The Great War Theme Read: General Discussion

It's nearly 2014 here - and it's already 2014 in some parts of the world, and so I think it's time to open some shiny new threads.

This one is for news, recommendations, events, and anything else interesting that comes to mind.

Thanks Fleur for opening these threads - as you asked for notice of events - I thought I would re-post this here!

Here is a women and WW1 link which may be of interest to UK Viragoites. I realise I am opening myself up to uproar from those across the oceans!!

Women and the Church (WATCH) invites you to listen to the journalist and campaigner Kate Adie, who is generously giving her time to talk about the contribution of Christian women in the First World War. This features in her new book "Fighting on the Home Front - the legacy of women in World War I", written to commemorate the start of the First World War in 1914.

http://womenandthechurch.org/news/the-kate-adie-lecture-christian-women-in-the-f...

Thanks for opening these threads Jane -I am so looking forward to this reading project - thank you to whoever came up with the brilliant idea :)

>#3;
Ali, it was Elaine who thought of the Great War theme and yes, I thank her too. It was a brilliant idea.
I am so looking forward to a year of books on this theme.
And thank you Jane, for starting these threads.

>#2;
Oh, and yes .............. Thank you Miss Julie for that stabbing pain in my back. I didn't realize you brought a knife to 'group'. ;-)

Love you too Belva!

Belva may want to stop reading now... but I am considering going to the Kate Adie talk in York.

The knife just sunk a bit further in.

Enjoy, Dee & please do come back & tell us all about it.

And I DO love you Julie. xoxo We just have to get our kicks where we can, right-o?

'BBC reveals 2,500-hour WWI season'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24552194

Here's hoping the tv programming will be shared with your cousins in the US...

One can always hope, bkmbooks.

I just came across this website, which takes the position that the Great War centenary should remember the suffering and loss and promote peace ... not foster nationalism or "celebration." Seems consistent with our approach to this theme read, so I thought I'd share.

http://noglory.org/

>10 lauralkeet::
Thank you Laura.

I am adding Wake by Anna Hope to my reading list for this theme read. It is a novel which takes place in London, 1920, as the city prepares to observe the two-year anniversary of Armistice Day with the burial of the unknown soldier and about how the lives of three women become intertwined with each other due to circumstances of the war.
I was looking at it online & thinking whether I should pre-order it for my Kindle when I realized that I had received it as an E/R, ARC. So while it should be read in September/October, I will be reading it relatively soon so I can get my review up before it goes on sale here in the U.S. next month.

>10 lauralkeet: Thank you, Laura. We can only hope that the powers that be never push those buttons that put the peace of the world at risk.

>12 rainpebble: I've just read a review copy of Wake, Belva, and it is a wonderful book. The UK publication date is next Thursday in the UK, and so I will be publishing my thoughts in the next few days.

>14 BeyondEdenRock::
I am so happy to hear that Jane. I look forward to your comments. I am excited to begin it.

Well, I have now read Wake by Anna Hope and my review is up on the book page.
I will say here that I didn't find it wonderful though I think with better transitioning between story lines it could have been. I did find it to be a good read. There are a lot of story lines going on throughout the book and the 'unknown warrior' or unknown soldier story line was very interesting through the entire book.
The story takes place in the days leading up to the 2nd anniversary of the signing of the Armistice of the Great War. I will leave you all to decide whether you wish to read this one or not. If so the appropriate months would be September & October I believe.
Thus far I have read 2 WW I Themed Reads this month: William, an Englishman and Wake.

I've read two of my three reads for this themed read now - review up here: http://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2014/01/19/book-reviews-96/

Finished Golden Miles today. A very good book on many levels. Learned a lot about Western Australian history, in particular the gold mines. There was a lot to admire about the novel, including its politics, feminism, attitude to racism, not to mention an interesting family saga. However, it seemed to me that it should be read as part of the home front section of our year's read. There was a lot about war mongering and profiteering, the colonial attitude to the Empire, and the protest movement against conscription. But the war itself was far away and only came home to Western Australia through letters and only for a small section of the book.

>18 romain:: I agree that Golden miles would fit better into Home Front than Beginnings. For one thing, the story covers the years 1914-1927, so we see the post-war consequences as well as the build up.

>18 romain:, 19: This is very useful input to my reading plan. Based on this feedback and the fact it's second in a series, I will put off reading Golden Miles, probably until December. Meanwhile I'll look for a copy of The Roaring Nineties and read it first. Oh yay, an excuse to buy another VMC ... :)

#20 "Oh yay, an excuse to buy another VMC ... :)"

You know we all agree with you!

I'm coming here to make my apologies as I just haven't felt like picking up anything WWI related this month but I'm hoping to read at least one book in February...

I was browsing Project Gutenberg (as you do) and came across an ebook by Virago author F. Tennyson Jesse, first published in 1919 entitled The Sword of Deborah: First Hand Impressions of the British Women's Army in France. I haven't read it yet and don't really know which theme it would fit in with but thought others here might be interested...

Margaret MacMillan's The War that Ended Peace would be a fine place to start. Her treatment is detailed but highly readable. She draws suitable parallels to present-day events without belabouring them.

Well I am showing no discipline regarding our WW1 reads. I have just finished. Wake post war, loved it, and now am finding Golden Miles fascinating. Kalgoorlie , my brother worked there until very recently and often commented on the depth of its history. How far away from WW1 does it seem, but it's people are caught up in it too.

During a recent conversation on Twitter Elizabeth Speller, author of At break of day recommended By a Slow River for WW 1 theme reading. Weak and foolish book buyer that I am I ordered copy on eBay it came today. I'm not sure it fits our criteria really as a lot of the action appears to take place twenty years after WW 1. Still it does look very good. Anyone read it?

Also (and I'm not boasting I promise) I just received review copies of two new Persephone books out in April. They look brilliant but I think one of them might fit in with our WW 1 theme read, it's called Wilfred and Eileen by Jonathan Smith and is about a young couple who meet at a Cambridge ball marry in secret and Wilfred' s subsequent survival following being wounded in battle.
(These are the first free Persephone books I have ever received so don't hate me I was so excited to be offered them, and half expected them to not be proper P books with the lovely double cover and matching bookmark but they are and they included the bookmark)

Oh, Ali! How wonderful for you! I plan to order Wilfred and Eileen and Into the Whirlwind. I read the latter and it is one of the most harrowing books I've ever read. I don't know if I will reread it, but I want it on my shelf. When I was in the shop in January, I asked if Persephone was planning to publish the sequel and it all depends on how well Into the Whirlwind sells.

How lovely Ali! I am intending to get Into the Whirlwind (obviously!) - will be interested to hear what you think of it!

#29 well I have had a peep at the first page of Into the Whirlwind and I am desperate to read it. I think I will read both of them over the Easter hols. I do have 6 other Persephone books tbr so I could have a mad splurge of Persephone reading. But I generally like to spread them out like wonderful treats.

I've been poking about trying to find some info on What Not by Rose Macaulay. I did find a WWI poem she wrote called "Picnic-July 1917". Here is the page if anyone would be interesting in reading a very short poem about how people could get "compassion" fatigue after years of war.

http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/body-and-mind/rose-macaulay-hurt-berries-and-c...

But what was interesting was the site which discussed the poem. It is set up by Oxford University and loaded with information, sources, suggestions, blogs about the war and war literature.

http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/

I too will be buying Into the whirlwind when it is released.

Reposting from Rhian (@SandDune)'s 75 Book Challeng thread, for anyone who can view or stream BBC programmes:
Was watching a BBC programme last night '37 Days' which presented a dramatised account of the political and diplomatic events between the shooting of the Archduke and the outbreak of WWI. It sheds some light on the basic premise of William: an Englishman as it suggests that even the politicians didn't expect things to develop in the way that they did until quite late on in the process. I've only seen the first episode so far, which (I think) went up to day 22 and everyone still seemed to be expecting a localised war in the Balkans at most.

I have recorded 37 days goodness when I'll get round to watching it. I will also be seeing a theatre production of birdsong on the 21st at the Rep theatre here in Birmingham

As part of my job, when requested, I record TV programmes and put them on our school intranet to be used in lessons. The World War 1 series is producing a lot of requests from the History and English departments. Although, contrary to what every student thinks, I don't watch the TV as I do this it does give me the feeling of having watched all these programmes!

My house is in turmoil because I am having new floors put in upstairs. Books all packed away. I will get to the Willa Cather when I can get to the book, but at this rate it will be April :)

Library, lady, library.............

I have just finished Wilfred and Eileen by Jonathon Smith, new Persephone edition and loved every word. I think it would fit quite nicely into our Great War theme read - especially into Sept/Oct Consequences of the war. Although it is as much a love story and the story of a young couple as it is about war - the story of Wilfred and Eileen is very much taken up with Wilfred's determination to fight and what happens to them after that. I think it sits along side other books we have on the list really nicely. It will be a day or two before I get a review together but it was a five star read for me.

Sounds like another good one to get to. Thank you for the reck Ali.

(Cross posting this from another thread)

Finished Stella Benson's This is the End in one day and it's strange but stunning. It would fit in well with the Great War Read Along (hey! I've taken part in the challenge even though it isn't a set book!) It was written in 1916 and mixes fantasy with the War in an odd but very effective way. Some bits had me in tears. I'll review it properly eventually, but I'd highly recommend for the free reading months.

Here is my review of Stella Benson at last:

https://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2014/08/28/fantasy-vs-hard-truths-...

I really would highly recommend it if anyone wants somethng for the free reading months. It's actually the only WW1 book I've managed this year, but it was quite profoundly moving in places, so I don't think I would have coped wll with the heavier books...