was the big one. the great war the war to end all wars.
The carnage on both sides was so horrendous that no rational person could conceive of another such conflict. just to be sure, they even negotiated a treaty to ban war forever: the now infamous kellogg-briand pact signed in 1928, which was intended to renounce war, with all disputes resolved peacefully in the future.
You are reading: World war i books
Tragically, 20 years after the end of the first great war, the world was back on a scale that dwarfed all previous wars.
however, the first world war was the first modern war and generated, in addition to many illusions, a small library of war literature. in fact, some of the best anti-war writing of any era was inspired by the great war.
As always, my selections (in alphabetical order) were guided by a couple of simple criteria: 1) with so few options, general narratives tended to trump specific studies, and 2) smart and attractive always trumped smart and difficult.
If you think we’ve missed something essential, and we probably have, let us know.
the 10 best books on the first world war
“all quiet on the western front” by erich maria remarque
remarque served in the German army during the war and was wounded five times. some consider this to be the greatest war novel of all time. Honorable Mention: William March Company K.
“Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway
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When poor eyesight kept him out of the service, 18-year-old Hemingway volunteered to serve in France and then Italy as an ambulance driver. his wartime love story is often cited as the best American novel to come out of the First World War. Honorable Mention: To the Last Man: A World War I Novel by Jeff Shaara.
“the first world war” by hew strachan
the best history of the war in one volume from one of its leading historians. this is a condensed version of a larger multi-volume project. Honorable Mention: John Keegan’s World War I.
“goodbye to all that: an autobiography” by robert graves
The bitter account of the life of the grave English poet has been called by scholar and critic Paul Fussell “the best memoirs of the First World War”.
“the great war and modern memory” by paul fussell
Winning the National Book Award and hailed as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of the 20th century, Fussell challenges the way we think about war in this landmark study.
“the guns of august” by barbara tuchman
tuchman captured the pulitzer prize and won international acclaim with this classic account of the first month of the great war. Honorable Mention: Barbara Tuchman’s The Zimmerman Telegram.
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“once an eagle” by anton myrer
the acclaimed novel of two wars and two very different army officers. A favorite among military professionals, he has been on the Army Chief of Staff’s recommended reading list and the Navy Commander’s reading list. There is nothing better than this.
“the price of glory: verdun 1916” by alistair horne
a classic account of one of the battles depicting the horror of trench warfare. More than a million men died fighting over a piece of land “little larger than the royal parks of London combined.”
“A Storm in Flanders: The Ypres Salient, 1914-1918: Tragedy and Triumph on the Western Front” by Winston Groom
Novelist (“Forrest Gump,” “Times Better Than These”) and historian, Groom vividly recounts another template of trench warfare.
“the world crisis, 1911-1918” by winston churchill
Churchill’s brilliant account of the war years as he held various positions: First Lord of the Admiralty, Commander of the Infantry in France, Member of Parliament, and Minister of Munitions. as usual in churchill, splendidly written.
tom miller, a former history teacher, is a novelist and essayist. His reviews and essays have appeared in numerous books, magazines, and newspapers, including the Encyclopedia of Southern History, the Illustrated American History, the Chicago Tribune, and the Des Moines Register. He is also a former army officer and Vietnam veteran.
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