Tommy's War

Zusatztext Thanks to the VPK! the Great War was captured on film for families at home and illustrated in newspapers and magazines. From this photographic archive! and from the letters and diaries of men at the front! van Emden has compiled their own testimony! quite different from the official propaganda and historical material. The earthy humor and human horror of the casual images of men at war are still! 100 years later! intimate and immediate Informationen zum Autor Richard van Emden Klappentext Shortly after images of the famous Christmas Truce of 1914 found their way into national newspapers in Britain, the military authorities banned the private use of cameras on the Western Front. A considerable number of soldiers continued to use them illicitly to record life and death in the frontline trenches. Thousands of those photos survive today, most never published before- Tommy's War is a deeply personal and incredibly revealing portrait of the war through the lenses and words of the soldiers who lived it. Not a traditional history of World War I-not simply the army's history of battles won and lost- Tommy's War is first and foremost the soldier's story. Renowned WWI historian Richard van Emden reveals the life of the everyday soldier, using personal photos, diaries, letters home, and observations of the ordinary man and the minutiae of life in the trenches. In vivid and intimate detail, van Emden brings the history of WWI alive. Including over 250 personal and unpublished photographs, this large-format book gives a new perspective on the war that was not captured by the official photographers who traversed the Western Front. Combined with extracts from personal diaries and letters written by soldiers and civilians in Britain through each year of the war until Armistice Day in 1918, Tommy's War is a stunning portrayal of humanity, at its best and at its worst. Leading First World War historian Richard van Emden shows the War in shocking and moving close-up from August 1914 to November 1918, drawing on never-before-seen private photographs and soldiers' first-hand accounts Zusammenfassung Conventional histories of the Great War have tended to focus on the terrible attritional battles of Ypres! of Arras and of the Somme. What they do not tell us is what life was like for the ordinary soldier! what mattered to him! and how he survived! both physically and mentally.Now for the first time! one of Britain's leading military historians! Richard van Emden tells the story of the Great War exclusively through the words and images of soldiers on the ground.In Tommy's War ! he gathers some of the very best first-hand material written about the War! some of it published at the time and forgotten! some of it previously unpublished! but all of it wonderfully descriptive and immediate! and often wickedly funny. Tommy humour! frequently very dark! played a vital part in men's mental survival! particularly in times of great stress. Until now its critical role in victory has been overlooked. Richard van Emden restores the balance! giving weight to the soldiers' natural inclination to laugh during their darkest moments.Illustrating these eyewitness accounts with soldiers' own photographs taken on privately owned cameras! often tiny Vest Pocket Kodaks - the smart phones of their day - van Emden has created an entirely new and fresh history of the Great War! giving us a glimpse of 'Tommy Atkins' as he has never been seen before. ...

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Richard van Emden
• Editore: Bloomsbury
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Pubblicazione: 05.06.2014
• EAN: 9781408844366
• ISBN: 978-1-4088-4436-6
• Pagine: 384
• Dimensioni: 195 mm x 245 mm x 40 mm
• Categoria: Saggistica