Product Description

'Sometimes, through word of mouth and shared enthusiasm, a secret book becomes famous. The War the Infantry Knew is one of them. Published privately in a limited edition of five hundred copies in 1938, it gained a reputation as an outstanding account of an infantry battalion's experience on the Western Front' Daily Telegraph ' I have been waiting for a long time for someone to republish this classic. It is one of the most interesting and revealing books of its type and is a genuinely truthful and fascinating picture of the war as it was for the infantry' John Keegan 'A remarkably coherent narrative of the battalion's experiences in diary form ...a moving historical record which deserves to be added to the select list of outstanding accounts of the First World War' Times Literary Supplement

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #112145 in Books
• Published on: 1988-12-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 612 pages

Review
'Sometimes, through word of mouth and shared enthusiasm, a secret book becomes famous. The War the Infantry Knew is one of them. Published privately in a limited edition of five hundred copies in 1938, it gained a reputation as an outstanding account of an infantry battalion's experience on the Western Front' - Daily Telegraph ' I have been waiting for a long time for someone to republish this classic. It is one of the most interesting and revealing books of its type and is a genuinely truthful and fascinating picture of the war as it was for the infantry' - John Keegan 'A remarkably coherent narrative of the battalion's experiences in diary form ...a moving historical record which deserves to be added to the select list of outstanding accounts of the First World War' - Times Literary Supplement

About the Author
Captain J. C. Dunn, Medical Officer the 2nd Battalion His Majesty's 23rd Foot, The Royal Welsh Fusiliers. A courageous soldier and an impressive man, he was mentioned by both Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon in their famous books with respect and admiration. He died in 1955.

Customer Reviews

A day to day experience of serving in the First World War
Briefly, this is one of the best books I've ever read on any subject. It gives a real, day to day experience of serving in the First World War, and though written from the officer perspective it gives a clearer view of life in the ranks than you often get from autobiographies by enlisted men (who may have lacked the literary skills to describe their experiences). It conveys the sense of regimental pride, alongside the full horror of battle. It even shows what life was like for the local people trying to survive behind the lines. There are some very funny episodes and some very poignant and bitter ones, all jumbled up together. As a previous reviewer wrote, if you only ever read one book on the First World War, this should be the one.

a triumph
For all the thousands of pages that have been written about the Great War, there are few better than this book. It is a poignant, funny, heart warming and upsetting book all rolled into one. From first hand accounts of day to day life in the trenches, to moving stories of heroism and comradeship behind the lines, I have yet to read a book on World War One that combines so much atmospheric description with factual accounts and still leaves the reader craving for more. There are incidents that are funny, there are incidents that are sad, and it is the combination of light hearted recollection, mixed with painful descriptions of trench life and death that make this book a work of genius.
If you only have one book that describes daily life in the trenches, combined with witty humour and perceptual observations then you cannot do better than this one.

This is a great read.
I have read many many books on the subject of the Great War, this book surpasses them all. It is a compelling account of the life of an infantry battalion, at times sad at other times funny. I highly recommend that the introduction is read in full, this will assist in gaining more enjoyment when reading the main event,a brilliant read.