A War in Words - Softcover

Palmer, Svetlana; Wallis, Sarah

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743469062 ISBN 13: 9780743469067

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK, 2004

Synopsis

Departing radically from traditional histories, A WAR IN WORDS tells the story of the First World War on a compelling, human scale through the letters and diaries of its participants -- whether combatants, eyewitnesses or victims. Powerful individual stories are interwoven to form an extraordinary narrative that follows the chronology of the war, in words written on the battlefield and on leave, under occupation and under siege. Taking us from the killing fields of the Western Front to the unforgiving waters of the North Sea, it is a remarkable new insight into the British at war, and a major addition to First World War literature.

About this title

Synopsis:

Departing radically from traditional histories, A WAR IN WORDS tells the story of the First World War on a compelling, human scale through the letters and diaries of its participants -- whether combatants, eyewitnesses or victims. This was a young person's war and these people record their experiences with all the immediacy and passion of youth. They talk to us directly from within the war itself and from all sides of the conflict -- from the testimony of a Serbian teenager, one of Franz Ferdinand's assassins, to the final entry from a French soldier as he revisits a battlefield in 1919, realising he and the rest of the world have changed irrevocably. Most of these letters and diaries have never been published in English before. They were uncovered during extensive research across twenty-eight countries for the major ten-part series THE FIRST WORLD WAR, broadcast on Channel 4 in autumn 2003. The series will introduce many of the characters who appear in this book and will, like the book, recount the complex history of the war though the lives of the individuals caught up in it.

About the Author:

Svetlana Palmer was born in Moscow and educated in Russia and Britain, where she has lived since 1990. She is a researcher and producer and her credits include THE COLD WAR and THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN COLOUR. Sarah Wallis has worked as a researcher and producer on a number of contemporary and historical films about Europe, including the BBC's award-winning PEOPLE'S CENTURY. This is their first book.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0743469062
• ISBN 13: 9780743469067
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400