 | 1914 : The Days of Hope by Lyn Macdonald
Buy used from: £4.50 Most people's idea of WW1 is the trenches and going over the top- '1914' tells of a very different type of fighting - hand to hand combat, cavalry charges. You don't know the war until you know 1914.
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 | Undertones of War (Penguin Modern Classics) by Edmund Blunden
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £7.42 One of the gentlest, most unassuming of the Soldier poets to have survived, Blunden's memoir is at once moving and unsentimental. Despite a poetic turn of phrase, a down to earth, accesible account.
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 | Goodbye to All That (Essential Penguin) by Robert Graves
Buy new: £3.65 / Used from: £3.65 In contrast with 'Undertones of War', this book rings with the aggressive wit of Graves and is littered with dubious anecdotes. The tragedies within stand out stark against this wit - a true classic.
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 | Veterans: The Last Survivors of the Great War by Richard Van Emden
Buy new: £16.95 / Used from: £3.71 Van Emden deftly introduces what must be among the last few oral histories of the Great War, and wisely lets the veterans speak for themselves. The result is moving and humbling.
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 | World War One Source Book by Philip Haythornthwaite
Buy used from: £14.99 The essential single-volume reference work on the subject, packed with facts and valuable biographies of key players.
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 | Christmas Truce (Pan Grand Strategy) by Malcolm Brown
Buy new: £5.99 / Used from: £0.01 The true story of the 1914 Christmas truce and much more besides. Gives a wider picture of soldiers implementing a system of cooperation with the enemy wherever practical to lessen the hardships.
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 | The First Day on the Somme (Penguin Classic Military History) by Martin Middlebrook
Buy used from: £4.98 Paved the way for a new breed of military histories made compelling by the veterans' own accounts. 30+ years after original publication this still feels fresh. An absolute must.
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 | The Great War and Modern Memory by Paul Fussell
Buy new: £7.69 / Used from: £4.94 A vital companion for any reader of WW1 literature; you may find much with which to argue in Fussell's assertions but certainly he will bring to your attention much that might else have been missed.
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