| PRODUCT DETAILS | | Forgotten Voices of the Great War Boxed Set: Interviews from the Imperial War Museum Archives (Forgotten Voices) |  | |
Forgotten Voices of the Great War Boxed Set: Interviews from the Imperial War Museum Archives (Forgotten Voices)
In 1972, a team of academics and archivists from the Imperial War Museum set about the momentous task of tracing ordinary men and women who lived through one of the most harrowing periods in modern history, the First World War.
Veterans from Britain, Germany, America and Australia were interviewed in detail about their day-to-day experiences on and off the front. It has since grown to be the most important archive of its kind in the world.
These audiobooks contain just a sample of these voices -- some of which have rested unheard for more than 30 years -- the forgotten voices of a generation no longer with us.
Boxed Set includes:
The First Year: August 1914 - May 1915
Ypres and Gallipoli: June 1915 - June 1916
The Somme and Back to Ypres: July 1916 - July 1917
From Cambrai to the Final Shot: August 1917 - November 1918
Manufacturer: Random House Audiobooks
Price: $75.00
 Forgotten Voices of the Great War Boxed Set: Interviews from the Imperial War Museum Archives (Forgotten Voices)
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| User Reviews |  | Stuck in the Greatest Idiocy Ever
rating: 5
These are first hand accounts of men and women that lived through the first world war. It is all there--loyalty to your fellow soldiers, cowardice, indifferent heroism, terror, and the feeling of apartheid from home and family. The most striking rememberances I took from the book were the white feather incidents--where white feathers were given to soldiers out of uniform on leave in England by young women as a goad to get to the trenches.
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personal reading milestone
rating: 5
This is the first book I've ever read in one day; 'I rest my case'.
My most lingering memory is the story of the soldier who was shot for 'losing his way' and not showing up for a battle. When offered brandy by the narrator before meeting his maker, he said he'd 'never drunk spirits and wasn't going to start now'. Not such a coward, after all.
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Fascinating wartime experiences by those who fought it
rating: 5
This book is full of fascinating wartime anecdotes given by the soldiers fighting it and the citizens involved in it. The staff of the UK's Imperial War Museum sifted through mountains of archives and picked out the very best to use in the book. Through the use of their own personal letters/interviews, the book follows the history of particular, mostly British, individuals during the war. It loosely follows the major battles of the Western Front and Gallipoli and even the Home Front. Most of the letters vary in length between one paragraph and one page and are packed with the kind of realistic details that typical narrative histories of the World War I skip over. For example, in Gallipoli (p. 118) one soldier writes, "One of the biggest curses was flies. Millions and millions of flies. ... Immediately you bared any part of your body you were smothered." Short of actually being there, these kind of first person participant narratives deliver the essence of the war - harsh, demanding, brutal, comedic, and ocassionally surreal. The straightforward writing styles and unusual content make this book a true pleasure to read. I have read over 40 books about the Great War, and this book is one of the best for personal narratives about the war. It's multi-person perspective delivers a well-balanced, insightful picture of the war at ground level (free of any hidden agenda). This book would perfectly complement a broad narrative history of World War I.
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A Great Read & Excellent History
rating: 5
Max Arthur's new book covering the Great War is quite unique in that its content is nearly all first-hand accounts from people who experienced the horror of the Great War. The author has utilized a number of tape recorded interviews conducted by the Imperial War Museum in 1972. Many of the tapes from the Imperial War Museum Sound Archive had been forgotten and left unheard for years. Now Max Arthur has put together many of these unheard voices from the Great War to produce this spellbinding and captivating book. I must admit that I was reluctant to buy this book as I was worried that a book full of short accounts would be too disjointed and really not detailed enough to satisfy my interest. I can honestly say that I truly enjoyed reading this book. Each chapter of the book was a year of the Great War and was commenced by an introduction by the author offering a brief run down on the major events of that year. Then we heard from the men and women who participated in these events, from both sides of no-man's land. The author has concentrated mainly on the Western Front and Gallipoli and has tried to run the oral segments in chronological order. I was really taken by these segments and I found it hard to stop reading. The accounts from these soldiers and civilians alike were at times humorous, strikingly direct, horrifying and on many occasions quite sad. I was really taken in by these accounts and I don't think that any World War One library would be complete without this title sitting on the shelf. I can honestly say that I learnt quite a few things from this book and I would place it along side such works offered by Lyn MacDonald. Well done to the author and the Imperial War Museum for allowing these veterans, many now long dead, the last word on their experiences in the Great War. This is a great book, you won't be disappointed.
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Forgotten Voices of the Great War Boxed Set: Interviews from the Imperial War Museum Archives (Forgotten Voices)
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