dewey Posted 6 November , 2004 Share Posted 6 November , 2004 I have been a student of history for the past seven years and am concentrating on the early twentieth century. I was wondering if any one has any recommendations on memoirs from the perspective of french soldiers. I have only found one translated into english, that of Henri Desagneaux. Please reply if you have suggestions. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halder Posted 6 November , 2004 Share Posted 6 November , 2004 Marc Bloch's memoirs of 1914-1915 have been translated. (He also wrote Strange Defeat a generation later about the fall of France). There aren't many first-hand accounts in French which have been translated; there aren't a lot of German ones, but there are substantially more than French... On the plus side, if you speak French, there are plenty of accounts/diaries/letters. I can heartily recommend Les Violettes des tranchées : Lettre d'un poilu qui n'aimait pas la guerre by Etienne Tanty and Les poilus ont la parole by Jean Nicot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Poilu Posted 6 November , 2004 Share Posted 6 November , 2004 Not really a memoir but one of the most famous French works of the Great War, Le feu by Henri Barbusse is highly recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 6 November , 2004 Share Posted 6 November , 2004 'Memoirs of the Maelstrom', by Lunn, is a fascinating account of the Senagalese experience of war in France. He has based the book on numerous interviews with former soldiers and families. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph J. Whitehead Posted 6 November , 2004 Share Posted 6 November , 2004 One of the few I have seen and read is 'My 75' by Paul Lintier. He was a gunner in a French 75 Battery and describes the opening phases of the war through 1915 I believe from the eyes of a gunner, very well written. Ralph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Wills Posted 6 November , 2004 Share Posted 6 November , 2004 'Lice' was written by Swiss author Blaise Cendrars, who had served as an NCO with the French Foreign Legion during WW1. It was originally published in French as La Main Coupee (The Severed Hand), Cendrars having lost an arm in the conflict. The French version is widely available in France as a cheap paperback. Another French author who has been translated into English is Jean Giono, who specialised in nature subjects. I have yet to read 'To the Slaughterhouse' but I can recommend his novella 'The Man who Planted Trees' which was read on Radio 4 by Bill Paterson a few years ago. It does not cover Giono's war experiences directly, but is a parable of post-war regeneration. You may find more suggestions in this thread http://1914-1918.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=664&hl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dewey Posted 7 November , 2004 Author Share Posted 7 November , 2004 I should also add Tragedie Bouffe By Rene Arnaud and Ten Thousand Shall Fall By David King both are memoirs of soldiers serving in the French army. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dewey Posted 13 November , 2004 Author Share Posted 13 November , 2004 thanks for the advice! I have already started to look into them. Anyone have any other ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimCatherall Posted 16 November , 2004 Share Posted 16 November , 2004 A bit 'off topic' but it may be worth reading - Le Grand Meules by Alan Fournier. He was killed in the August 1914 and this was his only book. Its not about the war at all but stands I believe for many French people as a personification for the belle epoque before the war and 'loss of innocence' caused by the war. Its a great read too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelab Posted 20 September , 2007 Share Posted 20 September , 2007 I can also recommend "Les Croix de Bois" by Roland Dorgeles, with vivid portrayals of his fellow soldiers. (I don't think it exists in English, unfortunately.) I am currently reading "La Main Coupée" by Blaise Cendrars. It's good to see, higher up this thread, that its English title is "Lice". So far, in the book, there's a lot of talk of Frise, on the Somme river, a village that I have passed through fairly recently. It seems even more unimaginable, when one has seen how picturesque a place is today, how horrific life (and death) was there in 14-18. Incidentally, in my readings of first-hand war-time experiences, I am struck by the way the French "poilu" seems always to have totally despised his officers. I don't know if other readers have found the same? Whereas in memoirs of the "Tommy", British soldiers usually seemed to admire/rub along well with officers - though all united in deprecating those at HQ. Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Armstrong Custer Posted 20 September , 2007 Share Posted 20 September , 2007 Try 'A Crusader of France' The Letters of Captain Ferdinand Belmont of the Chasseurs Alpins, August 2,1914—December 28,1915 . Translated from the French by G. Frederic Lees. ciao, GAC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versigny Posted 21 September , 2007 Share Posted 21 September , 2007 A French book (published in 1997, ISBN 2 908 182 66 1, hardback £19.95) with its text side by side in both French and English is "The 1917 Spring Offensives, Arras, Vimy, le Chemin des Dames" written by Yves Buffetaut and published by Histoire & Collections. Masses of pictures, including plenty of British/Commonwealth forces but most of which are not found in books by British authors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 21 September , 2007 Share Posted 21 September , 2007 I have heard many speak highly of Barbusse but the tranlsation I have must be terrible... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave G Posted 23 September , 2007 Share Posted 23 September , 2007 Two I found interesting: Paul Maze A Frenchman in Khaki and M. Vassal Uncensored Letters From the Dardanelles. Best Regards, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlesmessenger Posted 24 September , 2007 Share Posted 24 September , 2007 Do any of the works mentioned cover Montdidier (what we call the Battle of Amiens) 8-11 August 1918? Charles M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD60 Posted 24 September , 2007 Share Posted 24 September , 2007 Do any of the works mentioned cover Montdidier (what we call the Battle of Amiens) 8-11 August 1918? Charles M "Moreuil les Brumes de Picardie" can help. see below ( I do not want to do any advertising there but just to give an idea of the book) http://www.librairie-ac.com/types-produits/1-livres/5.html Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Squeeth Posted 2 October , 2007 Share Posted 2 October , 2007 'Verdun' Jules Romains is really rather good. I read it whilst walking Hadrian's Wall. 'The Marne: The Battle That Saved Paris and Changed the Course of the First World War' Georges Blond has its moments too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwin astill Posted 2 October , 2007 Share Posted 2 October , 2007 And the Liaison Officer with BEF, who was attache in London prior to the war and took part in the 'conversations' - Huguet - his book is available in translation. Edwin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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