Posted on 04/15/2014 4:18:24 PM PDT by KosmicKitty
After listening to one of my favorite podcaster, Dan Carlin & his Hardcore History, about the beginning of World War I, I would love to find out more about this time in history.
I know that Freepers are a well read bunch and I am asking for any recommendations you may care to make in a good book covering this time in history.
Another 2nd recommendation - to the top of the list.
Thank you
The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman
All Quiet on the Western Front
The First World War by John Keegan
And I’m going to throw in because its Hemingway.....
A Farewell to Arms
I love it when a writer can make history come alive. Thank you.
Ken Follett’s “Fall of Giants” (1st of a 3 part trilogy about the 20th century) is a great historical fiction read.
Scott Anderson’s “Lawrence in Arabia” (yes, that’s “in” and not “of”) distills the essence of T.E. Lawrence’s magnificent (but very difficult) “Seven Pillars of Wisdom” into a readable format. It deals almost exclusively with the Middle East and therefore will not give the background necessary to understand much of the main European facets of the War, but it certainly broadened my understanding of the the precursors of the current unstable Middle East situation.
I actually read A Farewell to Arms in High School. Cried at the end. I should re-read it.
Thanks
I will ty to track those down. Thank you
Thank you. I hadn’t thought about searching youtube.
Hadn’t thought about Solzhenitsyn. Thank you.
Actually, I am interested in what led up to the war as well as the war itself. Thank you.
Looks interesting. Thank you.
War Horse?
I’m always interested in the Navy as my father was a WWII Navy veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor
Thank you
Eye-Deep in Hell
Plan a trip to Kansas City to visit the National WW-I Museum.
Whoa, 2100 pages!!. I’ll have to see if I can find an affordable copy and pay to get it shipped to me :-)
Would love to get a copy. Thank you
For the war itself:
The First World War by John Keegan (one of my favorite authors).
The First World War by Hew Strachan (has the best chapter by far on how the war was financed; dry but valuable)
Cataclysm, the First World War as Political Tragedy by David Stevenson
The Eastern Front 1914-1917 by Norman Stone
Jutland 1916 by Nigel Steel and Peter Hart (if there is one day in history I’d like to go back and see, it would be the Battle of Jutland)
The Road To Verdun by Ian Ousby
A Passage Through Armageddon by W. Bruce Lincoln (On the Russian part in the war, and descent into revolution)
The Doughboys by Gary Mead
1918 by John Toland, which has already been mentioned, but Toland was an excellent historian.
The Defeat of Imperial Germany 1917-1918 by Rod Paschall
The Guns of August was mentioned by many; it is in my library. But it is something of a “standard reference” for the start of the war. The books I listed in my previous post is for those who want to dig a little deeper. Some of Tuchman’s information is dated, but her main conclusions have withstood the test of time.
Holger H. Herwig, The First World War - Germany
and Austria.
Barbara Tuchman, The Zimmermann Telegram.
Max Hastings, Catastrophe - 1914 (not sure of
exact title).
Thank you for the info about Seven Pillars of Wisdom. I just picked that one up so I may have to get the Anderson book to go with it. :-)
Looks like you’ve got some reading to do.
Were you expecting this much of a response?
A bit too young for the kid as he’s in High School, but I will keep that one in mind for the grands.
Hopefully one will love history as much as their Yia-yia. :-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.