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1914 : the year the world ended

Ham, Paul2013
Book
1914: The Year The World Ended is a history of the events, and the people who lived through them, which led to the outbreak of the First World War and the creation of the front line that became the scene of the most concentrated slaughter of human beings in history. The lives of millions of young men would be wasted - killed or dreadfully wounded - in a doomed struggle to control a trench line running from Liege in Belgium to Verdun in France, which barely moved in four years. 1914 is, of course, much more than a date: it is emblematic of terrible events, the vortex of the gathering storm. As such, '1914' will draw on the well of the deep past to show how political, economic and social change coalesced into that singularly disastrous year. In this way the book gathers the reins of decades, and binds them to those few irreversible months, as revealed through the experiences of ordinary British, French and German people, who found themselves willingly and unwillingly caught up in what would be the most dreadful conflict the world had known. The narrative hinges on the personal histories of British, French and German soldiers; as well as others involved, or touched, by in the war, such as parents, nurses, deserters, pacifists, drawn from primary source material - eg diaries, letters, and memoirs. Their individual stories will be set against the great swim of political events that led to the outbreak of war.
Main title:
Author:
Ham, Paul, author
Imprint:
North Sydney, N.S.W. : William Heinemann, 2013.North Sydney, N.S.W. William Heinemann, an imprint of Random House Australia, 2013.©2013
Collation:
xxix, 704 pages, 16 unnumberd plates : illustrations, portraits, maps, photographs ; 24 cm.
Variant title:
Other title: Nineteen fourteen
Notes:
"A William Heinemann book" --Title page verso.Includes bibliographic references pages 675-691 and index.
Audience:
General.
Awards:
Queensland Literary Awards: Winner: University of Queensland Non-Fiction Book Award 2014.
ISBN:
9781864711424 (hardback)
Dewey class:
940.3940.311
Language:
English
Added title:
Index terms:
Warfare & defence (Europe)World War I (Europe)Cultural, ethnic & media studies (Europe)Australian
BRN:
383364
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