bob lembke Posted 9 February , 2007 Share Posted 9 February , 2007 Some time ago I made a comment in a post in a different thread (a request from newcomer to our shared interest in WW I, asking for a few titles to get him up to some sort of speed) that bears repeating. Jack's excellent book on the Somme is a real asset for anyone studying that important battle, but an additional virtue is the fact that I know of no other single book in English (or probably in German as well; I have been reading more in German than in English for the last five or six years) that can get one up to speed in understanding a broad swaith of things about the German Army in WW I in general. A major and very good type of source that Jack used are the many German unit histories; these books are known, but tend to be very expensive, typically $100 or more for a copy, and hard to track down, even in Europe, even if you are willing "to pay the freight"; and while they are available in German public libraries, they generally are not available in all but a few major US libraries, for example, libraries that in most case do not lend their books out, or participate in inter-library loan (e.g., the Library of Congress). Additionally, the book is a very good read, exciting, and well written, aside from being very useful and informative. I must have well over 200 German official histories, unit histories, and first-person narratives by German participants, and have the free access to the library where my wife works, with 7 million volumes; with a phone call I will have any (almost) any of those books in the evening with an open-ended faculty loan, but I bought the Somme book, Jack's recent battlefield guides, and will certainly buy the Passchendaele book when available. I generally do not read secondary sources, but I really consider this book more a primary source than a secondary source, mostly a series of well-chosen and well-translated excerpts from clearly identified German primary sources, organized into a well-flowing narrative. Bob Lembke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halder Posted 9 February , 2007 Share Posted 9 February , 2007 I must have well over 200 German official histories, unit histories, and first-person narratives by German participants, and have the free access to the library where my wife works, with 7 million volumes; with a phone call I will have any (almost) any of those books in the evening with an open-ended faculty loan... Bob, you are a very very very lucky man! I wish I had that sort of access to German books. Invariably it's a trip to the IWM or a hefty credit card bill for me. Very much look forward to Jack's book; I rushed out to buy his Somme and battleground books. I'm hoping P&S might do a discount for a fellow author when I buy this one. I'm glad the font is different; I had a feeling P&S might have tried the same font with my book, so I made it quite specific which legible font I wanted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 1 October , 2007 Share Posted 1 October , 2007 I found the book very readable and added to my knowledge. I wonder if you will actually find what you are looking for, I havent seen many books from the german perspective but I don't read German so maybe there are publications out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halder Posted 1 October , 2007 Share Posted 1 October , 2007 Sad to say I found the book a disappointment. I wanted an analysis of the German defence on the Somme and got a compilation of accounts by front line soldiers with some narrative links. Fair enough I suppose since the writer doesn't exist to pander to me but I would appreciate suggestions from readers of books more on the lines of what I want. Ta. Try possibly Christopher Duffy's Through German Eyes; the comments on here about are mixed. I found it very good. Alternatively, if you can track down a copy, G C Wynne's If Germany Attacks, from memory, is about defensive tactics and strategy in WW1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Squeeth Posted 1 October , 2007 Share Posted 1 October , 2007 Thank you for your help. The sort of thing I'm after would be along the lines of 'Colossal Cracks' SA Hart or 'British Armour in Normandy' J Buckley without the ghastly prose and copy-editing. Perhaps I'll have to learn German :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyrene Posted 17 October , 2007 Share Posted 17 October , 2007 Are Jack's books like Lyn MacDonald's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 28 November , 2007 Share Posted 28 November , 2007 I have the book in front of me and am reading, but - I'd rather like to read the original German documents compiled here. Jack , is there a German language version planned? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 28 November , 2007 Share Posted 28 November , 2007 Are Jack's books like Lyn MacDonald's? No. I love her work, she has brought more people to WW1 than any other author and has done great work preserving memory with her interviews. Her books work those into events. Jack does archival and other research and his books are based largely on that. Very good too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Sheldon Posted 29 November , 2007 Share Posted 29 November , 2007 Paul Many thanks for your kind words, which are appreciated as I read my way through the final proof of the forthcoming Vimy book. It provides encouragement to keep my hand to the plough for one of the most tedious tasks known to man. Egbert I have copies of everything which appears in the book, so if you want a copy of some particular document, get in touch and we can discuss it off-Forum. I think it exceedingly improbable that a German edition will ever appear. There is simply insufficient interest over there to justify what would be either an expensive translation or a total re-working of the material. Not only that, the former members of the contingents that fought the Great War frequently got too close to the Nazis later for modern comfort. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 29 November , 2007 Share Posted 29 November , 2007 thanx for your answer Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halder Posted 29 November , 2007 Share Posted 29 November , 2007 Paul Many thanks for your kind words, which are appreciated as I read my way through the final proof of the forthcoming Vimy book. It provides encouragement to keep my hand to the plough for one of the most tedious tasks known to man. Egbert I have copies of everything which appears in the book, so if you want a copy of some particular document, get in touch and we can discuss it off-Forum. I think it exceedingly improbable that a German edition will ever appear. There is simply insufficient interest over there to justify what would be either an expensive translation or a total re-working of the material. Not only that, the former members of the contingents that fought the Great War frequently got too close to the Nazis later for modern comfort. Jack I'm surprised there's no interest in a translation, or abridged one, not least because I picked up an excellent new book on the 90th anniversary of the Somme last year when I was over in Freiburg. German readers don't know what they're missing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Sheldon Posted 29 November , 2007 Share Posted 29 November , 2007 Halder Was that the book of essays Die Deutschen and der Somme Hirschfeld, Krumeich and Renz? It certainly contains some good stuff. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halder Posted 30 November , 2007 Share Posted 30 November , 2007 Halder Was that the book of essays Die Deutschen and der Somme Hirschfeld, Krumeich and Renz? It certainly contains some good stuff. Jack Hi Jack, That's the one. I thought it was a really good mix of material. I used a few of the Feldpost letters in Navy News' Somme supplement last year. Perhaps understandably, finding books covering WW1 and WW2 in mainstream German bookshops, or second-hand ones for that matter, is pretty tricky. You either get the ten-a-penny histories (such as Guido Knopp), a little bit of academia, or nothing. It's only when you start looking around on the web that you realise past and present, there's a lot more out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 27 December , 2007 Share Posted 27 December , 2007 Today I finally finished "The German Army on the Somme" and I must say it is a great piece of illustrated contemporary history. If any Brits are curious on the German side, especially the thinking, doing, acting of the ordinary soldier etc- this is the book. The book mostly consists of German individual accounts and they are superbly translated (Hi Jack, except some trenchnames)! Excellent read (even on work) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodB Posted 17 April , 2008 Share Posted 17 April , 2008 Finally got my paperback copy ! Thanks Jack, great read. I read Middlebrook's First Day on the Somme when it first came out, and it has been a strange experience reading this from the other side after all these years. Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Sheldon Posted 17 April , 2008 Share Posted 17 April , 2008 Rod Many thanks for your kind words. I, too, read Martin Middlebrook many years ago and the only area where I would really disagree with him is in his evaluation of the vulnerability of the German Second Position from Grandcourt to Mouquet Farm on 1 July 1916. I tackled this in my Thiepval guidebook at some length and I simply do not accept that the German documentary record supports previous assessments. From what you say about delivery times, the book must have come the 10,000 miles by sailing ship. If you get a chance to look at my Passchendaele book, you will also see some of the events during that campaign which were of particular concern to the ANZAC contingent also given the treatment from the other side of No Man's Land. I should be interested in due course to hear your opinion about that too. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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