# Books/films on World War One **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 27, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974 "2012-03-27T20:06:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Imago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@Imago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imago)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/1 "2012-03-27T20:06:11Z")
I’m looking to hear about any books (fiction or nonfiction) and movies about WWI I may not have come across before. The lists Wikipedia had are woefully short, and I can name at least two fictional WWI vets not included in that list right off the top of my head. I’m hoping for things focusing on during and/or after the war, not before/leading up to it, and when it comes to nonfiction I’d like to see things focusing at least somewhat on an individual or a handful of people rather than the whole grand scale. That said, do include whatever you please, even if it focuses only on the overall thing or only on before the war. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/2 "2012-03-27T20:09:16Z")
_[The Lighthorsemen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lighthorsemen_%28film%29)_ - British involvement in Palestine. Movie. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/3 "2012-03-27T20:10:27Z")
The best book on World War I is **[The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916](http://www.amazon.com/The-Price-Glory-Verdun-1916/dp/0140170413)** by Alistair Horne. It’s been around a long time, but few have surpassed it. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/4 "2012-03-27T20:22:39Z")
Another good book on a more obscure aspect of the war: [The Bastard War: The Mesopotamiam Campaign of 1914-1918](http://www.amazon.com/The-bastard-war-Mesopotamian-1914-1918/dp/B0006BOSCO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332879405&sr=1-1) by A. J. Barker. An obscure backwater of the war, with mind boggling incompetence on the part of the commander. There’s also [Guerilla: Colonel von Lettow-Vorbeck and Germany’s East African Empire.](http://www.amazon.com/Guerilla-Colonel-Lettow-Vorbeck-Germanys-African/dp/0025552104/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332879564&sr=1-2). Another obscure backwater, but in this case, the commander was a military genius. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/5 "2012-03-27T20:28:22Z")
I recommended this in another thread not long ago: Ernst Jünger’s _[Storm of Steel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_of_Steel)_ (_In Stahlgewittern_). It is an absolutely amazing book. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/6 "2012-03-27T20:40:06Z")
yes, you have probably come across it - but you have seen “Paths of Glory”? I keep recommending it to the high school teachers & kids, but so far no takers. I think it is falling into obscurity, unless you are a film buff. which is tragic. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/7 "2012-03-27T22:18:18Z")
John Masters’ _Loss of Eden_ trilogy: _Now, God be Thanked, Heart of War, and By the Green of the Spring_ covers the whole war period through the experiences of various members of several British families of differing social status. Derek Robinson’s _Goshawk Squadron_ is a grimly humorous look at the air fighting towards the end of the War. John Harris’ _Covenant With Death_ tells the story of a fictional Kitchener battalion from raising to training to destruction on the Somme. _The First Hundred Thousand_ by Ian Hay is an account of his real life experiences with such a battalion, with names changed. The Kitchener battalions were classified into “hundred thousands”,; the first hundred thousand (K1) were the first hundred thousand to be recruited. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/8 "2012-03-27T23:44:48Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > yes, you have probably come across it - but you have seen “Paths of Glory”? I keep recommending it to the high school teachers & kids, but so far no takers. I think it is falling into obscurity, unless you are a film buff. which is tragic. Beside this excellent recommendation, I’d add **La Grande Illusion, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Big Parade** and **A Very Long Engagement**. Technically, _Lawrence of Arabia_ and _The African Queen_ would qualify too. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/9 "2012-03-27T23:58:12Z")
Well, if I may be so bold, I wrote a biography of Vernon Castle, who became an aviator, was decorated, and later killed in a training flight after two years at the front (including the Somme). The whole book is not about the war, but there are some sizable sections about life at the front and the early days of fighter pilots, much taken from his own letters: [http://www.amazon.com/Vernon-Irene-Castles-Ragtime-Revolution/dp/081312459X/ref=sr\_1\_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332892608&sr=1-1](http://www.amazon.com/Vernon-Irene-Castles-Ragtime-Revolution/dp/081312459X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332892608&sr=1-1) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/10 "2012-03-28T00:09:04Z")
For movies, you may want to track down **[Oh, What a Lovely War!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh!_What_a_Lovely_War)**, a terrific antiwar satirical musical. Note to **Blackadder** fans: I just discovered one of the songs used in the musical (all from the actual WWI era) was titled “Goodbye-ee” ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/11 "2012-03-28T00:17:28Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > Technically, _Lawrence of Arabia_ and _The African Queen_ would qualify too. I remember as a young teenager thinking that _The African Queen_ was about World War II and calling the germans Nazis until my Mom corrected me. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/12 "2012-03-28T00:44:48Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > yes, you have probably come across it - but you have seen “Paths of Glory”? I keep recommending it to the high school teachers & kids, but so far no takers. I think it is falling into obscurity, unless you are a film buff. which is tragic. I second this. Outstanding movie. Also see\* Gallipoli\*, and _All Quiet on the Western Front_ (both the book and the movie for the latter). One of the best books I’ve read about the war is _The Guns of August_ by Barbara Tuchman. But it only covers the first few weeks of it – the advance through Belgium, the desperate defense of Paris, and the settling in to what would end up being relatively stagnant trench warfare. ---
**Author:** ![JessMagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@JessMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessMagic)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/13 "2012-03-28T04:49:17Z")
I just finished _Under Fire_ by Henri Barbusse, a fantastic portrayal of life for a French infantryman. I’d also thoroughly recommend _Goodbye To All That_, Robert Graves’ autobiography that is chiefly concerned with his experiences as a British officer. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/14 "2012-03-28T05:19:34Z")
Here’s my Goodreads [Great War Bookshelf](http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/321764-koeeoaddi?shelf=great-war). If you’re looking for a novel you can’t go wrong with _The Regeneration Trilogy_, by Pat Barker, _Flanders_, by Patricia Anthony, _Soldier of the Great War_, by Mark Helprin, or _Losing Julia_, by Jonathan Hull. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/15 "2012-03-28T05:45:21Z")
[QUOTE=MovieMogul] …and **A Very Long Engagement**. [/QUOTE] As a point of recommendation, a friend of mine who is a WWI buff said upon watching the first 15 seconds of this movie, “\*That \*is the most realistic depiction of the trenches I have ever seen.” ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/16 "2012-03-28T06:10:56Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > As a point of recommendation, a friend of mine who is a WWI buff said upon watching the first 15 seconds of this movie, “\*That \*is the most realistic depiction of the trenches I have ever seen.” And then there’s _Wooden Crosses_ a.k.a. _Les Croix de bois_, from 1932. When first shown on French TV in the 70’s, it supposedly drove a WWI veteran to suicide - _that’s_ how grim it is. And both John Ford and Howard Hawks stole/borrowed a bunch of footage from the battle sequences and inserted it into their own films. High praise indeed. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/17 "2012-03-28T07:54:46Z")
I found [Birdsong](http://http://www.amazon.com/Birdsong-A-Novel-Love-War/dp/0679776818) to be a compelling read. The description of life in the trenches was absolutely harrowing. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/18 "2012-03-28T12:03:37Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > For movies, you may want to track down **[Oh, What a Lovely War!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh!_What_a_Lovely_War)**, a terrific antiwar satirical musical. > > Note to **Blackadder** fans: I just discovered one of the songs used in the musical (all from the actual WWI era) was titled “Goodbye-ee” Maybe something of an antidote to \*Oh! What a Lovely War \*and _Blackadder_, \*[Bloody Red Tabs](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bloody-red-tabs-frank-davies/1001694450)\*by Frank Davies and Graham Maddocks that goes through the 200 or so British Generals who were killed or wounded during the war. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/19 "2012-03-28T12:58:26Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Note to **Blackadder** fans: I just discovered one of the songs used in the musical (all from the actual WWI era) was titled “Goodbye-ee” I love that song, have it on my iPod and will be humming it all day, now. \*Good-byeee, Good-byeee, Wipe the tear, baby dear, from your eyeee . . . \* ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974/20 "2012-03-28T15:53:43Z")
> [@Imago](#): > > The lists Wikipedia had are woefully short, and I can name at least two fictional WWI vets not included in that list right off the top of my head. I’m hoping for things focusing on during and/or after the war, not before/leading up to it I don’t know who you noticed as missing from the list in question, but I’ll mention The Secret Adversary – which starts off with action on the Lusitania, and then promptly jump-cuts ahead to demobbed WWI veteran Tommy Beresford looking for work, and bumping into a number of folks he knew during the war, and thereby getting hired to locate the classified documents that (a) apparently didn’t go down with the ship, and (b) could, even at this late date, stir up a lot of trouble for government officials who were exceeding their wartime authority. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-films-on-world-war-one/616974.md?page=2)