- Paperback: 640 pages
- Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (17 Mar 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140259007
- ISBN-13: 978-0140259001
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 218,443 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
1915: The Death of Innocence: The Death of Innocence
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Product Description
Review
By concentrating on the minutiae of life in the trenches -- the daily battles with cold and damp, the endless scrounging for food, the frantic improvisation required to carry out impossible orders -- Macdonald manages to convey the sheer craziness of the nightmare.
(Sunday Times (London) )Macdonald's narrative, constructed around a succession of remarkable and fresh first-hand accounts, is both compelling and vivid.
(Times Literary Supplement )Macdonald's heart lies firmly with the common soldiers and junior officers who manned the trenches and followed the orders that all too often cost their lives... The reader feels at times that he is actually in the thick of the battle.
(Newsday ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.Book Description
World War I in the voices of the combatants -- in the year when the war got grim
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent account of 1915, the year when gas was used for the first time, Gallipoli became infamous and time and again thousands of men died, on both sides, for little gain. The interleaving of first hand accounts, diary entries and historical commentary brings the horror and bravery of the men who fought and died to life. It leads on from where Macdonald's book '1914 The Dawn of Hope' ended and I expect the same standard from the MacDonald's other books that I have yet to read. This is not easy reading but I would recommend it to everyone.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
1915 The Death of Innocence is one of those books, that just when you think the narrative can not get any more distressing, it does, yet something makes you want to read on.
The narrative is at times horrific, in its description of the horrors of trench warfare, in particular the use of poison gas at Ypres at 1915 and the slaughter at Loos, in September of that year, when the British army lost over 10,00 men in a matter of hours. Lyn Macdonald is also very good on the realtionship, or lack of it, between Douglas Haig, and Sir John French.
What emerges is a sense of the command structure being out of its depth, and trying to face up to modern warfare, using 19 c methods and tactics. In hindsight it is easy to see the slaugher on the Somme, the following year as only a matter of time.
At times the narrative seems very close to our own age, esp when she uses the voices of the Tommies themselves. These were mainly young men, looking for a bit of excitment, and the chance to travel. What they wittnessed defies belief. In particular the account of the troop train diaster, near Gretna in 1915, seems even now seared on the collective memory.
Lyn Macdonald has done a sterling job in tracking down the dwindling band of survivors, and her book is a fitting testament to their courage and heroism in the face of terrible suffering. Let us hope that we never have to go through what these men did.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book guides the reader through all aspects of the First World War during 1915. Threading togeather recollections of First World War veterans with background details to produce a factually acurate history without being clinicle.
The numerous quotes included from war veterans are quite amazing. Bleak, horrific, moving, inspiring and at times even funny. Some of the history inbetween can feal like heavy going though, but it is well balanced and would come recommended to any reader with an interest in the First World War.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Wonderful book
This is a must-read for those interested in WW1.
It fills a gap in the available literature on the period and is a masterclass in historical writing, being both succinct and... Read more
It fills a gap in the available literature on the period and is a masterclass in historical writing, being both succinct and... Read more
Published 6 months ago by D. Spencer
the best world war one book
I've read a few and this is factually correct and gives fantastic information and realistic atmosphere. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mr. K. N. Watt
A Rivetting Read
If you've never read any of Lyn Macdonalds books I urge you to do so. Her books not only convey the historical side of events but also the personal view of the men involved. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mr. Andrew Robinson
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