First World War Book Recommendations

[j4r4lly]

I want to understand WW1 in more detail and am looking for book recommendations that will take me through the sequence of major events and battles from 1914 - 1918. Something with maps and illustrations is what I'm looking for.

I'm familiar with the Somme, Ypres, Passchendaele, Jutland etc. but don't understand the sequence of the war in any detail.

I'm also looking for a book or guide with details of the battlefield locations, cemeteries, memorials etc. as I'd like to visit them once my imminent retirement arrives.

Thanks.

[clive_candy]

Huge topic and there's any number of books.

Have a look on the Western Front Association website or the Long, Long Trail for recommendations as to what's best to read.

As for battlefield touring, Major and Mrs Holt's guides on Ypres and the Somme are a good place to start.

[DaffyT4]

A couple from Prof Gary Sheffield: A Short History of the First World War or Forgotten Victory. The later concentrates mostly on the battles whilst the former sets the while thing in a bit more context, covering the home front, economy and so on.

I would also consider 1914-1918 by David Stevenson but this is probably a bit 'heavier' than the Sheffield books. It certainly covers all aspects of the war in some detail though.

As mentioned above, the Holt guide books are good for first time visitors. If you want more detail on specific battles try the Battleground Europe series.

[j4r4lly]

Thanks for the info chaps.

I'll do some digging and see what I can find.

[mat205125]

90% of my WW1 knowledge comes from Blackadder ....... so therefore, I know about 1% on the topic

[southendpier]

Birdsong by sebastian Faulks is a bit of a classic.

Also I've always found the "Forgotten Voices" series very good

[DaffyT4]

southendpier said:

Birdsong by sebastian Faulks is a bit of a classic.

Also I've always found the "Forgotten Voices" series very good

Birdsong is a great book but it is a novel. OP wants to understand the FWW better so I wouldn't recommend it in that context.

Again, the Forgotten Voices books are good and often extremely moving but they are basically just a series of reminiscences from the old soldiers with little context and probably don't fulfill the OP's brief.

[southendpier]

DaffyT4 said:

Birdsong is a great book but it is a novel. OP wants to understand the FWW better so I wouldn't recommend it in that context.

Again, the Forgotten Voices books are good and often extremely moving but they are basically just a series of reminiscences from the old soldiers with little context and probably don't fulfill the OP's brief.

Aye - exactly why i recommended them. Always good to read different sources and styles.

He could always just slog through Wikipedia and go to The Imperial War Museum in London
this link leads to some interesting articles: https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/first-world-war-gall...

[MesoForm]

Naval & Military Press often have military books cheap if you want to browse -
https://www.naval-military-press.com/product-categ...

Pen and Sword are another decent stockist, don't remember too many offers though -
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/WWI/c/23/order/pop...

[Langweilig]

I think you'd want "The First Day on the Somme" by Martin Middlebrook. First published in 1971 by Pen & Sword Military. Reprinted in 2003 and 2006.

ISBN 1 844 465 3

The book begins with the words -

"This book is dedicated to the front-line soldiers of all nations, 1914-1918.

[Yertis]

"Aces High" by Alan Clark is a good and shortish book about the aerial war. Best followed up by 'Sagittarius Rising' by Cecil Lewis for a first hand account.

[Scarletpimpofnel]

j4r4lly said:

I want to understand WW1 in more detail and am looking for book recommendations that will take me through the sequence of major events and battles from 1914 - 1918. Something with maps and illustrations is what I'm looking for.

I'm familiar with the Somme, Ypres, Passchendaele, Jutland etc. but don't understand the sequence of the war in any detail.

I'm also looking for a book or guide with details of the battlefield locations, cemeteries, memorials etc. as I'd like to visit them once my imminent retirement arrives.

Thanks.

My main area of interest is Ypres and have walked around those battlefields many times. If you are interested in that area then "The battle book of Ypres" by Beatrix Brice is perfect. It was written shortly after the war for the benefit of pilgrims visiting their loved ones graves and others wanting to follow the action their loved ones had experienced and see the land for itself.

It starts with an overview of the main actions over the course of the war in the area BUT then provides a list of all the towns and villages etc in the area and describes in detail who fought there, when, why, how it turned out etc. If you have the trench maps to hand (available for a few quid on eBay) then it is easy to walk over the ground the battles took place on and follow the narrative. Many of the farms and hills etc mentioned in the book are still there today of course.

A useful resource when walking around if you have a 4G iPad is to use the NLS mapping that shows the trench maps superimposed onto today's maps. If you go to this url - https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.6&lat... - then change the level of transparency (highlighted slider in box at the bottom left) you can go from today's map to the trench map and walk exactly where the trenches were. Example below -



If you do ever go walking around such sites then feel free to rope me in as I love to do this. I particularly like the small cemeteries in the middle of nowhere that no one ever visits, I feel like someone should !

[j4r4lly]

mat205125 said:

90% of my WW1 knowledge comes from Blackadder ....... so therefore, I know about 1% on the topic

Quite so.......... started by an ostrich getting shot I understand!

[j4r4lly]

southendpier said:

DaffyT4 said:

Birdsong is a great book but it is a novel. OP wants to understand the FWW better so I wouldn't recommend it in that context.

Again, the Forgotten Voices books are good and often extremely moving but they are basically just a series of reminiscences from the old soldiers with little context and probably don't fulfill the OP's brief.

Aye - exactly why i recommended them. Always good to read different sources and styles.

He could always just slog through Wikipedia and go to The Imperial War Museum in London
this link leads to some interesting articles: https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/first-world-war-gall...

Thanks for the link which does indeed look interesting

[j4r4lly]

MesoForm said:

Naval & Military Press often have military books cheap if you want to browse -
https://www.naval-military-press.com/product-categ...

Pen and Sword are another decent stockist, don't remember too many offers though -
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/WWI/c/23/order/pop...

Thanks for the links. The Military Press has some hefty discounts and I also managed to stumble into the English Civil War section, which is another conflict I want to know more about.

[j4r4lly]

Scarletpimpofnel said:

j4r4lly said:

I want to understand WW1 in more detail and am looking for book recommendations that will take me through the sequence of major events and battles from 1914 - 1918. Something with maps and illustrations is what I'm looking for.

I'm familiar with the Somme, Ypres, Passchendaele, Jutland etc. but don't understand the sequence of the war in any detail.

I'm also looking for a book or guide with details of the battlefield locations, cemeteries, memorials etc. as I'd like to visit them once my imminent retirement arrives.

Thanks.

My main area of interest is Ypres and have walked around those battlefields many times. If you are interested in that area then "The battle book of Ypres" by Beatrix Brice is perfect. It was written shortly after the war for the benefit of pilgrims visiting their loved ones graves and others wanting to follow the action their loved ones had experienced and see the land for itself.

It starts with an overview of the main actions over the course of the war in the area BUT then provides a list of all the towns and villages etc in the area and describes in detail who fought there, when, why, how it turned out etc. If you have the trench maps to hand (available for a few quid on eBay) then it is easy to walk over the ground the battles took place on and follow the narrative. Many of the farms and hills etc mentioned in the book are still there today of course.

A useful resource when walking around if you have a 4G iPad is to use the NLS mapping that shows the trench maps superimposed onto today's maps. If you go to this url - https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.6&lat... - then change the level of transparency (highlighted slider in box at the bottom left) you can go from today's map to the trench map and walk exactly where the trenches were. Example below -



If you do ever go walking around such sites then feel free to rope me in as I love to do this. I particularly like the small cemeteries in the middle of nowhere that no one ever visits, I feel like someone should !

Thanks for the information which is very interesting. Once I'm retired (22 months and counting) this is exactly what I'll be doing (along with the wife's "to do" list) and may well take you up on your kind offer.

[j4r4lly]

Many thanks everyone for the tips and links.

I didn't fully appreciate just how many books there were out there about WWI, from Regimental histories, individual soldiers, medics, pilots, the Navy, the home front and the land battles and more in between.

Certainly something to keep me busy for a good while.

Thanks again.

Jerry.

[Onespeeder]

I have had Liddell Hart’s History of the First World War on my shelf for years and suddenly decided to give it a go, albeit with some trepidation. Despite being written in 1930 (rev 1934), I am finding it well written and fascinating with little flashes of humour. It is, perhaps inevitably, written from a high and academic level and there is none of the detailed horror, mass loss of life and brutality of war at the front, which makes it a bit easier to read but perhaps rather less human.

I do think that a list of the military and political characters and their roles in the War would help me as would an atlas of where places and actions are in relation to each other; I have ordered a First World War Atlas from Ebay to try and sort the latter issue out.

Nonetheless, I am enjoying it much more than I expected and would happily recommend to anyone who is interested.

[Derek Smith]

j4r4lly said:

I want to understand WW1 in more detail and am looking for book recommendations that will take me through the sequence of major events and battles from 1914 - 1918. Something with maps and illustrations is what I'm looking for.

I'm familiar with the Somme, Ypres, Passchendaele, Jutland etc. but don't understand the sequence of the war in any detail.

I'm also looking for a book or guide with details of the battlefield locations, cemeteries, memorials etc. as I'd like to visit them once my imminent retirement arrives.

Thanks.

On the anniversary of the start of WWI, there were a number of books published. Half-a-dozen were reviewed by the TLS. One came out on top:

The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 - https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=sleepwalkers+how+euro...

It is suggested that it is definitive. Yeah, right. But that said, it's the most detailed I've seen. It's heart-breaking as there were so many opportunities where a bit of common sense, or diplomacy, might have save all those lives. It's a long read, and I doubt anyone's read it all the way through at one go, even the proof-reader, but it's just about worthwhile.

I came away convinced it was spot on, but that, of course, is more down to the effort required to read it than any real belief that it is beyond criticism.