Wilson and Hammerton "The Great War".

[Trevor Sproston]

I've been lucky enough to get a complete set of this 13 volume set ["The Standard History of the All-Europe Conflict"]. I've just started reading it, and would like to know how it is rated as a historical account. I'm fully aware that it is of its time, but nonetheless it may transcend this limitation.

[bts1970]

Trever

Got the full set myself some years ago for the sum of £5, bargain i thought, have only got into it for research a few times, if i sat down to read it now i would be an old man by the time i got to the end of 13.

Not heard to much mention of the collection in regards to the detail it contains though

Bob

[Trevor Sproston]

Trever

Got the full set myself some years ago for the sum of £5, bargain i thought, have only got into it for research a few times, if i sat down to read it now i would be an old man by the time i got to the end of 13.

Not heard to much mention of the collection in regards to the detail it contains though

Bob

Thanks for this Seasider.

As it happens, I'm a community care worker [having given up teaching], and I do what are known as afternoon sits, during which I have time to read. I'm over halfway through Vol. 1 at present, but I know it'll be heavy going once I reach Gallipoli.

It's wonderful to read about "Barbarian Huns".

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Even if some of the text is somewhat "Of The Period" the photographs & pictures are treasures & often never seen elsewhere!!!

[MartinWills]

It's not as bad an account as you might think - and isn't solely a "western" outlook - indeed there is coverage of pretty much all fronts. Ot does not have the benefit of hindsight (some may say this is an advantage) and does have some limits of censorship, but as a contemporary record is relatively unsullied other than views of the period (beastly Germans) appearing at times.

You could do a lot worse than to read it through - but don't read it in isolation.

By the By - it's worth it for the illustrations alone.

[bts1970]

Like other similar publications of the time the text does make for humorous reading, given that today we sometimes have similar one sided media coverage we do have the benefit of other media outlets ie TV to form our own opinions of our enemies.

Agree on the illustration comment Martin, you can get "antique" pictures on the net etc which are pictures lifted from such publications & mounted, i was lucky to double up on some of my books to be able to do something similar .... and before anyone shouts about destroying books the publications were in a fairly poorly state of affairs before i got creative.

Bob

[phil andrade]

Like other similar publications of the time the text does make for humorous reading, given that today we sometimes have similar one sided media coverage we do have the benefit of other media outlets ie TV to form our own opinions of our enemies.

Agree on the illustration comment Martin, you can get "antique" pictures on the net etc which are pictures lifted from such publications & mounted, i was lucky to double up on some of my books to be able to do something similar .... and before anyone shouts about destroying books the publications were in a fairly poorly state of affairs before i got creative.

Bob

These volumes give a surprisingly candid account of British losses - no attempt to conceal their magnitude : indeed, there are poignant sections dealing with the casualties among the nation's top sportsmen and other sections of society.

Likewise, there are meticulous investigations into German casualty reports, with reminders that things were not always going well for the Allies in regard to the exchange rate.

All in all, the volumes tell me that the British people were not so easily duped as they are sometimes supposed to have been.

Phil.