<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Well worth reading
Review: A very good book about the repressed parts of WWI -- violence, mourning, the war as a holy crusade.
Rating: 
Summary: Limited evidence leads to sweeping conclusions
Review: It took me a while to understand why I was so disappointed and uncomfortable with this book. The subject matter and chapter topics seemed intriguing; the writing style wasn't bad. Then I began to understand that the problem is with the authors' scholarship. In an attempt to reinterpret the war and make it meaningful for a contemporary audience, they used the inexperienced-author-survey style of writing, which takes an anecdote or two and turns this limited information into the basis for broad, sweeping conclusions that are inaccurate, or worse. As an amateur historian who understands the rules of scholarship, I was finding it impossible to suspend disbelief as I read through this series of interrelated but lightweight essays. Some of the information presented is indeed interesting, but the conclusions are not, and overall it does not hold together well as a book. If you're looking for a recent WWI publication that is informative, well-researched and engaging, get Winston Groom's book, A Storm in Flanders.
Rating: 
Summary: Food for Thought
Review: This book is a series of essays on various topics related to World War I. It does not claim to be a thorough analysis of the war, but it does point in directions for further thought and research. I found the book to be quite fascinating. For example, there is a chapter about forced labor behind the front lines that was new material to me. Also, there is quite a bit about how the war was remembered and memorialized that is very intriguing. A major thesis of the book is that Paul Fussell's idea about a big cultural disconnect resulting from the Great War is wrong. The authors endeavor to show that, other than some avant-garde artists, most people continued to understand the world in traditional terms. Overall, a very stimulating book.
Rating:
Summary: Food for Thought
Review: This book is a series of essays on various topics related to World War I. It does not claim to be a thorough analysis of the war, but it does point in directions for further thought and research. I found the book to be quite fascinating. For example, there is a chapter about forced labor behind the front lines that was new material to me. Also, there is quite a bit about how the war was remembered and memorialized that is very intriguing. A major thesis of the book is that Paul Fussell's idea about a big cultural disconnect resulting from the Great War is wrong. The authors endeavor to show that, other than some avant-garde artists, most people continued to understand the world in traditional terms. Overall, a very stimulating book.
<< 1 >>
| 
