WWI Fiction

[diamondlil]

Similarly to the link that I posted for WWII fiction, here is a starting point for fiction to read about WWI (http://danitorres.typepad.com/workinprogress/2008/08/war-in-fictio-1.html)

[annis]

I'll make a start with one i read recently- ""Empire of Sand" by Robert Ryan.
A thriller set on the Arabian Peninsula during the First World War, which features T.E Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”) pitting his wits against his counterpart, the charismatic German agent Wilhelm Wassmuss (also a real-life character), in a race to gain the hearts and minds of the Arab tribes.
An entertaining fictional adventure which attempts to shed some light on the nature of the enigmatic Lawrence.

[Ash]

btw, an excellent biography to go along with that time period is Desert Queen, the extraordinary life of Gertrude Bell. She was a contemporary of Lawrence and like him love everything about the middle east. She traveled extensively and ultimately was involved with the drawing the lines in the sand. Sad end to her life, but a fascinating read.

http://www.amazon.com/Desert-Queen-Extraordinary-Gertrude-Adventurer/dp/0385495757

I just noticed that she got a ton of negative reviews; I had some quibbles about it, but I found her life itself fascinating, given how important she was and how I'd never had heard of her!

[Ash]

My favorite WWI books:

Johnny Got His Gun Daltron Trumbo

All Quiet on the Western Front

Pat Bakers trilogy (first one Regeneration is esp outstanding)

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks


I know I am forgetting many, but those come to mind first. Ironically I just received Last Summer in the World by Emily Mitchell. We'll see if this gets added on.

[Divia]

I want to read The Crimson Portrait: A Novel by Jody Shields but havent been able to yet.

[annis]

Ash, Gertrude Bell does make an appearance in "Empire of Sand," as does reporter Lowell Thomas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_Thomas), who was an interesting guy - an adventurous journalist-type willing to go anywhere in search of a story. He spent time in the desert with T.E. Lawrence and pretty much created the whole "Lawrence of Arabia" legend.
He appeared in David Lean's movie "Lawrence of Arabia" as American journalist Jackson Bentley, played by Arthur Kennedy.
One thing i discovered from Robert Ryan's notes is that all of T.E. Lawrence's writings, including various letters, are now available online (http://telawrence.info/telawrenceinfo/index.htm).

Lowell Thomas also added to the fame of WWI merchant raider captain Count Felix von Luckner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_von_Luckner) with his book "Sea Devil".
Douglas Reeman's WWI novel "The Last Raider" is obviously inspired by the adventures of Von Luckner and his famous ship "Seeadler" (Sea Eagle).

[Telynor]

Anne Perry's five book series on WWI is interesting, and very gripping in spots. The books are

No Graves as Yet
Shoulder the Sky
Angels in the Gloom
At Some Disputed Barricade
We Shall Not Sleep

[donroc]

Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms
The Blue Max I forgot the author's name.

[annis]

Also worth a read - Ben Elton's biting take on WW1 in his historical mystery, "The First Casualty".
The story follows ex-Scotland Yard detective Douglas Kingsley to the Western Front - his task, to solve the politically embarrassing murder of an aristocratic British war hero in Flanders. Although the murderer is found, the real mystery remains unsolved and unsolvable - how can one death be murder, yet thousands not?
A bit more serious than some of Elton's work but it still contains touches of his usual black humor. One of the stand-out scenes for me was a wonderfully concise explanation of how the war began, as propounded by a group of British soldiers taking a communal crap in the trenches during a break in the bombardment. Absolutely brilliant!


Just had the thought that it might be useful to add a link to Margaret's Historical Novels Info listing of WWI fiction:
http://www.historicalnovels.info/World-War-I.html

[Ash]

Oh, another Elton boook! I loved This Other Eden, and loved the work he did in Black Adder. I will have to get this, and soon.

[Lady of the Forest]

I noticed the book Birdsong upon the list, I had come across that book on another list, and first I was intrigued by the title so I decided to look into it more, and I am on the fence about it. It sounds like it could be interesting, but typically reading about the more "modern" or "technological" wars is not my typical genre, I tend to lean more toward ancient history, so I am unsure, but still open to new things if it is sounds good, and is an interesting story.

Also I was worried it might be too much of a romance.

So if anyone here has read this book can you give me your thoughts on it.

[Amanda]

Also worth a read - Ben Elton's biting take on WW1 in his historical mystery, "The First Casualty".
................. One of the stand-out scenes for me was a wonderfully concise explanation of how the war began, as propounded by a group of British soldiers taking a communal crap in the trenches during a break in the bombardment. Absolutely brilliant!

Oh I loved this scene too!

ETA: And I should add my recommendation for Elleston Trevor's "Bury Him Among Kings". It is about British brothers and their involvement in the war, It also raises conscientious objection, life at home as there is a sister too. It is somewhat in the vein of All Quiet on the Western Front.

[Margaret]

I have not read Birdsong, but I got the impression it's more on the literary side.

[Volgadon]

Part of Sholokhov's And Quiet Flows the Don takes place on the Eastern Front.

The Ravi Lancers by John Masters deals with issues of culture shock and discovering your own identity using the story of Indian troops sent to the Western Front.
Part of another book of his, Far, Far the Mountain Peak is set in WWI, including Italy!

[lama]

I like Gabriele D'Annunzio's work--a controversial figure but influential in his time.
www.lebutler.net

[Ash]

I have not read Birdsong, but I got the impression it's more on the literary side.


? a book can't be literary if its HF?

[Margaret]

? a book can't be literary if its HF?

Au contraire - it can absolutely be literary! HF runs the full gamut from literary to genre of all kinds. When I said I thought Birdsong was on the literary side, I was responding to an earlier post wondering if it might be historical romance.

[Ash]

Ah, good, thanks for the clarification. I obviously missed the other post, and was really surprised to see that one on a forum like this! :)

[Cuchulainn]

I'd recommend another book by the master, C.S. Forester, namely, "The General."

It's quite interesting to read The General and compare the protagonist to Hornblower:

The General has very little idea of tactics except larger and longer bombardments, and sending more men at time straight at the enemy in the hopes not of outmanoeuvering the enemy (the thought never occurs to the general) but in overwhelming the enemy. The General's favourite game is chess. And Forester makes a point of this fact.

Take Hornblower: he's a brilliant tactician (in one book he's told to "engage the enemy more closely" because he was going to manoeuver his way in), and he realizes, though, that a lot in warfare is luck. Hornblower's favourite game is wist - a game that requires him to make the best out of the hand he's been dealt.

In any event, it's a great WWI book - it does a good job of showing how the old mindsets in how to wage war were simply not compatible with the realities of the first modern war.

[Carla]

I want to read The Crimson Portrait: A Novel by Jody Shields but havent been able to yet.

I'm reading it at the moment, and finding it hard going. I think it's trying to be literary, but I'm just finding the writing hard to follow and most of the characters either uninteresting or unappealing. Perhaps it will pick up.

[AuntiePam]

Also I was worried it might be too much of a romance. So if anyone here has read this book can you give me your thoughts on it.

Re Birdsong, I could have done without the romance entirely, but that's just me, being a curmudgeon. People should be able to care about other people without being romantically involved. Gah. Maybe I'm just getting old.

Now if the romance is the focus of the book, that's different. Like A Very Long Engagement by Sebastian Japrisot. It was the search for her fiancee that prompted the heroine to investigate what happened to him during the war.

Another good WWI novel is Flanders by Patricia Anthony. That book is filled with love but it's blessedly short on romance.

[Leo62]

Re Birdsong, I could have done without the romance entirely, but that's just me, being a curmudgeon. People should be able to care about other people without being romantically involved. Gah. Maybe I'm just getting old.

Now if the romance is the focus of the book, that's different. Like A Very Long Engagement by Sebastian Japrisot. It was the search for her fiancee that prompted the heroine to investigate what happened to him during the war.


I second that emotion :) Don't mind love/romance/relationships/sex whatever you want to call it as long as I care about the characters. The problem with the affair in Birdsong for me was that the characters weren't convincingly drawn so I just didn't give a damn whether they got it on or not. ;)

[Alex Worthy]

I know this is an old post, but I recently read the Three Day Road by Boyden and it is such a good book I had to post. The main story is about two Cree Indians from Canada who go to the trenches. The back story is a fascinating look at two generations of Cree Indians who opted to live off the reservations and live in the traditional way. Really outstanding!

[diamondlil]

Has anyone read Gifts of War by Mackenzie Ford? It was featured on USA Today a couple of days ago, and is apparently written by a historian.

[love_uk]

To the Last Man by Jeff Shaara, 2004.

A novel of the First World War, including the voices of John "Black Jack" Pershing, the "Red Baron", the Lafayette Escadrille and the young Marines who save Paris. A National Bestseller and winner of the 2005 American Library Association's "Boyd" Award for Excellence

Became less interesting to me after the fliers' stories concluded but still, another fine Shaara book!

[Emms]

I looooooooved Birdsong! Yes, there's romance, but it's not like a romance novel at all. I hate romance novels. No offense meant to those who enjoy romance novels, I just don't like them very much-to me personally, they're cheesy and boring. Birdsong was neither of those things. It's so atmospheric and period-esque, it really conjures up the feel of those times.

Perhaps I'm biased because, although I do not like romance novels, I love a good love story sent against the context of wartime, but really I think anyone who's interested in World War I novels should at least give Birdsong a try.

[Ash]

Theres a big difference between a romance novel, and a novel with romance in it. I agree, the romance in Birdsong was a perfect story to go along with the rest of what was happening. Thats usually what I like - that the romance is not the end all be all for the characters.

[Chatterbox]

Late to the game here, but...

A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot is an excellent novel about the war's aftermath (the war is the theme). Much better than the film. Less 'literary' in style than Birdsong.

I loved the Elton book, thought the Perry novels were OK (although she gets tremendously carried away by deep, dark, evil conspiracies too much in this, as in the Thomas Pitt series). An alternative to the Perry novels is a short series by the late British mystery writer, Michael Gilbert. "Into Battle" is one of them.

[Margaret]

Annis has just contributed a review to HistoricalNovels.info of Across the Blood-Red Skies by Robert Radcliffe. It's about a young pilot during the Battle of Arras in WWI, when the survival rates for pilots were extremely low. Sounds like a good book (review here (http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Across-the-Blood-Red-Skies.html)).

[annis]

One reason why the British casualties were so high was their superannuated aircraft which were completely outclassed by superior German technology. The plane used by the RFC reconnaissance crews was the FE2, noted for being particularly slow and ungainly (I'm no aerodynamics expert, but I think it was something to do with the particularly wide wingspan in relation to body size). In Across the Blood-Red Skies George uses the derogatory nickname the "Balsa Bathtub" for the FE2, and as Radcliffe seems to know what he's talking about, i guess that was what actual Royal Flying Corps crews called it. Looking at photos I can see the body of the plane bears a distinct resemblance to an old-fashioned hip-bath.

One intriguing thing I discovered is that there is a company in New Zealand which reproduces these aircraft, and they have a great website (http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/projects/fe-2b) with some amazing photos and video clips - well worth a look if you want to get a feel for what it was like to be high in the sky in one of these flimsy machines. Here is a photo showing the "Bathtub" in flight. The observer/gunner had to stand on his seat (midair-gulp!) to fire the rear-mounted gun. There is a dramatic scene in Across the Blood-Red Skies where George's observer falls out and is left hanging onto a strut. George ties the belt of his coat around the observer's wrist and flies back across enemy lines with the poor guy suspended from the plane!

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b448/ammiemac/72995.jpg
Vintage Aviator Company (http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/projects/fe-2b/fe-2b-flying-masterton) reproduction

"When you stood up to shoot [in the F.E.2b], all of you from the knees up was exposed to the elements. There was no belt to hold you. Only your grip on the gun and the sides of the nacelle stood between you and eternity. Toward the front of the nacelle was a hollow steel rod with a swivel mount to which the gun was anchored. This gun covered a huge field of fire forward. Between the observer and the pilot a second gun was mounted, for firing over the F.E.2b's upper wing to protect the aircraft from rear attack ... Adjusting and shooting this gun required that you stand right up out of the nacelle with your feet on the nacelle coaming. You had nothing to worry about except being blown out of the aircraft by the blast of air or tossed out bodily if the pilot made a wrong move. There were no parachutes and no belts. No wonder they needed observers." Frederick Libby, first American ace of WWI

[wendy]

annis - that's so interesting!

My WW1 choices include everything by Hemingway (except Death In the Afternoon which is irrelevant to this discussion) and Willa Cather's One of Ours. I love the rivalry that existed between these two great writers.