Product Description

Discover the misery of life in the trenches -- and how the Great War devastated Europe.

Here is an original and exciting guide to the grim challenge of life or death on the Western Front. Devastating first-hand reports and contemporary photographs of the battles that slaughtered millions, together with a clear account of how nation upon nation sent their men to join the carnage, combine to present a dramatic "eyewitness" view of this most terrible war. See the bullet-riddled car of the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, everyday life in the dugout, sappers mining tunnels beneath the enemy, and Mata Hari learning the art of spying. Learn how people avoided gas attacks, when periscopes were used, what soldiers wrote home to their sweethearts and mothers, the best way to use a tank, how troops flattened a hillside, and the meaning of Armistice Day. Discover how it felt to go over the top, what happened to all the bodies, how people dealt with shell shock, why war led to revolution, and much, much more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20311 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-26
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .54" h x 8.70" w x 11.26" l, 1.34 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 72 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Many gruesome images of casualties become less sobering when one notices that they're photographs of re-creations from London's Imperial War Museum, stills from fictional movies or posed scenarios for training purposes. Still, Simon Adams's Eyewitness: World War I, part of an extensive Eyewitness series, provides an informative, picture-and-caption history lesson. Countless actual photos of trench life, tanks, rifles, uniforms, airplanes, artificial trees (for artillery observation posts) and other battle equipment and behavior are featured along with the re-creations.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 6-12. Packed with photos on every double-page spread and dense with facts and snippets of analysis, this large-size volume in the Eyewitness series provides a quick, informative overview of WWI: how it started; who fought and why; the equipment used; what it was like in the trenches and at home; the horrific final cost. Even seasoned Web browsers accustomed to busy formats may sometimes feel bombarded by all the bits and pieces, especially when the tiny type is printed over colored pictures. It's the dramatic photos (many from London's Imperial War Museum) that will make readers pause and bring them close to the soldiers' experiences. Then there's John Singer Sargent's realistic painting Gassed, showing blinded soldiers led by their sighted colleagues toward a dressing station in northern France in 1918. For more reading suggestions, see the Read-alikes column, "The War to End All Wars" [BKL N 1 01]. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

The New York Times
...a mini museum between the covers of a book. [Eyewitness series]