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With A Machine Gun To Cambrai (Cassell Military Paperbacks)
 
 

With A Machine Gun To Cambrai (Cassell Military Paperbacks) (Paperback)

by George Coppard (Author) "Glossing over my childhood, I merely state that in 1914 I was just an ordinary boy of elementary education and slender prospects ..." (more)
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 208 pages
  • Publisher: Phoenix; New Ed edition (4 Nov 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0304352586
  • ISBN-13: 978-0304352586
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.4 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 141,198 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #47 in  Books > Biography > Political > Countries & Regions > France
    #84 in  Books > Biography > War & Espionage > World War I
    #95 in  Books > Biography > Historical > Countries & Regions > France

Product Description

Product Description

As a First World War memoir this is almost unique, in that it was written by a private soldier Continuing interest in the First World War


About the Author

George Coppard served as a private soldier from 1914 until he was wounded at the end of 1917. After the war he worked as a civil servant until retiring to Tenterden in Kent in 1962.

Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
Glossing over my childhood, I merely state that in 1914 I was just an ordinary boy of elementary education and slender prospects. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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With A Machine Gun To Cambrai (Cassell Military Paperbacks)
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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (12)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A must for all those interested in the Great War!, 29 Jan 2002
This book is highly recommended for all those who are enthusiasts of the Great War and especially for those whose interests focus on the soldier in the front line: the man in the mud. As a Machine gunner, George Coppard was at the cutting edge of operations and in the thick of the fighting; his descriptions of the conditions of battle leave little to the imagination and help to fill in those gaps left by sources which cannot draw on personal experience.
This book will be of special to those who are researching deatils concerning the battlefield experiences of relatives who fought on the Western Front who may have left very little to go on; my grandfather fought at Passchendaele as a machine gunner and never spoke about it. George Coppard's account of his experiences helped me to piece together the few threads of information I possess.
A must, therefore!
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42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply brilliant, 24 Sep 2002
Having read most of the 'standard' texts on WWI such as those by Sassoon, Graves etc I stumbled upon this book almost by accident and having no knowledge of it wasn't sure what to expect.
I needn't have worried as this book is certainly the best I have read on the subject. Mr. Coppard describes in vivid detail what it was like to have fought in some of the worst localised conflicts on the Western Front. He does it with a rare flair and with humour. It's a story about comradeship and muddling through in great adversity and although I'd never wish to endure what they went through, I almost envy them the comradeship which comes from something I can never fully understand.
One part of the book that is interesting after the descriptions given earlier is the 'Epilogue' where Mr. Coppard travels back to Flanders and Picardy more than 50 years after fighting there. His descriptions of his travels visiting cemeteries (including those of his erstwhile German enemies) etc really make you think. His comment that:-

"Politicians would do well to tour all the cemeteries of France and Belgium and resolve never to act rashly, nor deliver ultimatums or threats of any kind, but to hold their hand, striving to their utmost to achieve harmonious relations with all peoples."

is now particularly apt I think coming from someone who experienced the firsthand results of politicians warmongering.
Mr. Coppard has produced a brilliant book; I wish I could have met him.

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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A SUPERB BOOK WRITTEN FROM THE HEART AND MIND, 7 Dec 2000
By andrewjhart@aol.com (North Yorkshire UK) - See all my reviews
I only wish George was around today to talk to, I would shake his hand and thank him for leaving us such a record of the misery of man in the trenches. God bless his memory and of all the others that suffered this horror.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Great read.
I read alot of books about war and found this one great from start to finish. The author was very honest about eveything and it made a change reading a first hand account about... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Gary Barkham

5.0 out of 5 stars Without doubt the best-ever WW1 autobography
This is a truly amazing biography and one that moved me to tears on a number of occasions.
Mr Coppard was a child of his generation - like thousands of boys he lied about... Read more
Published on 8 Sep 2007 by Monkey T

5.0 out of 5 stars with a machine gun to cambrai
Very gritty, first person account of George Coppard in a machine gun company through the last few years of the First World War. Read more
Published on 7 April 2007 by Ivor E. Thomas

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful
A Brilliant Read Describing George Coppard`s First World War Experiences.I Have Read Many WW1 Books but truly found this to be
the best one i have read. Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2005 by Robjblack

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply brilliant
Having read most of the 'standard' texts on WWI such as those by Sassoon, Graves etc I stumbled upon this book almost by accident and having no knowledge of it wasn't sure what to... Read more
Published on 3 Oct 2002 by mistymountainhop

5.0 out of 5 stars a must read for anyone interested in the first world war
A brilliant account of how the common soldier struggled to survive in the trenches of the western front. Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2002 by chrisjohnston76@hotmail.com

5.0 out of 5 stars A simple look at the experience of a young soldier
This book takes a simple look at the great war. Writen from the real diaries of a serving soldier it dispences with the romance. Read more
Published on 8 Oct 2000 by naedanger

4.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing narrative, but 'pedestrian' style.
George Coppard has used his diaries to vividly bring to life the horrors of trench warfare, and life as a machine gunner. Read more
Published on 22 Aug 2000 by Chris Fellows

5.0 out of 5 stars A 'must read'
For an ordinary lad observing the war around him, Coppard proved to be a masterly writer. His descriptions of his lonely machine-gun outpost at Loos, facing the grim bulk of Fosse... Read more
Published on 18 Jul 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars This book moved me to tears.
George Coppard may not be the worlds greatest writer, but he certainly knows how to put the reality of human acceptance of war across. Read more
Published on 12 Feb 2000

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