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Marching Into Darkness
by Waitman Wade BeornOn October 10, 1941, the entire Jewish population of the Belarusian village of Krucha was rounded up and shot. While Nazi death squads routinely carried out mass executions on the Eastern Front, this particular atrocity was not the work of the SS but was committed by a regular German army unit acting on its own initiative. Marching into Darkness is a bone-chilling exposé of the ordinary footsoldiers who participated in the Final Solution on a daily basis. Although scholars have exploded the myth that the Wehrmacht played no significant part in the Holocaust, a concrete picture of its involvement at the local level has been lacking. Among the crimes Waitman Wade Beorn unearths are forced labor, sexual violence, and graverobbing, though a few soldiers refused to participate and even helped Jews. By meticulously reconstructing the German army's activities in Belarus in 1941, Marching into Darkness reveals in stark detail how the army willingly fulfilled its role as an agent of murder on a massive scale. Early efforts at improvised extermination progressively became much more methodical, with some army units going so far as to organize "Jew hunts. " Beorn also demonstrates how the Wehrmacht used the pretense of anti-partisan warfare as a subterfuge by reporting murdered Jews as partisans. Through archival research into military and legal records, survivor testimonies, and eyewitness interviews, Beorn paints a searing portrait of a professional army's descent into ever more intimate participation in genocide.
Marching Masters: Slavery, Race, and the Confederate Army during the Civil War (A Nation Divided)
by Colin Edward WoodwardThe Confederate army went to war to defend a nation of slaveholding states, and although men rushed to recruiting stations for many reasons, they understood that the fundamental political issue at stake in the conflict was the future of slavery. Most Confederate soldiers were not slaveholders themselves, but they were products of the largest and most prosperous slaveholding civilization the world had ever seen, and they sought to maintain clear divisions between black and white, master and servant, free and slave.In Marching Masters Colin Woodward explores not only the importance of slavery in the minds of Confederate soldiers but also its effects on military policy and decision making. Beyond showing how essential the defense of slavery was in motivating Confederate troops to fight, Woodward examines the Rebels’ persistent belief in the need to defend slavery and deploy it militarily as the war raged on. Slavery proved essential to the Confederate war machine, and Rebels strove to protect it just as they did Southern cities, towns, and railroads. Slaves served by the tens of thousands in the Southern armies—never as soldiers, but as menial laborers who cooked meals, washed horses, and dug ditches. By following Rebel troops' continued adherence to notions of white supremacy into the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras, the book carries the story beyond the Confederacy’s surrender. Drawing upon hundreds of soldiers’ letters, diaries, and memoirs, Marching Masters combines the latest social and military history in its compelling examination of the last bloody years of slavery in the United States.
Marching Orders: The Untold Story of How the American Breaking of the Japanese Secret Codes Led to the Defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan
by Bruce Lee"Breaking the Japanese codes shortened the course of the war by two years." --General S. J. Chamberlin, General MacArthur's operations officer. Proclaimed "one of the most important books ever published on World War II," Marching Orders provides a stunning account of how the American military's breaking of the Japanese diplomatic Purple codes led to the defeat of Nazi Germany. Bruce Lee, having had access to more than one million pages of US Army documents and thousands of pages of daily top-secret messages dispatched to Tokyo from the Japanese embassy in Berlin, assembles fascinating revelations about pivotal moments in the war, including the reason Eisenhower stopped his army at the Elbe and let the Russians capture Berlin, the invasion of Europe, and the battles on the African and Eastern fronts. Magic and Ultra were the names of the Allied code-breaking efforts that unlocked the secrets of the Axis powers. One of the most extraordinary takeaways from these ingenious deciphering activities was the fact that Japanese leaders were intransigent in their refusal to surrender, which led to the strategic and fateful decision to drop the atomic bomb and force an end to the conflict in which thousands of lives would have been lost. This groundbreaking book clearly demonstrates how the success of the American code breakers led to so many favorable military and strategic outcomes for the Allies and hastened the end of this devastating war.
Marching Through Georgia (Alphonso Clay Mysteries of the Civil War)
by Jack MartinAs Sherman moves toward Atlanta, an agent searches for traitors among the troops in this compelling Civil War thriller . . . When Sherman&’s army hits a wall of resistance at Kennesaw Mountain in the summer of 1864—despite what seemed to be highly reliable intelligence—he&’s convinced by one of the Union nurses to call in Maj. Alphonso Clay to hunt for a saboteur. With his scout Ambrose Bierce badly wounded and a general murdered in the midst of battle, he summons Clay, who soon joins him on his march through Georgia. But as Clay investigates the situation—and tries to prevent any further unwelcome surprises from the Confederates—it becomes apparent that there may be more than one person betraying the Union . . . &“I can&’t wait to read the next Alphonso Clay book.&” —RP Dahlke, author of the Dead Red Mysteries
Marching Through Georgia: The Story of Soldiers & Civilians During Sherman's Campaign
by Lee B. KennettIn this engrossing work of history, Lee Kennett brilliantly brings General Sherman's 1864 invasion of Georgia to life by capturing the ground-level experiences of the soldiers and civilians who witnesses the bloody campaign. From the skirmish at Buzzard Roost Gap all the way to Savannah ten months later, Kennet follows the notorious, complex Sherman, who attacked the devastated the heart of the Confederacy's arsenal. Marching Through Georgia describes, in gripping detail, the event that marked the end of the Old South.
Marching Through Peachtree
by Harry TurtledoveA terrible civil war was tearing apart the kingdom of Detina, a land which could no longer be half serf and half free. When the new ruler, King Avram, decided to liberate the blond serfs upon which the northern provinces depended, the north rebelled, taking Grand Duke Geoffrey as their King.Neither side expected an easy victory. The south was larger and wealthier, but the north had better soldiers and more powerful wizards. Led by officers riding unicorns, supplied by flying carpets, both sides had clashed for three bloody years, as the tide slowly turned against the north. But the war was far from over: The north had found a far more competent general, and he was determined to hold Peachtree Province. When the southrons attacked, they faced formidable obstacles both natural and manmade, as well as the deadly repeating crossbows of the northern rebels and the sorcerous storm and lightning wielded by the northern wizards.Still, the very survival of Detina as one united realm was at stake, and King Avram's forces had no choice but to attack, no matter what the odds, no matter how desperate the situation...
Marching Through Suffering
by Sandra FahyMarching Through Suffering is a deeply personal portrait of the ravages of famine and totalitarian politics in modern North Korea since the 1990s. Featuring interviews with more than thirty North Koreans who defected to Seoul and Tokyo, the book explores the subjective experience of the nation's famine and its citizens' social and psychological strategies for coping with the regime.These oral testimonies show how ordinary North Koreans, from farmers and soldiers to students and diplomats, framed the mounting struggles and deaths surrounding them as the famine progressed. Following the development of the disaster, North Koreans deployed complex discursive strategies to rationalize the horror and hardship in their lives, practices that maintained citizens' loyalty to the regime during the famine and continue to sustain its rule today. Casting North Koreans as a diverse people with a vast capacity for adaptation rather than a monolithic entity passively enduring oppression, Marching Through Suffering positions personal history as a critical lens for interpreting political violence.
Marching Through Suffering: Loss and Survival in North Korea (Contemporary Asia in the World)
by Sandra FahyMarching Through Suffering is a deeply personal portrait of the ravages of famine and totalitarian politics in modern North Korea since the 1990s. Featuring interviews with more than thirty North Koreans who defected to Seoul and Tokyo, the book explores the subjective experience of the nation's famine and its citizens' social and psychological strategies for coping with the regime.These oral testimonies show how ordinary North Koreans, from farmers and soldiers to students and diplomats, framed the mounting struggles and deaths surrounding them as the famine progressed. Following the development of the disaster, North Koreans deployed complex discursive strategies to rationalize the horror and hardship in their lives, practices that maintained citizens' loyalty to the regime during the famine and continue to sustain its rule today. Casting North Koreans as a diverse people with a vast capacity for adaptation rather than as a monolithic entity passively enduring oppression, Marching Through Suffering positions personal history as key to the interpretation of political violence.
Marching Together: Women of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (Women, Gender, and Sexuality in American History)
by Melinda ChateauvertThe Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) was the first national trade union for African Americans. Standard BSCP histories focus on the men who built the union. Yet the union's Ladies' Auxiliary played an essential role in shaping public debates over black manhood and unionization, setting political agendas for the black community, and crafting effective strategies to win racial and economic justice. Melinda Chateauvert explores the history of the Ladies' Auxiliary and the wives, daughters, and sisters of Pullman porters who made up its membership and used the union to claim respectability and citizenship. As she shows, the Auxiliary actively educated other women and children about the labor movement, staged consumer protests, and organized local and national civil rights campaigns ranging from the 1941 March on Washington to school integration to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Chateauvert also sheds light on the plight of Pullman maids, who—relegated to the Auxiliary—found their problems as working women neglected in favor of the rhetoric of racial solidarity.
Marching Toward Hell
by Michael ScheuerMichael Scheuer is the author of Imperial Hubris, which was a New York Times hardcover bestseller for fifteen weeks and stirred up attention in every national and local media outlet. He is a veteran CIA counterterrorism analyst who for many years headed the Osama bin Laden unit. In Marching Toward Hell, Scheuer offers a scathing and frightening look at how the Iraq war has contributed to the enemy's strength and fundamentally changed the geopolitical landscape in a way that is harmful to U. S. interests and security concerns. Scheuer will examine the ways in which the war has widened the conflict by almost every measure, made America less secure, and left us all increasingly vulnerable to attack.
Marching from Defeat: Surviving the Collapse of the German Army in the Soviet Union 1944
by Claus NeuberIn this WWII memoir, a Nazi soldier recounts his desperate retreat from Russia, offering rare insight into the collapse of Hitler’s Army Group Central.In June of 1944, the Red Army launched a massive offensive that crushed Hitler’s forces in Belarus. German soldiers who weren’t captured had to fight their way back towards their own lines across hundreds of miles of enemy territory. This is the story of one of them, Claus Neuber, a young artillery officer who describes in graphic detail his experiences during that great retreat.Neuber’s account carries the reader through the desperate defensive battles and rearguard actions fought to stem the relentless Soviet advance and breakout from the cauldrons between Minsk and the Beresina river. After almost seventy days as a fugitive, depending on the kindness of villagers, enduring extremes of cold, wet and hunger, Neuber found his way back to the German lines. This personal narrative, translated for the first time from the original German, gives a dramatic insight into the impact of the Soviet offensive and the disintegration of an entire German army. It vividly records in day-to-day detail the experience of such a bitter defeat.
Marching on Washington: The Forging of an American Political Tradition
by Lucy G. BarberWhen Jacob Coxey's army marched into Washington, D.C., in 1894, observers didn't know what to make of this concerted effort by citizens to use the capital for national public protest. By 1971, however, when thousands marched to protest the war in Vietnam, what had once been outside the political order had become an American political norm. Lucy G. Barber's lively, erudite history explains just how this tactic achieved its transformation from unacceptable to legitimate. Barber shows how such highly visible events contributed to the development of a broader and more inclusive view of citizenship and transformed the capital from the exclusive domain of politicians and officials into a national stage for Americans to participate directly in national politics.
Marching to Valhalla: A Novel of Custer's Last Days
by Michael BlakeNo contemporary author portrays the Old West with the vibrancy, authenticity, and drama of Michael Blake. As he demonstrated with his international best-selling novel Dances With Wolves (which was the basis for the Oscar-winning film by Kevin Costner), Blake transforms the American frontier into a saga as original as it is unforgettable. Now, in Marching to Valhalla, Blake turns his storyteller's eye on George Armstrong Custer, West Pointer, youngest Union general of the Civil War, horseman, passionate lover, explorer, ardent husband, and, most famously, Indian hunter. In Blake's pages, Custer emerges as a dashing, driven soldier, suspicious of his friends, respectful of his enemies, and ever unable to feel quite alive in the civilian world. Composed in the form of Custer's journal, Marching to Valhalla is an impeccable merging of fact and fiction, a powerful evocation of our bloody past, and a tribute to the endurance of a human heart facing adversity and disaster. A masterpiece of the Old West, Michael Blake's novel is a tragic romance that reveals a Custer never before imagined, and lets us finally contemplate the twisting, uncharted paths to glory and doom. (back flap) Michael Blake's previous books include Airman Mortensen and Dances With Wolves. He began writing professionally while enlisted in the U.S. Air Force from 1964 to 1968. In addition to writing, he is also devoted to public service and has received many honors for his efforts, including the Animal Protection Institute's Humanitarian of the Year Award. He lives with his wife on a ranch in southern Arizona.
Marching to Zion: A Novel
by Mary GlickmanA family of Eastern European refugees finds a home in racially charged St. Louis in this sweeping historical novel from a National Jewish Book Award finalist. In 1916, Mags Preacher arrives in the big city of St. Louis, fresh from the piney woods, hoping to learn the beauty trade. Instead, she winds up with a job at Fishbein&’s Funeral Home, run by an émigré who came to America to flee the pogroms of Russia. Mags knows nothing about Jews except that they killed the Lord Jesus Christ, but by the time her boss saves her life during the race riots in East St. Louis, all her perceptions have changed.Marching to Zion is the story of Mags and of Mr. Fishbein, but it&’s also the story of Fishbein&’s daughter, Minerva, a beautiful redhead with an air of danger about her, and Magnus Bailey, Fishbein&’s charismatic business partner and Mags&’s first friend in town. When Magnus falls for Minerva&’s willful spirit, he&’ll learn just how dangerous she can be for a black man in America. Readers of Mary Glickman&’s One More River will celebrate the return of Aurora Mae Stanton, who joins a cast of vibrant new characters in a tale that stretches from East St. Louis, Missouri, to Memphis, Tennessee, from World War I to the Great Depression. Hailed as &“a powerful reminder of the discrimination and unspeakable hardships African Americans suffered,&” Marching to Zion is a gripping love story, a fascinating angle on history, and a compelling meditation on justice and fate (Jewish Book Council).
Marching to the Drums: Eyewitness Accounts of War from the Kabul Massacre to the Siege of Mafeking
by Ian KnightIn this gripping collection of first-hand accounts, Ian Knight presents the adventure of nineteenth-century warfare from the thrill of the cavalry charges at Balaklava and Omdurman, to the terror of battle against an overwhelming odds such as Rorke's Drift in the words of the men actually there.These eyewitness accounts provide a vivid and sometimes shocking insight into the brutal realities of warfare for the British imperial soldier, who fought against enemies from massed ranks of Russians and assegai-armed natives to sharp-shooting Boers, in often the most terrible conditions imaginable.These stirring tales of military adventure have been edited by Ian Knight and brought together and published in book form. Originally featured in turn-of-the-century magazine, popular during the heyday of empire, these historically valuable accounts throw considerable light on campaign conditions during Queen Victoria's colonial wars.Marching to the Drums includes accounts focusing on the experience of battle during such pivotal conflicts as the Sikh Wars, the Crimean War, the Afghan Wars, the Anglo-Zulu War, and those in China, the Sudan and South Africa.
Marching to the Fault Line: The Miners' Strike and the Battle for Industrial Britain
by David Hencke Francis BeckettA controversial new investigation in the 1984 Miners strike and how it changed Modern Britain.The Miners' strike was a dividing line in Modern British history. Before 1984, Britain was an industrial nation, reborn from the ashes of the Second World War by Clement Atlee's vision of a welfare state. Most of the great industries were nationalised and the trade unions was one of the major forces in the land. After the strike, which ended with humiliating defeat in March 1985, Thatcher's Britain was born.In March 1984, the leader of the Miners' Union, Arthur Scargill, led his members out of the pits without a ballot to protest at planned pit closures; they would spend the next 13 months facing the utmost deprivations as they fought to keep their jobs. On picket lines the miners faced harassment and the police, which culminated in the violent Battle of Orgreave. Meanwhile Thatcher's government feared that Britain was on the verge of a civil war. It was a struggle of attrition that neither side could dare lose.Twenty five years after the strike, the debate is still controversial. Marching to the Faultline tells the full story of the strike from confidential cabinet meetings at Downing Street to backroom negotiations, and life on the picket line. The book draws on previously unseen sources from interviews with the major figures, private archives and documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act to set the record straight.
Marching to the Fault Line: The Miners' Strike and the Battle for Industrial Britain
by David Hencke Francis BeckettA controversial new investigation in the 1984 Miners strike and how it changed Modern Britain.The Miners' strike was a dividing line in Modern British history. Before 1984, Britain was an industrial nation, reborn from the ashes of the Second World War by Clement Atlee's vision of a welfare state. Most of the great industries were nationalised and the trade unions was one of the major forces in the land. After the strike, which ended with humiliating defeat in March 1985, Thatcher's Britain was born.In March 1984, the leader of the Miners' Union, Arthur Scargill, led his members out of the pits without a ballot to protest at planned pit closures; they would spend the next 13 months facing the utmost deprivations as they fought to keep their jobs. On picket lines the miners faced harassment and the police, which culminated in the violent Battle of Orgreave. Meanwhile Thatcher's government feared that Britain was on the verge of a civil war. It was a struggle of attrition that neither side could dare lose.Twenty five years after the strike, the debate is still controversial. Marching to the Faultline tells the full story of the strike from confidential cabinet meetings at Downing Street to backroom negotiations, and life on the picket line. The book draws on previously unseen sources from interviews with the major figures, private archives and documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act to set the record straight.
Marching to the Mountaintop: How Poverty, Labor Fights and Civil Rights Set the Stage for Martin Luther King Jr's Final Hours
by Ann BausumIn early 1968 the grisly on-the-job deaths of two African-American sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, prompted an extended strike by that city's segregated force of trash collectors. Workers sought union protection, higher wages, improved safety, and the integration of their work force. Their work stoppage became a part of the larger civil rights movement and drew an impressive array of national movement leaders to Memphis, including, on more than one occasion, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.King added his voice to the struggle in what became the final speech of his life. His assassination in Memphis on April 4 not only sparked protests and violence throughout America; it helped force the acceptance of worker demands in Memphis. The sanitation strike ended eight days after King's death.The connection between the Memphis sanitation strike and King's death has not received the emphasis it deserves, especially for younger readers. Marching to the Mountaintop explores how the media, politics, the Civil Rights Movement, and labor protests all converged to set the scene for one of King's greatest speeches and for his tragic death.National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.
Marching to the Sound of Gunfire: North-West Europe, 1944–1945
by Patrick DelaforceIn this exciting and revealing book, scores of British soldiers tell their amazing stories of life and death in the front line of the Allies' advance from Normandy to Hitler's Germany. In eleven months of bitter fighting between D-Day and VE Day the combined efforts of the British and their allies' armed forces ground down their ruthless enemy in the pursuit of victory. Each and every man has a unique story to tell, whether they were infantry, tank crews, gunners, sappers or in vital logistic and supporting units. Theirexperiences make for powerful and fascinating reading. First-hand accounts of the landings, liberation of towns and villages, fierce actions, not all successful, bring home to the reader the cost of war as well as the magnitude of the venture. Particularly evocative is the range of emotions that were experienced by those involved, be they generals or the most junior soldiers. The passage of time means that many of these 'voices' will be heard no more but fortunately Marching to the Sound of Gunfire captures their inspiring testimonies for posterity.
Marching with Aunt Susan: Susan B. Anthony and the Fight for Women's Suffrage
by Claire Rudolf MurphyAll Bessie wants is to go hiking with her father and brothers. But it's 1896, and girls don't get to hike. They can't vote either, which Bessie discovers when Susan B. Anthony comes to town to help lead the campaign for women's suffrage.Stirred into action, Bessie joins the movement and discovers that small efforts can result in small changes—and maybe even big ones. Inspired by the diary of the real-life Bessie Keith Pond, a ten-year-old girl who lived in California during the suffrage campaign, author Claire Rudolf Murphy and illustrator Stacey Schuett offer a thought-provoking introduction to the fight for women's rights. This story of hope and determination is perfect for girl-power readers!
Marching with Sherman: Through Georgia and the Carolinas with the 154th New York (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War)
by Mark H. DunkelmanMarching with Sherman: Through Georgia and the Carolinas with the 154th New York presents an innovative and provocative study of the most notorious campaigns of the Civil War -- Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's devastating 1864 "March to the Sea" and the 1865 Carolinas Campaign. The book follows the 154th New York regiment through three states and chronicles 150 years, from the start of the campaigns to their impact today. Mark H. Dunkelman expands on the brief accounts of Sherman's marches found in regimental histories with an in-depth look at how one northern unit participated in the campaigns and how they remembered them decades later. Dunkelman also includes the often-overlooked perspective of southerners -- most of them women -- who encountered the soldiers of the 154th New York. In examining the postwar reminiscences of those staunch Confederate daughters, Dunkelman identifies the myths and legends that have flourished in the South for more than a century. Marching with Sherman concludes with Dunkelman's own trip along the 154th New York's route through Dixie -- echoing the accounts of previous travelers -- and examining the memories of the marches that linger today.
Marching with Wellington: With the Inniskillings in the Napoleonic Wars
by Martin CassidyCompiled from hitherto unpublished diaries and letters, this book tells of the dangers and rigors of life as experienced by the Infantry during the Napoleonic Wars. A superbly researched work by an expert historian, it captures the atmosphere of the era with total immediacy made possible only because the writers were actually there.
Marching with the First Nebraska: A Civil War Diary
by August ScherneckauAugust Scherneckau’s diary is the most important firsthand account of the Civil War by a Nebraska soldier that has yet come to light. A German immigrant, Scherneckau served with the First Nebraska Volunteers from 1862 through 1865. Depicting the unit’s service in Missouri, Arkansas, and Nebraska Territory, he offers detail, insight, and literary quality matched by few other accounts of the Civil War in the West. His observations provide new perspective on campaigns, military strategy, leadership, politics, ethnicity, emancipation, and a host of other topics. Scherneckau takes readers on the march as he and his comrades plod through mud and snow during a grueling winter campaign in the Missouri Ozarks. He served as a provost guard in St. Louis, where he helped save a former slave from kidnappers and observed the construction of Union gunboats. He describes the process of transforming a regiment from infantry to cavalry, and his account of First Nebraska’s pursuit of Freeman’s Partisans in Arkansas is an exciting portrayal of mountain fighting. An annotated edition that brings to bear the editors’ and translator’s respective expertise in both the Civil War and the German language, Scherneckau’s account is an important addition to primary material on the war’s forgotten theater. It will be a valued resource for historian and Civil War enthusiast alike.
Marching with the Tigers: The History of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment 1955 – 1975
by Michael GoldschmidtAs the definitive final volume of the history of The Royal Leicestershire Regiment Marching with The Tigers covers events in that Regiment and its successor, the 4th Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, over the years 1955-75. During this period the Battalions undertook overseas and operational tours in Cyprus, Germany, Hong Kong, Borneo, Aden, Malta and Libya, Bahrain and Northern Ireland. Supported by seventeen maps and many black and white photographs, its lively text describes the Regular battalions activities up to the disbandment of Tiger Company in 1975, the Territorial Army battalions up to the disbandment of The Royal Leicestershire Regiment (Territorial) in 1971, the early years of the Leicestershire Companies in the 5th and 7th (Volunteer) Battalions The Royal Anglian Regiment, the Depot, the Museum, the Regimental Chapel in the Cathedral and Affiliations. The final chapter brings The Tigers History right up to the present day including Royal Tigers Wood and the dedication of the various national memorials commemorating the Regiment.Its numerous appendices contain a wealth of information such as lists of Honors and Gallantry Awards (including Long Service and Efficiency Decorations and Medals), Colonels and Commanding Officers and of those who commanded other units and formations, Late Entry Commissions and National Service Officers. Marching with The Tigers is not only comprehensive but lavish as well with the four Cuneo paintings, the cap badges and the Colors all displayed in color.
Marching, Fighting, Dying: Experiences of Soldiers in the Peninsular War
by Gareth GloverGareth Glover, who has established a reputation as a leading authority on the Napoleonic Wars, uses letters sent home from the Peninsular War by British soldiers to give a candid account of what it was like to serve in the army during the long campaign against the French. The vivid excerpts, which are set in their historical context by the author’s expert commentary, are largely drawn from the correspondence of the other ranks, and they fully explore the everyday experience of these men through their own words. Only extracts from letters written during the campaigns are quoted – journals written much later for publication are discounted – so a true picture of life in the army at war comes out directly, as it was perceived at the time. Every aspect of the soldiers’ experience is covered, from the fatigue and discomfort of existence on military service to the reality of combat and their feelings when a comrade was wounded or killed. The letters reveal so much about their attitude to the enemy, civilians and the men who served alongside them. Since this was the first war in history where regular postal services operated – and since a rising number of soldiers were able to read and write – their letters offer us an insight into men at war that has never been recorded before.