI.

Capital Cities at War: Paris, London, Berlin 1914-1919, Volume 2: A Cultural History

Capital Cities at War: Paris, London, Berlin 1914-1919, Volume 2: A Cultural HistoryCapital Cities at War: Paris, London, Berlin 1914-1919, Volume 2: A Cultural History by Jay Winter
ISBN: 0521870437
Published by Cambridge University Press on September 6th 2007
Genres: History, Europe, General, France, Great Britain, Military, World War I, Modern, 20th Century, Social History, Social Science, Anthropology, Cultural
Pages: 545

Len's Summary: The first volume in this useful and finely-crafted comparative study covered social and economic effects of the war; this volume concentrates on the cultural impact of the conflict on the home front. Contributors include Tomlinson Prize- winner Annette Becker.

The Zionist Masquerade: The Birth of the Anglo-Zionist Alliance 1914-1918

The Zionist Masquerade: The Birth of the Anglo-Zionist Alliance 1914-1918The Zionist Masquerade: The Birth of the Anglo-Zionist Alliance 1914-1918 by James Renton
ISBN: 9780230547186
Published by Palgrave Macmillan on November 15th 2007
Genres: History, Europe, Great Britain, Social History, Jewish, Middle East, General
Pages: 256

Len's Summary: A reexamination of British policy towards Jews and Zionism during the First World War, a fundamental turning point in the history of the Middle East.

A Zouave’s Journey: Recollections of a Footsoldier in the 37th African Division

A Zouave’s Journey: Recollections of a Footsoldier in the 37th African DivisionA Zouave's Journey: Recollections of a Footsoldier in the 37th African Division by Marilène Patten Henry
ISBN: 0820497088
Published by Peter Lang on February 2nd 2007
Genres: History, Military, General, Social History
Pages: 142

Len's Summary: Biography of a French Great War conscript, an orphan, based on the diary of poilu Archille Lecreux. Dr. Henry is the author of Monumental Accusations about popular resentment in memorializing WWI in France.

Enduring the Great War: Combat, Morale and Collapse in the German and British Armies, 1914-1918

Enduring the Great War: Combat, Morale and Collapse in the German and British Armies, 1914-1918Enduring the Great War: Combat, Morale and Collapse in the German and British Armies, 1914-1918 by Alexander Watson
ISBN: 9780521123082
Published by Cambridge University Press on November 12th 2009
Genres: History, Europe, General, Military, World War I, Modern, 20th Century, Social History, Great Britain
Pages: 308

Len's Summary: Comparative scholarly study of German and British morale. The author argues that at the heart of armies’ robustness lay human resilience; that the “ordered surrender” by junior officers led to Germany’s defeat in 1918.

A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire

A Brief History of the Late Ottoman EmpireA Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire by M. Şükrü Hanioğlu
ISBN: 9780691146171
Published by Princeton University Press on February 25th 2008
Genres: History, Europe, Eastern, Middle East, General, Modern, 18th Century, World, Social History
Pages: 264

Len's Summary: Traces the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire beginning in the 19th century into 27 successor states after 1918. The author is Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton. A History Book Club selection for summer, 2008.

A Strange and Formidable Weapon: British Responses to World War I Poison Gas

A Strange and Formidable Weapon: British Responses to World War I Poison GasA Strange and Formidable Weapon: British Responses to World War I Poison Gas by Marion Girard
ISBN: 9780803222236
Published by University of Nebraska Press on June 1st 2008
Genres: History, Europe, Great Britain, Military, Weapons, World War I, Social History
Pages: 279

Len's Summary: This is a social history. Although most Britons considered poison gas an abominable weapon, many eventually condoned its use as necessary for victory. The author teaches at the University of New Hampshire.

The Unquiet Western Front: Britain’s Role in Literature and History

The Unquiet Western Front: Britain’s Role in Literature and HistoryThe Unquiet Western Front: Britain's Role in Literature and History by Brian Bond
ISBN: 9780521036412
Published by Cambridge University Press on April 30th 2007
Genres: History, Europe, Great Britain, General, Social Science, Media Studies, Literary Criticism, Social History, Military, World War I
Pages: 140

Len's Summary: First published in 2002, this is a critique of the anti-war culture that pervades writing and teaching The Great War. Favorably reviewed by History Today as a bid to rescue WWI history from popular myth.

Daily Lives of Civilians in Wartime Twentieth-Century Europe

Daily Lives of Civilians in Wartime Twentieth-Century EuropeDaily Lives of Civilians in Wartime Twentieth-Century Europe by Nicholas Atkin
ISBN: 0313336571
Published by Greenwood Press on August 1st 2008
Genres: History, Europe, General, Military, Modern, 20th Century, Social History, Social Science, Sociology
Pages: 230

Len's Summary: Essays covering both issues and countries, including France in WWI, as well as the Spanish Civil War and World War Two.

The Last Great War: British Society and the First World War

The Last Great War: British Society and the First World WarThe Last Great War: British Society and the First World War by Adrian Gregory
ISBN: 9780521728836
Published by Cambridge University Press on October 16th 2008
Genres: History, Europe, Great Britain, Modern, 20th Century, Military, General, World War I, Social History
Pages: 362

Len's Summary: A new social history. // A ground-breaking new cultural and social history of the British home front.

The Greek Media in World War I and its Aftermath

The Greek Media in World War I and its AftermathThe Greek Media in World War I and its Aftermath by Georgia Eglezou
ISBN: 9781845117870
Published by Tauris Academic Studies on March 15th 2009
Genres: Greece, Press and propaganda, History, Military, World War I, 20th Century, Europe, Social History, Language Arts & Disciplines
Pages: 261

Len's Summary: A study of the Athens’ press coverage of Greece in WWI and in the conflict between Greece and Turkey which followed the signing of the Treaty of Sevres (1920). The resultant Greek defeat led to the Greeks being driven from Turkey and Turkey regaining many of the territories (Smyrna, Thrace) lost after WWI and regained in the Treaty of Lausanne (1923).

Selling the Great War: The Making of American Propaganda

Selling the Great War: The Making of American PropagandaSelling the Great War: The Making of American Propaganda by Alan Axelrod
ISBN: 9780230605039
Published by St. Martin's Press on March 3rd 2009
Genres: History, United States, 20th Century, Military, World War II, Social History
Pages: 256

Len's Summary: Motivated by fears than America’s multi-ethnic population would not support the war effort, President Wilson launched the federal government’s first concerted public information campaign headed by journalist George Creel.

Elsie and Mairi Go to War: Two Extraordinary Women on the Western Front

Elsie and Mairi Go to War: Two Extraordinary Women on the Western FrontElsie and Mairi Go to War: Two Extraordinary Women on the Western Front by Diane Atkinson
ISBN: 9781453226001
Published by Preface Publishing on March 8th 2010
Genres: History, Social History, World War I
Pages: 272

Len's Summary: The story of two remarkable volunteer ambulance drivers.

The Great Silence: 1918-1920 Living in the Shadow of the Great War

The Great Silence: 1918-1920 Living in the Shadow of the Great WarThe Great Silence: 1918-1920 Living in the Shadow of the Great War by Juliet Nicolson
ISBN: 9781552788134
Published by McArthur & Company on November 12th 2009
Genres: History, General, Great Britain, Social History
Pages: 302

Len's Summary: An entertaining view of life in England from the Armistice in 1918 to the 1920 burial of the Unknown Soldier. Ms. Nicholson also wrote The Perfect Summer: Dancing into the Shadows in 1911 (Murray, 2007) an examination of English society three years before war erupted. // A social history of post-war Britain. Totally unprepared for peace following an expansion of the franchise and the ‘khaki election’ of 1918, the Lloyd George government was unable meet to expectations raised by its promise to create “a land fit for heroes” for returning trench veterans. By the same author: The Perfect Summer: Dancing into Shadows, 1911, 304 pages, John Murray, 2007, ISBN 0 7195 6243 0. £5.55 from Amazon.co.uk. A glimpse of British society at the end of the Edwardian Era on the brink of The Great War.

The Rising: Ireland: Easter 1916

The Rising: Ireland: Easter 1916The Rising: Ireland: Easter 1916 by Fearghal McGarry
ISBN: 9780199605972
Published by Oxford University Press on September 5th 2011
Genres: History, Europe, Ireland, Social History
Pages: 365

Len's Summary: Based on the testimony of participants.

Death in War and Peace: A History of Loss and Grief in England, 1914-1970

Death in War and Peace: A History of Loss and Grief in England, 1914-1970Death in War and Peace: A History of Loss and Grief in England, 1914-1970 by Pat Jalland
ISBN: 9780199651887
Published by Oxford University Press on September 27th 2012
Genres: History, Europe, Great Britain, Modern, 20th Century, Social Science, Death & Dying, Social History
Pages: 336

Len's Summary: A study of death and mourning in British society.

Youth in a Fatherless Land: War Pedagogy, Nationalism, and Authority in Germany, 1914-1918

Youth in a Fatherless Land: War Pedagogy, Nationalism, and Authority in Germany, 1914-1918Youth in a Fatherless Land: War Pedagogy, Nationalism, and Authority in Germany, 1914-1918 by Andrew Donson
ISBN: 9780674049833
Published by Harvard University Press on April 1st 2010
Genres: History, Europe, Germany, Military, World War I, Social History
Pages: 329

Len's Summary: Social history: a study of German youth in wartime at the dawn of an era of mobilization of teenagers and schoolchildren for experiments in state building and creation of extreme political movements. Covers crime, work, sexuality, gender practices, sexuality, family life, recreation, novels and magazines and everyday life.

Militia Myths: Ideas of the Canadian Citizen Soldier, 1896-1921

Militia Myths: Ideas of the Canadian Citizen Soldier, 1896-1921Militia Myths: Ideas of the Canadian Citizen Soldier, 1896-1921 by James Wood
ISBN: 9780774817660
on January 28th 2011
Genres: History, Canada, Post-Confederation (1867-), Military, World War I
Pages: 350

Len's Summary: A social and military history of popular Canadian military culture. // For all its faults, Canada’s militia system arguably made Canada better prepared for WWI than either America or England.

Contested Frontiers in the Balkans: Ottoman, Habsburg and Communist Rivalries in Eastern Europe

Contested Frontiers in the Balkans: Ottoman, Habsburg and Communist Rivalries in Eastern EuropeContested Frontiers in the Balkans: Ottoman, Habsburg and Communist Rivalries in Eastern Europe by Irina Marin
ISBN: 9781780761053
on December 11th 2012
Genres: History, Europe, Eastern, Social History, Political Science, International Relations, General, Social Science, Anthropology, Cultural
Pages: 256

Len's Summary: Good background reading for the Great War, its aftermath and post WWII.

A Sisterhood of Suffering and Service: Women and Girls of Canada and Newfoundland during the First World War

A Sisterhood of Suffering and Service: Women and Girls of Canada and Newfoundland during the First World WarA Sisterhood of Suffering and Service: Women and Girls of Canada and Newfoundland during the First World War by Sarah Glassford, Amy Shaw
ISBN: 9780774822572
Published by University of British Columbia Press on March 20th 2013
Genres: History, Canada, Post-Confederation (1867-), Social History, Social Science, Women's Studies
Pages: 320

Len's Summary: Mobilizing women for paid and volunteer employment at home and overseas and the transformation of Canadian society and gender roles wrought by the war.

Race and War in France: Colonial Subjects in the French Army, 1914-1918

Race and War in France: Colonial Subjects in the French Army, 1914-1918Race and War in France: Colonial Subjects in the French Army, 1914-1918 by Richard S. Fogarty
ISBN: 9781421407661
Published by Johns Hopkins University Press on December 5th 2012
Genres: History, Europe, France, Military, World War I, General, Strategy, Social History
Pages: 400

Len's Summary: Paperback version of an excellent social-military-political history first published by Johns Hopkins in 2008. How French egalitarianism was challenged by the conscription of more than half a million colonial troops during WWI, a “blood tax” levied on her African and Asian subjects. // An excellent scholarly analysis of colonial troops at war; a study of contradictory and paradoxical French policies on race, culture and religion in wartime drawing on individual experiences among the half million African, Arab and Asian soldiers who served France in WWI. Winner of the Phi Alpha Theta First Book Prize. The author teaches at SUNY Albany.

1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War

1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War by Charles Emmerson
ISBN: 9781610392563
Published by PublicAffairs on May 28th 2013
Genres: History, Modern, 20th Century, World, Social History
Pages: 544

Len's Summary: A popular survey history in the tradition of Tuchman’s 1962 The Proud Tower (Library of America, 2012). The author finds the world 1913 to be much like the world of today particularly in terms of economic and financial globalization. Described by one reviewer as “history without hindsight.”