REVIEW... 1914: Voices from the Battlefields

[AndyMacdonald]

They were the oldest of elderly men in crisp Sunday suits with clanking medals when I was a schoolboy in Christchurch, New Zealand. That was in the 1980s, and even then the fabled Mons star and bar was a rarity among veterans of the First World War.

Now they – the heroes of Mons, Marne and Aisne – are all gone; their stories are confined quite literally to the pages of history.

One such is the just-released volume by Matthew Richardson, titled 1914: Voices from the Battlefields (Pen & Sword Military). This beautiful-looking, narrative-driven book packs a punch both in content and hard-cover production quality; it’s not one of those flimsy paperbacks that falls apart after a single engagement.

From page to page you will find hundreds of first-hand accounts that the author has rounded up from a legion of sources.

One of the major failings of military historians is their chronic inability to consider both sides of the hill. That is, giving both the British and German versions of events. Richardson has not fallen into that trap, and his book is all the better for being able to compare eyewitness accounts of numerous actions from the viewpoints multiple protagonists. There is plenty of material that has not seen circulation before, which is very refreshing.

As an outsider looking in my impression is that Richardson has let the soldiers do the talking, transporting the reader back to the gruelling first days, weeks and months of the First World War. Their words are, by turns, engaging, horrifying, saddening and, at times, humorous. Richardson sets these against the cloth of sparing battle overviews and tactical summaries.

As a professional author and military historian, my brief rests on the Western Front, 1916–17. Being a New Zealander, I will also confess to more than a passing interest in Gallipoli, 1915. My interest in the fighting of 1914, then, is seated in my few encounters with those of the Old Contemptible Association and distant family members who were present at the onset of hostilities.

That is, if I am going to buy, let alone read, a book about the British-German encounters in 1914 it will need to help me better understand what the soldiers I either knew, or knew of, had likely experienced, beyond that I had already learned. To this end, I was pleased to find detailed references to the 19th (Queen Alexandria’s Own Royal) Hussars, the Dorsetshire Regiment, and the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment.

The acid test rests not only in content, but also in layout, footnotes, indexing and bibliography. Military history books can be evaluated on these factors alone. From Richardson’s bibliography one can see he has done the graft, tracking down old tomes and long-forgotten magazines and journals, whether in English language or German.

The footnoting appears comprehensive, reflects the way in which the source material is presented, and stands up to a random accuracy check against the books on my sagging shelf. Indexing follows a formula that will suit the general reader and, to a reasonable extent, maps the subject matter in depth. Detailed references for trenches, graves, machine guns, artillery and so forth exist. Qualitative subjects such as command, morale, and death are not indexed.

Photographs throughout are pleasing on the eye, including a mix of more recent colour snaps and decades-old portraits of soldiers. It is obvious that Richardson has taken time to select his images; they yield unwritten insights to the accompanying text. For instance, the large photograph of the bandaged Musketier Helmuth Schreiner, Infanterie Regiment 24, speaks volumes. His tunic is dishevelled, his sling is an adapted woollen scarf, and his facial expressions reveal a young man who has seen far too much.

The maps are easy to use and not overcrowded with superfluous detail. Each locates the soldiers who are quoted in the body copy of the book.

If there was one brickbat it would be that the subeditor (as opposed to Richardson) could have been more particular with their treatment of certain grammatical matters. The general reader, however, will almost certainly not notice these errors.

This year and the next few out to 2018 will see a deluge of military titles appearing on the market, many of questionable quality at best. Richardson’s latest endeavour is not one of those in any sense, and in terms of content and presentation it is a book I can recommend for readers who have both general and detailed interests in the events of 1914. I know that it will certainly be of use in my future studies in the area of 1914.*

Andy Macdonald

* Disclaimer: Dr Andrew Macdonald provided one of the photographs used in this book, but – apart from that – is not known to the author.

[Jim Hastings]

Hi Andy,

Thank you for the review. I looked at this title on Amazon when it came out, but was concerned that it was a repeat of the enjoyable Forgotten Voices, though can see from your review that it is more comprehensive.

Thanks again

Jim