An intimate narrative history of World War I told through the stories of twenty men and women from around the globe–a powerful, illuminating, heart-rending picture of what the war was really like. In this masterful book, renowned historian Peter Englund describes this epoch-defining event by weaving together accounts of the average man or woman who experienced it. Drawing on the diaries, … diaries, journals, and letters of twenty individuals from Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Venezuela, and the United States, Englund’s collection of these varied perspectives describes not a course of events but “a world of feeling.” Composed in short chapters that move between the home front and the front lines, The Beauty and Sorrow brings to life these twenty particular people and lets them speak for all who were shaped in some way by the War, but whose voices have remained unheard.
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The Beauty and the Sorrow combines a bit of All Quiet on the Western Front with For Whom the Bell Tolls, provides a different perspective on the events witnessed and/or instigated by Lawrence of Arabia, and includes a dash of Downton Abbey for good measure (the phrase “bow and scrape to their masters” even makes an appearance on page 361). It is a …
The book is about 20 true life characters and their experiences in World War I. Two of them do not survive, and several others are wounded or captured. While many books cover the big picture especially the Western Front, this book delves into what was going on in Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East. While I recommend the book, there are …
A little disjointed as disparate people in various parts of the war are followed, but not contiguously. But well worth the read.
Follows several (not famous), individuals during WWI. A fresh viewpoint.
The Great War seen from a vast variety of perspectives. Easy to follow and moves right along, considering the Cecil B. DeMille cast of thousands.