Product Description

In 1972, a team of academics and archivists from the Imperial War Museum set about the momentous task of tracing ordinary men and women who lived through one of the most harrowing periods in modern history, the First World War.

Veterans from Britain, Germany, America and Australia were interviewed in detail about their day-to-day experiences on and off the front. It has since grown to be the most important archive of its kind in the world.

These audiobooks contain just a sample of these voices -- some of which have rested unheard for more than 30 years -- the forgotten voices of a generation no longer with us.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #413503 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-23
• Released on: 2003-10-23
• Formats: Audiobook, Large Print
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 5.69" h x .94" w x 5.00" l, .40 pounds
• Binding: Audio CD

From Amazon.co.uk
Max Arthur's compilation of First World War memories, Forgotten Voices of the Great War, offers a reminder of the scale of human experience within the 1914-18 conflict. Arthur, a military historian best known for his history of the RAF and his account of the Falklands campaign in 1982, has assembled hundreds of excerpts from the sound archives of the Imperial War Museum. Officers, rank-and-file troops, Australians, Americans, war widows, women in the munitions factories, and German soldiers too, all left oral testimony of their experiences, and these interviews provide the basis of the book. Arthur has put them in chronological and campaign order, and provided a general commentary, but beyond that, has left the rich and moving record to speak for itself.

The sheer humdrum ordinariness of modern warfare--the mud and rain, the relentless loss of life and inevitability of death, the pointless routine of attrition--come over in the matter-of-fact recollections of so many. But so too does the humanity and morality of the ordinary soldier--a factor that rather belies the recent emphasis amongst some historians on how soldiers loved to kill. Arthur might have intruded more. No biographical information is given about the owners of these "voices", nor does he say when, where and how this oral testimony was gathered.

These quibbles aside this is a worthwhile read and should encourage people not only to observe a minute's silence on Remembrance Day, but also to spend a few hours in the Imperial War Museum itself. --Miles Taylor

About the Author
Acclaimed author Max Arthur specialises in first hand recollections of historical events. Previous titles include The Manchester United Air Crash; Above All Courage; Northern Ireland Soldiers Talking; Men of the Red Beret;, There Shall Be Wings: The RAF 1918 to the Present; The True Glory: The Royal Navy 1914 to Present.