1915: The Death of InnocenceBy Christmas 1914, the wild wave of enthusiasm that had sent men flocking to join up a few months earlier began to tail off, and though the original British Expeditionary Force had suffered 90 percent casualties, most people, particularly the soldiers themselves, still believed that 1915 would see the breaking of the deadlock. But their hopes were shattered on the bloody battlefields of Neuve Chapelle, Ypres, Loos, and far away on the shores of Gallipoli. Lyn Macdonald's story of 1915 is stark, brutal, frank, sometimes painfully funny, always human. Never before has any writer collected so many firsthand accounts of the experiences of ordinary soldiers, through diaries, letters, and interviews with survivors—and it is the dogged heroism and sardonic humor of the soldiers that shine through the pages of this epic narrative. 1915 is a uniquely compelling blend of military history and poignant memories of the fighters who survived the ordeal. |
Contents
Foreword | vii |
List of Maps | xi |
Chapter One | 3 |
Chapter Two | 16 |
Chapter Three | 38 |
Chapter Four | 49 |
Chapter Five | 59 |
Chapter Six | 75 |
Chapter TwentyOne | 295 |
Chapter TwentyTwo | 311 |
Chapter TwentyThree | 331 |
Chapter TwentyFour | 342 |
Chapter TwentyFive | 355 |
Chapter TwentySix | 379 |
Chapter TwentySeven | 396 |
Chapter TwentyEight | 413 |
Chapter Seven | 87 |
Chapter Eight | 99 |
Chapter Nine | 114 |
Chapter Ten | 130 |
Chapter Eleven | 147 |
Chapter Twelve | 169 |
Chapter Thirteen | 182 |
Chapter Fourteen | 196 |
Chapter Fifteen | 211 |
Chapter Sixteen | 231 |
Chapter Seventeen | 246 |
Chapter Eighteen | 258 |
Chapter Nineteen | 269 |
Chapter Twenty | 280 |
Chapter TwentyNine | 428 |
Chapter Thirty | 442 |
Chapter ThirtyOne | 459 |
Chapter ThirtyTwo | 478 |
Chapter ThirtyThree | 496 |
Chapter ThirtyFour | 512 |
Chapter ThirtyFive | 532 |
Chapter ThirtySix | 552 |
Chapter ThirtySeven | 571 |
Chapter ThirtyEight | 585 |
603 | |
Authors Note | 606 |
611 | |