This August marks the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, which claimed the lives of more than 16 million people from all over the globe. The sacrifices of those who lived through, served, fought and died in the Great War are being marked throughout 2014, including in this selection of books that tell the tragic tale of the conflict and its enduring impact on families everywhere…

 

LETTERSLOVE LETTERS OF THE GREAT WAR, Mandy Kirkby (Macmillan)
LOVE’S ability to survive even the horrors of the battlefield is highlighted in this collection of love letters, which provide a moving human portrait of the Great War.

 

 

 

PAXMANGREAT BRITAIN’S GREAT WAR, Jeremy Paxman (Penguin)
WHERE other accounts focus on the Great War’s military story, Paxman’s gripping book provides insight into the conflict’s social impact on Britain and its people.

 

 

 

TOUCHINTO TOUCH: RUGBY INTERNATIONAL KILLED IN THE GREAT WARNigel McCrery (Pen & Sword)
AMONG the Great War’s fallen were more than 130 international Rugby caps from across the Commonwealth. This title is a fitting memorial to them.

 

 

 

LAST-GREATTHE LAST GREAT WAR: BRITISH SOCIETY AND THE FIRST WORLD WARAdrian Gregory (Cambridge University Press)
AN engaging read first released in 2008 which provides a warts-and-all account of how those on the Home Front viewed the conflict.

 

 

 

BLIGHTYBACK IN BLIGHTY: THE BRITISH AT HOME IN WORLD WAR ONEGerard De Groot (Vintage)
RELEASED this April, Gerard De Groot’s latest work examines the Great War’s impact on those who remained in Britain while their loved ones fought in the trenches.

 

 

 

VOICSFORGOTTEN VOICES OF THE GREAT WAR: A NEW HISTORY OF WORLD WAR ONE, Max Arthur (Ebury Press)
AN excellent, emotive collection of anecdotes of the First World War as told to military historian Max Arthur by soldiers, officers and those back home.

 

 

 

CATASTROPHECATASTROPHE: EUROPE GOES TO WAR 1914Max Hastings (William Collins)
THIS award-winning study delves into the origins of the Great War before expertly detailing the tragedies that marked its opening months.

 

 

 

SCHOOLSBOOK

PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND THE GREAT WARAnthony Seldon/David Walsh (Pen & Sword)
ONE-fifth of all public schoolboys who fought in World War One did not return home and this title tells the story of that statistic’s lasting impact on their schools.

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