Tag Archives: The Great War

Armistice Day – Never Forget

Posted on November 11, 2019 by smellincoffee

As well as it is to honor veterans, let us never forget the original meaning of this date, November 11th. 101 years ago the guns fell silent in Europe, and the great horror of the First World War ended. Twenty … Continue reading →

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A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War

Posted on April 12, 2018 by smellincoffee

A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War © 2014 Joseph Loconte 256 pages When some future Gibbon writes of the Decline and Fall of Western Civilization, he will have to devote a great deal of attention to the Great … Continue reading →

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Aces over Ypres

Posted on May 6, 2016 by smellincoffee

Aces over Ypres© 2016 John Stack286 pages Charlie Sexton didn’t choose the RFC life, the RFC life chose him. Literally.  As the Great War opened in Europe, Charlie was a member of the 119th Artillery, the same unit his father … Continue reading →

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Engines of War

Posted on July 17, 2015 by smellincoffee

Engines of War: How Wars Were Won and Lost on the Railways368 pages© 2010 Christian Wolmar An army marches on its stomach, but for a hundred years it rode to victory only on the rails.  It was Napoleon who observed … Continue reading →

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This week: wrapping up with history and science

Posted on December 31, 2014 by smellincoffee

This last week in 2014 I am spending with Lives of the Planets, a natural history of the solar system. It’s proving to be the most enjoyable science book I’ve encountered in months, and will probably take me into the  … Continue reading →

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The Great War: A Christmas Pause

Posted on December 24, 2014 by smellincoffee

At the beginning of January, I decided to devote part of the year’s reading to the Great War, in recognition of its 100-year anniversary. I created a list of books that would address some areas of the war I was … Continue reading →

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Gallipoli

Posted on November 25, 2014 by smellincoffee

Gallipoli© 1956 Alan Moorehead416 pages           As the Great War ensnared powers beyond Middle Europe, it became  in truth a world war,  providing the spark to reignite old tensions in places like the middle east.  In late … Continue reading →

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Life, Death, and Growing Up on the Western Front

Posted on November 14, 2014 by smellincoffee

Life, Death, and Growing up on the Western Front© 2013 Anthony Fletcher352 pages In 1914 Britons marched to war, and with them they took their hearts. Life, Death, and Growing Up on the Western Front takes in the experience of … Continue reading →

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The Unknown War

Posted on October 25, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Unknown War© 1931 Winston Churchill396 pages The war to end all wars, what Sir Winston Churchill aptly described as the world crisis, began when a Serbian partisan assassinated the heir of Austria-Hungary’s throne, setting into motion a Rube Goldberg … Continue reading →

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A Reading on the Eve of Destruction

Posted on October 18, 2014 by smellincoffee

We know no spectacle in human history more instinct with pathos than that of these twelve million men, busy with the cares, hopes and joys of daily life, working in their fields or mills, or seated these summer evenings by … Continue reading →

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