The British Naval Staff in the First World War by Nicholas Black ISBN: 1843836556
Published by Boydell Press on June 21st 2011
Pages: 348
Len's Summary: A revisionist look at a much reviled institution finds it worthy of merit.
Gentlemen, We Will Stand and Fight: Le Cateau 1914
Gentlemen, We Will Stand and Fight: Le Cateau 1914 by Antony Bird ISBN: 9781847970626
Published by The Crowood Press on May 1st 2009
Genres: History, Military, World War I, Europe, Great Britain
Pages: 160
Len's Summary: The stand of II Corps, BEF at Le Gateau, August 26, 1914.
The Germans on the Somme (Images of War)
The Germans on the Somme (Images of War) by David Bilton ISBN: 9781844158652
Published by Pen & Sword Books on 2009
Genres: History, Europe, Germany, Military, Pictorial, World War I, Illustrated
Pages: 222
Len's Summary: Images of the German army on the River Somme from 1914 to 1918. A view of events through German eyes.
Camoupedia: A Compendium of Research on Art, Architecture and Camouflage
Camoupedia: A Compendium of Research on Art, Architecture and Camouflage by Roy R. Behrens, Marvin Bell ISBN: 0971324468
Published by Bobolink Books on January 1st 2009
Pages: 463
Len's Summary: A delightful look at the development of camouflage themes in war and peace with particular reference to WWI. You will be surprised at the number famous artists and designers (like Edison) involved in war camouflage work. The author teaches graphic design at the University of Northern Iowa.
1917: Beyond the Western Front
1917: Beyond the Western Front by Ian F.W. Beckett ISBN: 9004171398
Published by Brill Academic Publishers on January 31st 2009
Genres: History, General, Europe, Military, World War I
Pages: 182
Len's Summary: Essays examining the burgeoning costs of war in this significant year of conflict marked by the exit of Russia and the entry of America. Like all Brill publications, this one is too expensive; get it from the library.
Haig’s Generals
Haig’s Generals by Ian F.W. Beckett, Steven J. Corvi ISBN: 1844158926
Published by Pen & Sword Books on April 1st 2009
Pages: 217
Len's Summary: A study of BEF army commanders with contributions from John Bourne, Gary Sheffield, Peter Simkins and Steven J. Corvi among others.
Armenian Golgotha
Armenian Golgotha by Grigoris Balakian, Peter Balakian ISBN: 1400096774
Published by Vintage Books on March 9th 2010
Genres: Biography & Autobiography, Historical, Personal Memoirs, History, Asia, General, Middle East
Pages: 576
Len's Summary: The memoirs of an Armenian Apostolic priest and intellectual who disguised himself as a railway worker and escaped the WWI Armenian bloodbath. The translator is the author of The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and the American Response (Harper Collins, 2004). One of a spate of books being published as the 100 anniversary of the Ottoman massacres of Armenians nears.
The British Army in Battle and Its Image, 1914-1918
The British Army in Battle and Its Image, 1914-1918 by Stephen Badsey ISBN: 9781441174086
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing on June 30th 2009
Genres: History, Military, World War I, Great Britain, Essays
Pages: 256
Len's Summary: Essays covering the army’s relations with the press, propaganda, filming the war, and Black Adder TV series.
Selling the Great War: The Making of American Propaganda
Selling 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.
The Railway Operating Division on the Western Front: The Royal Engineers in France and Belgium 1915-1919
The Railway Operating Division on the Western Front: The Royal Engineers in France and Belgium 1915-1919 by William A.T. Aves ISBN: 9781900289993
Published by Shaun Tyas on December 1st 2009
Pages: 208
Len's Summary: A history of the integrated Royal Engineer rail system that supported the BEF under the overall command of Sir Eric Geddes. // The BEF’s rail operation expanded mightily into an integrated rail, road and waterway system based on Channel supply depots all under command of a civilian, Sir Eric Geddes. Order from Amazon.co.uk.
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 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 Glorious Dead: Figurative Sculpture of British First World War Memorials
The Glorious Dead: Figurative Sculpture of British First World War Memorials by Geoffrey Archer ISBN: 1872914381
on November 6th 2009
Pages: 416
Len's Summary: For art historians, a survey of WWI memorial art in Great Britain. Available from frontierpublishing@ymail.com
The Bantams: The Untold Story Of World War One
The Bantams: The Untold Story Of World War One by Sidney Allinson ISBN: 1413444458
on September 1st 2009
Pages: 316
Len's Summary: New edition of a book authored by the Chairman of the Pacific Coast Branch of WFA about British and Canadian soldiers well below the army’s five foot – three inch minimum height.
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 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.
Mons, Anzac and Kut by an MP
Mons, Anzac and Kut by an MP by Edward Melotte ISBN: 9781848841758
on January 19th 2010
Genres: History, Military, World War I, Great Britain, Personal Memoirs
Pages: 217
Len's Summary: Memoirs of a BEF intelligence officer on several fronts. // The WWI experiences of a British soldier, diplomat and adventurer.
The Origin of the Fighter Aircraft
The Origin of the Fighter Aircraft by Jon Guttman ISBN: 9781594160837
Published by Westholme on July 29th 2009
Genres: History, Military, Weapons, World War I, Aviation
Pages: 294
Len's Summary: Technical information, personalities, and battle accounts tell the story of early fighter aircraft and how they became integral part of battlefield weaponry. // A new history of the First Air War and the early evolution of air power, by one of the masters of aviation history.
Media, Memory and the First World War
Media, Memory and the First World War by David Williams ISBN: 0773539077
Published by McGill-Queen's University Press on September 2nd 2011
Pages: 336
Len's Summary: How the dominant means of communication in popular culture, whether it be oral, written or digital, shapes the structure of memory within that culture. // An interdisciplinary look at how The Great War was depicted at the time, over time and is depicted now.
The First World War: A Concise Global History
The First World War: A Concise Global History by William Kelleher Storey ISBN: 9780742541467
on September 16th 2010
Genres: History, Military, World War I
Pages: 193
Len's Summary: A narrative history emphasizing the role of the environment and of new and old technologies. // A new history concentrating on environmental and technical aspects of the conflict and how the war changed peoples’ perceptions of their surroundings and relations to machinery.
The Marne, 1914: The Opening of World War I and the Battle That Changed the World
The Marne, 1914: The Opening of World War I and the Battle That Changed the World by Holger H. Herwig ISBN: 9780812978292
Published by Random House Trade Paperbacks on February 8th 2011
Genres: History, Military, World War I
Pages: 391
Len's Summary: The first four weeks of WWI: a first-rate new study in best-laid-plans gone awry by a prize-wining Canadian military historian. // An important and well-crafted new look at the decisive days between September 5 and September 11, 1914 drawing on archival material thought destroyed in WWII by a distinguished Canadian historian and winner of the WFA Tomlinson Book Prize.
Eden to Armageddon: World War I in the Middle East
Eden to Armageddon: World War I in the Middle East by Roger Ford ISBN: 0753827980
Published by Phoenix on August 1st 2010
Pages: 496
Len's Summary: A broad-brush narrative history spanning all the Middle East theatres from Gallipoli, through the Caucasus, Palestine, the Sinai and the Hejaz to Mesopotamia; many detailed maps and numerous illustrations. -- A narrative history of the sweep of war from the Russo-Turkish war in the Caucasus, to Gallipoli, Macedonia, Suez, Palestine and Mesopotamia followed by the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of modern Turkey. Also available in August 2011 in paperback from the same publisher ISBN 978 1 6059 8196 3, $17.95. // A new survey history of the war in Mesopotamia and Palestine.
Woodrow Wilson: A Biography
Woodrow Wilson: A Biography by John Milton Cooper ISBN: 9780307277909
Published by Vintage Books on April 5th 2011
Genres: Biography & Autobiography, Presidents & Heads of State, History, General
Pages: 702
Len's Summary: Pulitzer Prize finalist. Cooper is the leading living Wilson scholar. He writes on a President who remains controversial to this day a hundred years after he was elected by a plurality (defeating Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft) to the first of two terms in office. Remembered principally for leading America in to WWI, Wilson also deserves to be remembered for important amounts of progressive legislation enacted during his first term. // The first bio of the 28th President in some 20 years written by the noted historian John Milton Cooper, author of several books on the Woodrow Wilson, Teddy Roosevelt, the Progressive Era and WWI. A sympathetic examination of the life and politics of the 28th President by a master historian and reigning expert on Wilson’s career.
Bodies of War: World War I and the Politics of Commemoration in America, 1919-1933
Bodies of War: World War I and the Politics of Commemoration in America, 1919-1933 by Lisa M. Budreau ISBN: 9780814725184
Published by NYU Press on November 1st 2011
Genres: History, Military, World War I, United States, Veterans, 20th Century
Pages: 317
Len's Summary: First published in hardcover in 2009, this book explains how and why the USG took responsibility for the identification, repatriation or reburial and memorialization of war dead. // A serious analysis of the issues surrounding the repatriation of American war dead, the creation of the American Battle Monuments Commission and the Gold Star mother’s pilgrimage. Dr. Budreau is a member of WFA and frequent speaker at our seminars.
Captain Roy Brown, A True Story of the Great War, 1914-1918
Captain Roy Brown, A True Story of the Great War, 1914-1918 by Alan D. Bennett, Margaret Brown Harman, Denny Reid May ISBN: 9781883283568
Published by Brick Tower Press on July 16th 2011
Genres: Biography & Autobiography, Military, History, Aviation
Pages: 350
Len's Summary: Brown was the third player in the death of von Richthofen 21 April 1918. // Sheds new light on Brown’s encounter with The Red Baron.
Strategy and Command: The Anglo-French Coalition on the Western Front, 1914
Strategy and Command: The Anglo-French Coalition on the Western Front, 1914 by Roy A. Prete ISBN: 0773540792
Published by McGill-Queen's University Press on August 20th 2012
Pages: 280
Len's Summary: First published in hardcover in 2009, this is the first of three planned volumes on the Franco-British military alliance. // First of three planned volumes on the ever-evolving Anglo-French alliance in WWI.
Men of War: Masculinity and the First World War in Britain
Men of War: Masculinity and the First World War in Britain by Jessica Meyer ISBN: 9780230302327
Published by Palgrave Macmillan on February 15th 2012
Genres: History, Military, World War I, Europe, Great Britain, Modern, 20th Century, Social Science, Gender Studies
Pages: 232
Len's Summary: Social history; psychological investigation of men at war. // A scholarly examination of masculinity among British soldiers based in part on their correspondence.
On the Western Front with the Rainbow Division: A World War I Diary
On the Western Front with the Rainbow Division: A World War I Diary by Vernon E. Kniptash, E. Bruce Geelhoed ISBN: 0806140321
Published by University of Oklahoma Press on April 17th 2009
Genres: Biography & Autobiography, Military, History, World War I, Personal Memoirs
Pages: 256
Len's Summary: Experiences of an extraordinary ordinary soldier of the AE.F. // Memoirs of an Indiana National Guardsman who served as a radio operator in the 42nd Division.
The Will to Believe: Woodrow Wilson, World War I, and America’s Strategy for Peace and Security
The Will to Believe: Woodrow Wilson, World War I, and America's Strategy for Peace and Security by Ross A. Kennedy ISBN: 9780873389716
Published by Kent State University Press on March 13th 2009
Genres: History, Military, World War I, United States, General, 20th Century, Political Science, International Relations
Pages: 291
Len's Summary: A nuanced look at the debate surrounding Wilson’s national security policy and the shadow this casts across contemporary foreign policy formulation. // The author, an Assistant Professor of History at Illinois State University, takes a new, sophisticated look at how three competing groups — pacifists, liberal internationalists and Atlanticists — addressed national security issues during the Wilson Administration. // A fresh analysis of Wilson’s foreign policy focusing on three competing groups: pacifists, liberal internationalists, and Atlanticists.
Gallipoli: The End of the Myth
Gallipoli: The End of the Myth by Robin Prior ISBN: 0300168942
Published by Yale University Press on December 7th 2010
Genres: World War I, Battle History
Pages: 304
Len's Summary: An important reappraisal of the 1915 campaign. // Australian historian Pryor (author of excellent books on the Somme and Passchendale) examines in detail planning of the campaign and concludes that it was doomed from the start.
The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary, 1914-1918
The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918 by Holger H. Herwig ISBN: 0340573481
Published by Bloomsbury Academic on September 1st 2009
Pages: 512
Bloody Victory: The Sacrifice on the Somme and the Making of the Twentieth Century
Bloody Victory: The Sacrifice on the Somme and the Making of the Twentieth Century by William J. Philpott ISBN: 1408701081
Published by Little Brown and Company on August 1st 2009
Pages: 721
Len's Summary: Despite the over-blown title, this is an uncommonly good history of the battle covering French and German forces, as well as the performance of the BEF’s Kitchener armies.
The Final Battle: Soldiers of the Western Front in the German Revolution of 1918
The Final Battle: Soldiers of the Western Front in the German Revolution of 1918 by Scott Stephenson ISBN: 0521519462
Published by Cambridge University Press on September 1st 2009
Genres: History, Military, World War I, Modern, 20th Century
Pages: 374
Len's Summary: A scholarly look at the morale and political outlook of the German army following the armistice of November 11, 1918.
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
