Top Cat's WW1 Recommended Reading.

Top Cat · 28-01-2003, 01:07

We don't often have threads on WW1 but since there is one going on now and since my views on the conflict are apparently completely alien to the majority of forum members (with the exceptions of people like Johnny Canuck and, it seems, Sire Enaique) I though I might post a list of books on the Great War which are, in my not particularly humble opinion, required reading. They do not all take on the same views or come to the same conclusions, but they are all of high quality - which much of the stuff available on the Great War, especially of the kind that you are likely to find on the shelves of your local mass market book shop, frankly isn't.

*****

HEW STRACHAN - "The First World War: To Arms" (The first volume of what is emerging as the best multi volume general history of the war available)
BRIAN BOND - "The First World War and British Military History" (A detailed and important examination of the historiography of the war)
BRIAN BOND - "The Unquiet Western Front" (More on the historiography of the war - especially misconceptions that persist in the popular press and media. Minces a few sacred cows.)
GARY SHEFFIELD - "Forgotten Victory: Myths and Realities in the Great War." (Similar to Bond though dealing more with reassessment of key issues than analysis of the historiography)
PETER LIDDLE, JOHN BOURNE (eds) - "The Great World War 1914-1945" [2 volumes] (Important collections of essays by top academics covering a wide variety of issues from strategy downwards)
PETER LIDDLE, HUGH CECIL (eds) - "Facing Armageddon" (similar to above but with a purely Great War focus. Required reading. Focused on certain issues rather than broad brush narrative)
BRIAN BOND (ed) - "Look to Your Front: Studies in The First World War" (collection of essays, largely on command and control topics, by members of the British Commission for Military History. Top notch and a variety of opinions.)
GARY SHEFFIELD (ed) - "Leadership and Command: the Anglo-American military experience since 1861" (Not focused on WW1 but there are two chapters on the conflict which are excellent and one on the pre war system of command and training)
JOHN TERRAINE - "The Smoke and the Fire: Myths and Anti Myths of War, 1861-1945" (Important revisionist work which attempts to recapture the historiography of the war from the stagnant social analysis of the 1960s)
SHELFORD BIDWELL AND DOMINICK GRAHAM - "Firepower: British Army Weapons and Theories of War 1904-1945" (Important technical and military analysis which is broadly seen to have been the first in the modern move away from the Great War as social history)
RICHARD HOLMES - "Riding the Retreat: Mons to the Marne 1914" (Excellent account of the opening weeks of the war which also includes coverage of the British Regular Army in general. An excellent book in its own right.)
MICHAEL CHAPELLE - "The Somme 1916: Crucible of the British Army" (Takes the Somme campaign as a whole rather than focusing on the first day. Examines the learning curve and looks into areas such as the development of artillery techniques. Includes a detailed order of battle.)
IAN PASSINGHAM - "Pillars of Fire" (Analysis of British 2nd Army's conduct of the Battle of Messines, 1917)
JONATHAN WALKER - "The Blood Tub" (Covers the Battle of Bullecourt, and the actions of General gough and his staff)
J.P. HARRIS, NIALL BARR - "Amiens to the Armistice" (Account of the British Army's conduct of the war in 1918)
ROBIN PRIOR AND TREVOR WILSON - "Passchendale: The Untold Story" (balanced account that cuts through the hysteria)
L.A. CARLYON - "Gallipoli" (Excellent and balanced new study of the Gallipoli campaign by an Australian author.)
ROBIN NEILLANDS - "The British Great War Generals on the Western Front" (demonstrates that much [not all] of the hysteria regarding the incompetance of Great War generals in general, and British Great War Genreals in particular, is either unfounded or ludicrously exaggerated.)
BRIAN HOLDEN REID (ed) - "British General Staff: Reform and Innovation 1890-1939" (multi authored examination of various aspects of British High command)
BRIAND BOND AND NIGEL CAVE (eds) - "Haig: A Reappraisal 70 Years on" (Excellent, essential multi authored study of Haig which takes into account his various biographers and tries to put some perspective on things.)
ROBIN PRIOR AND TREVOR WILSON - "Command on the Western Front" (A biography of Rawlinson which also acts as a study of high level command on the Western Front in general)
JOHN LEE - "A Soldier's Life" (a sympathetic, though not uncritically so, recent biography of Sir Ian Hamilton)
PADDY GRIFFITH - "Battle Tactics on the Western Front" (A study of the "learning curve" undertaken by the British Army from 1916-1918. Required reading.)
PADDY GRIFFITH (ed) - "British Fighting Methods in The Great War" (a multi authored study on similar areas to the above)
TIM TRAVERS - "The Killing Ground" (covers a similar area to Griffith's works, though more critical of British performance. A later book of his, now out of print, covered the performance of the German army in equally scathing terms. Critical of the British performance without entering the ludicrous territory occupied by the like of Denis Winter and the late john Laffin)
MARTIN SAMUELS - "Command or Control?" (A comparitive study of the British and German armies which argues that the Germans performed better ultimately at the tactical level)
JOHN HUGHES-WILSON AND CATHRYN M. CORNS - "Blindfold and Alone: British Military Executions in the Great War" (provides a much needed antidsote to the works of Julian Putkowski and demolishes the case for a blanket pardon)

I may add to the list later. The above books are not an exhaustive selection, merely books that anyone interested in the conflict should read but which are often not read for reasons of obscurity. It is also well worthwhile looking into various general texts on strategic studies (eg Colin Gray's "War, Peace and Victory") many of which contain excellent overviews of the conduct of the war.

AnchorClanker · 28-01-2003, 01:38

Also,

Paul G. Halpern's "A Naval History of World War I"

Tons of detail, and Capt. von Trapp's war exploits, too!
Good stuff.

---Ank

grumbler · 28-01-2003, 01:51

Fritz Fischer's Germany's Aims in the First World War is controversial, but essential reading if you want to look at that topic.

Paul Kennedy's The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers has a lot of the economic data needed to assess the "big picture"

Martin von Creveld's Supplying War has an excellent chapter devoted to the logistics of the Schlieffen Plan that should open many eyes.

Top Cat · 28-01-2003, 02:07

On the subject of logistics, "Feeding Mars", edited by John A. Lynn includes a chapter on the logistics of British Great War naval production.

AnchorClanker · 28-01-2003, 02:17

Jaroslav Hasek - "The Good Soldier Svejk"
I re-read this yearly.
Astoundingly good.

---Ank

AnchorClanker · 28-01-2003, 05:08

I have searched and searched for the book are a link,
with no luck. Here goes anyway....

"Fritz"

It's the story of a German from Bremen, who was an
artilleryman in World War One. He had an English
girlfriend who was stuck in Germany during the
outbreak of war, and they married before the peace.
He moved to Kentucky (his dad was a tobacco importer),
and resided there until his death.

He wrote the book simply because he wanted his
grandkids to know what he did in WWI, should they
ever be curious.

It was a good little book, and told with great simplicity
and in a refreshing 'matter of fact' style.

Good luck finding it...

---Ank

CountDeMoney · 28-01-2003, 06:09

Quote:

Originally posted by AnchorClanker
Also,

Paul G. Halpern's "A Naval History of World War I"

Tons of detail, and Capt. von Trapp's war exploits, too!
Good stuff.

---Ank

Excellent, excellent book.

Sire Enaique · 28-01-2003, 19:59

You might want to add:

John Ellis - Eye-deep in Hell
John Ellis - The social history of the machine-gun
Paul Fussell - The Great War and Modern Memory
Alistair Horne - The price of glory
Erwin Rommel - Infantry attacks!

and in the fiction realm:

Henri Barbusse - Le Feu
CS Forester - The General

I like Griffith's books, but he's pushing it a bit too far IMO.

The Brain · 28-01-2003, 20:27

Ernst Jünger - The Storm Of Steel

If nothing else for the hilarious description of how he in the summer of 1918 after 4 years of fighting on the Western Front encounters a strange new feeling: war weariness.

The Andy-Man · 28-01-2003, 21:23

While this post is here, is it ok for me to ask if anybody knows where i can get Paul Kennedy's 'Rise of Anglo-German antagonisms 1870-1914'????

Amazon.co.uk said they couldn't get it

Quote:

Paul Kennedy's The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers has a lot of the economic data needed to assess the "big picture"

Let me second that one.

Sire Enaique · 28-01-2003, 21:26

Quote:

Originally posted by The Andy-Man
While this post is here, is it ok for me to ask if anybody knows where i can get Paul Kennedy's 'Rise of Anglo-German antagonisms 1870-1914'????

Amazon.co.uk said they couldn't get it

you could try The Strand.

The Andy-Man · 28-01-2003, 21:35

Quote:

Originally posted by Sire Enaique
you could try The Strand.

As in, the place in london, a shop somewhere, or a website.

If a website a linky would be cool

, if a shop then an adress would be cool

in the place in london, well, i can make my way there

Thnx

Sire Enaique · 28-01-2003, 21:50

sorry, here's the link:

http://www.strandbooks.com/index.php

It's in Manhattan, btw.

*Dark Knight* · 28-01-2003, 22:21

Quote:

Originally posted by The Andy-Man
[b]While this post is here, is it ok for me to ask if anybody knows where i can get Paul Kennedy's 'Rise of Anglo-German antagonisms 1870-1914'????

Amazon.co.uk said they couldn't get it

Try http://www.anybook4less.com/author/Paul+M.+Kennedy.html.

Blackwell's Online Bookshop seems to have it in paperback.

The Andy-Man · 29-01-2003, 15:57

thx guys

Neil · 14-02-2003, 10:11

Any list of books with a large representation by Brian Bond is bound to be a good one. In my experience, he really has it together when it comes to dealing with WWI military history. Or military history of any kind for that matter.

In dealing with the buildup to WWI, no collection is complete without Robert Massie's "Dreadnought".

Emperor Gupta · 14-02-2003, 14:16

Just started reading the Strachan book. Only 30 pages in but nice crisp English. Shame its such a doorstep...I can't really take it on the train with me.

Sheilbh · 15-02-2003, 08:41

Margaret MacMillan's "The Peacemakers"
She's something like the great grandaughter to Lloyd George and here she gives an interesting re-evaluation of the Treaty of Versailles. Well worth a read and her character assasi....Sorry evaluation of Woodrow Wilson is fascinating in and of itself. Although to be fair none of them get off lightly but Wilson just annoyed me particularly.

Neil · 17-02-2003, 11:16

Quote:

Originally posted by Sheilbh
Margaret MacMillan's "The Peacemakers"
She's something like the great grandaughter to Lloyd George and here she gives an interesting re-evaluation of the Treaty of Versailles. Well worth a read and her character assasi....Sorry evaluation of Woodrow Wilson is fascinating in and of itself. Although to be fair none of them get off lightly but Wilson just annoyed me particularly.

And it's called the Peacemakers? Because I am reading a book that sounds exactly like that, only it is called Paris 1919. Perhaps different titles for the UK and NA editions?

Sheilbh · 19-02-2003, 03:05

It's called 'The Peacemakers' Over here, written by a Canadian professor of history actually. I just looked at Amazon.com and it is the same book

I found it fascinating though, I for example never knew Wilson was the first who used the dramatic threatening to walk out tool in negotiations. He ordered the US ship in Brest to be readied for departure within 24 hours and the British and French hastily compromised with him when they got word of it.

28-01-2003, 01:07	#1
Top Cat Major Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Floating in a most peculiar way Posts: 683	Top Cat's WW1 Recommended Reading. We don't often have threads on WW1 but since there is one going on now and since my views on the conflict are apparently completely alien to the majority of forum members (with the exceptions of people like Johnny Canuck and, it seems, Sire Enaique) I though I might post a list of books on the Great War which are, in my not particularly humble opinion, required reading. They do not all take on the same views or come to the same conclusions, but they are all of high quality - which much of the stuff available on the Great War, especially of the kind that you are likely to find on the shelves of your local mass market book shop, frankly isn't. ***** HEW STRACHAN - "The First World War: To Arms" (The first volume of what is emerging as the best multi volume general history of the war available) BRIAN BOND - "The First World War and British Military History" (A detailed and important examination of the historiography of the war) BRIAN BOND - "The Unquiet Western Front" (More on the historiography of the war - especially misconceptions that persist in the popular press and media. Minces a few sacred cows.) GARY SHEFFIELD - "Forgotten Victory: Myths and Realities in the Great War." (Similar to Bond though dealing more with reassessment of key issues than analysis of the historiography) PETER LIDDLE, JOHN BOURNE (eds) - "The Great World War 1914-1945" [2 volumes] (Important collections of essays by top academics covering a wide variety of issues from strategy downwards) PETER LIDDLE, HUGH CECIL (eds) - "Facing Armageddon" (similar to above but with a purely Great War focus. Required reading. Focused on certain issues rather than broad brush narrative) BRIAN BOND (ed) - "Look to Your Front: Studies in The First World War" (collection of essays, largely on command and control topics, by members of the British Commission for Military History. Top notch and a variety of opinions.) GARY SHEFFIELD (ed) - "Leadership and Command: the Anglo-American military experience since 1861" (Not focused on WW1 but there are two chapters on the conflict which are excellent and one on the pre war system of command and training) JOHN TERRAINE - "The Smoke and the Fire: Myths and Anti Myths of War, 1861-1945" (Important revisionist work which attempts to recapture the historiography of the war from the stagnant social analysis of the 1960s) SHELFORD BIDWELL AND DOMINICK GRAHAM - "Firepower: British Army Weapons and Theories of War 1904-1945" (Important technical and military analysis which is broadly seen to have been the first in the modern move away from the Great War as social history) RICHARD HOLMES - "Riding the Retreat: Mons to the Marne 1914" (Excellent account of the opening weeks of the war which also includes coverage of the British Regular Army in general. An excellent book in its own right.) MICHAEL CHAPELLE - "The Somme 1916: Crucible of the British Army" (Takes the Somme campaign as a whole rather than focusing on the first day. Examines the learning curve and looks into areas such as the development of artillery techniques. Includes a detailed order of battle.) IAN PASSINGHAM - "Pillars of Fire" (Analysis of British 2nd Army's conduct of the Battle of Messines, 1917) JONATHAN WALKER - "The Blood Tub" (Covers the Battle of Bullecourt, and the actions of General gough and his staff) J.P. HARRIS, NIALL BARR - "Amiens to the Armistice" (Account of the British Army's conduct of the war in 1918) ROBIN PRIOR AND TREVOR WILSON - "Passchendale: The Untold Story" (balanced account that cuts through the hysteria) L.A. CARLYON - "Gallipoli" (Excellent and balanced new study of the Gallipoli campaign by an Australian author.) ROBIN NEILLANDS - "The British Great War Generals on the Western Front" (demonstrates that much [not all] of the hysteria regarding the incompetance of Great War generals in general, and British Great War Genreals in particular, is either unfounded or ludicrously exaggerated.) BRIAN HOLDEN REID (ed) - "British General Staff: Reform and Innovation 1890-1939" (multi authored examination of various aspects of British High command) BRIAND BOND AND NIGEL CAVE (eds) - "Haig: A Reappraisal 70 Years on" (Excellent, essential multi authored study of Haig which takes into account his various biographers and tries to put some perspective on things.) ROBIN PRIOR AND TREVOR WILSON - "Command on the Western Front" (A biography of Rawlinson which also acts as a study of high level command on the Western Front in general) JOHN LEE - "A Soldier's Life" (a sympathetic, though not uncritically so, recent biography of Sir Ian Hamilton) PADDY GRIFFITH - "Battle Tactics on the Western Front" (A study of the "learning curve" undertaken by the British Army from 1916-1918. Required reading.) PADDY GRIFFITH (ed) - "British Fighting Methods in The Great War" (a multi authored study on similar areas to the above) TIM TRAVERS - "The Killing Ground" (covers a similar area to Griffith's works, though more critical of British performance. A later book of his, now out of print, covered the performance of the German army in equally scathing terms. Critical of the British performance without entering the ludicrous territory occupied by the like of Denis Winter and the late john Laffin) MARTIN SAMUELS - "Command or Control?" (A comparitive study of the British and German armies which argues that the Germans performed better ultimately at the tactical level) JOHN HUGHES-WILSON AND CATHRYN M. CORNS - "Blindfold and Alone: British Military Executions in the Great War" (provides a much needed antidsote to the works of Julian Putkowski and demolishes the case for a blanket pardon) I may add to the list later. The above books are not an exhaustive selection, merely books that anyone interested in the conflict should read but which are often not read for reasons of obscurity. It is also well worthwhile looking into various general texts on strategic studies (eg Colin Gray's "War, Peace and Victory") many of which contain excellent overviews of the conduct of the war. __________________ Shake it once that's fine, Shake it twice that's ok, Shake it three times, you're playing with yourself.

28-01-2003, 01:38	#2
AnchorClanker Uncle Sam's Bitch Boy Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: N. Augusta, South Carolina Posts: 194	Another book.... Also, Paul G. Halpern's "A Naval History of World War I" Tons of detail, and Capt. von Trapp's war exploits, too! Good stuff. ---Ank __________________ "The fire you like so much in me, is the mark of someone adamantly free" ---Liz Phair "Dulce est desipere in loco" ---Horace, Odes 4.12 Offtopic too tame? Languish

28-01-2003, 01:51	#3
grumbler Captain Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Remington VA USA Posts: 410	Fritz Fischer's Germany's Aims in the First World War is controversial, but essential reading if you want to look at that topic. Paul Kennedy's The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers has a lot of the economic data needed to assess the "big picture" Martin von Creveld's Supplying War has an excellent chapter devoted to the logistics of the Schlieffen Plan that should open many eyes. __________________ You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe. -Marcus Cole

28-01-2003, 02:07	#4
Top Cat Major Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Floating in a most peculiar way Posts: 683	On the subject of logistics, "Feeding Mars", edited by John A. Lynn includes a chapter on the logistics of British Great War naval production. __________________ Shake it once that's fine, Shake it twice that's ok, Shake it three times, you're playing with yourself.

28-01-2003, 02:17	#5
AnchorClanker Uncle Sam's Bitch Boy Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: N. Augusta, South Carolina Posts: 194	How could I forget!!!!!!!!! Jaroslav Hasek - "The Good Soldier Svejk" I re-read this yearly. Astoundingly good. ---Ank __________________ "The fire you like so much in me, is the mark of someone adamantly free" ---Liz Phair "Dulce est desipere in loco" ---Horace, Odes 4.12 Offtopic too tame? Languish

28-01-2003, 05:08	#6
AnchorClanker Uncle Sam's Bitch Boy Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: N. Augusta, South Carolina Posts: 194	And another... I have searched and searched for the book are a link, with no luck. Here goes anyway.... "Fritz" It's the story of a German from Bremen, who was an artilleryman in World War One. He had an English girlfriend who was stuck in Germany during the outbreak of war, and they married before the peace. He moved to Kentucky (his dad was a tobacco importer), and resided there until his death. He wrote the book simply because he wanted his grandkids to know what he did in WWI, should they ever be curious. It was a good little book, and told with great simplicity and in a refreshing 'matter of fact' style. Good luck finding it... ---Ank __________________ "The fire you like so much in me, is the mark of someone adamantly free" ---Liz Phair "Dulce est desipere in loco" ---Horace, Odes 4.12 Offtopic too tame? Languish

28-01-2003, 19:59	#8
Sire Enaique Quartermaster General Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Paris Posts: 1,202	You might want to add: John Ellis - Eye-deep in Hell John Ellis - The social history of the machine-gun Paul Fussell - The Great War and Modern Memory Alistair Horne - The price of glory Erwin Rommel - Infantry attacks! and in the fiction realm: Henri Barbusse - Le Feu CS Forester - The General I like Griffith's books, but he's pushing it a bit too far IMO. __________________ I see life as being extremely serious, horrifying, and at the same time wonderfully absurd and funny. It's full of paradoxes, and as you get older, it seems to me that you have to realise this more and more and learn to embrace it. Joe Jackson

28-01-2003, 20:27	#9
The Brain "Oldest Sig" Champ Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Sweden Posts: 501	Ernst Jünger - The Storm Of Steel If nothing else for the hilarious description of how he in the summer of 1918 after 4 years of fighting on the Western Front encounters a strange new feeling: war weariness. __________________ '-The general was essentially a man of peace, except in his domestic life.'

28-01-2003, 21:50	#13
Sire Enaique Quartermaster General Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Paris Posts: 1,202	sorry, here's the link: http://www.strandbooks.com/index.php It's in Manhattan, btw. __________________ I see life as being extremely serious, horrifying, and at the same time wonderfully absurd and funny. It's full of paradoxes, and as you get older, it seems to me that you have to realise this more and more and learn to embrace it. Joe Jackson

29-01-2003, 15:57	#15
The Andy-Man Lt. General Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,686	thx guys __________________ 'There will be a CK2'

14-02-2003, 10:11	#16
Neil Triforum Triumvirate Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Edmonton, Alberta Posts: 589	Any list of books with a large representation by Brian Bond is bound to be a good one. In my experience, he really has it together when it comes to dealing with WWI military history. Or military history of any kind for that matter. In dealing with the buildup to WWI, no collection is complete without Robert Massie's "Dreadnought".

14-02-2003, 14:16	#17
Emperor Gupta Pheasant plucker Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Sarf London Posts: 344	Just started reading the Strachan book. Only 30 pages in but nice crisp English. Shame its such a doorstep...I can't really take it on the train with me. __________________ Because I got it like that.

15-02-2003, 08:41	#18
Sheilbh Uncle Monty Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Bristol, EU Posts: 278	Margaret MacMillan's "The Peacemakers" She's something like the great grandaughter to Lloyd George and here she gives an interesting re-evaluation of the Treaty of Versailles. Well worth a read and her character assasi....Sorry evaluation of Woodrow Wilson is fascinating in and of itself. Although to be fair none of them get off lightly but Wilson just annoyed me particularly. __________________ "I had rather have a plain russet-coated captain that knows what he fights for, and loves what he knows, than that which you call a gentleman and is nothing else." A Letter from Cromwell to Sir William Spring. Sept. 1643

19-02-2003, 03:05	#20
Sheilbh Uncle Monty Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Bristol, EU Posts: 278	It's called 'The Peacemakers' Over here, written by a Canadian professor of history actually. I just looked at Amazon.com and it is the same book I found it fascinating though, I for example never knew Wilson was the first who used the dramatic threatening to walk out tool in negotiations. He ordered the US ship in Brest to be readied for departure within 24 hours and the British and French hastily compromised with him when they got word of it. __________________ "I had rather have a plain russet-coated captain that knows what he fights for, and loves what he knows, than that which you call a gentleman and is nothing else." A Letter from Cromwell to Sir William Spring. Sept. 1643