Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with WWI

One-volume book about WWI

Postroad — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:34:03 -0800

Suggestions for a very good one-volume book about World War I. Decided I wanted to know more abut this "war to end all wars," and so am looking for a single volume book. Did this for the AmericanCivil War and found The Battle Cry of Freedom splendid. Now on to WWI...hive: any good ideas?

WWI, what happened?

serazin — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:51:09 -0800

What was WWI about anyway? Last night my roommate and I were watching Jules and Jim, and both realized we know nothing about World War I. As she summed up our mutual lack of information: We know that someone was assassinated and then everyone started senselessly killing each other. Surely there's more to the story than this.

Can you, in simple terms, sum up the context leading to WWI, and/or explain its aftermath in simple terms? Simple outside references also welcome!

Series of books about WWI pilots

nushustu — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:55:20 -0800

I once heard about a series of novels about WWI pilots in the vein of the Aubrey-Maturin series, or Flashman. Might have had "Hell" in the title. It was basically about a bunch of crazy guys who knew that they had a good chance of dying. IIRC, the commander of the group had to justify buying silk scarves for the pilots to keep their necks from chafing. Any ideas?

Won the war. Lost the war poet.

taramosalata — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:57:20 -0800

Help me identity this 1910s/20s/30s British poet (from precious little information). * Auden admired his work -- this is definite but I've lost the source and cannot be sure whether Auden ever reviewed his work.

* He's not usually ranked among the great WWI poets like Sassoon, Owen, Brooke, et al. And I cannot find him on this Wikipedia list. But I do remember reading a short Wikipedia entry devoted to him.

* And he did write about war -- before WWII, if not during WWI -- and was particularly well-known for one longish poem (or short epic) that was published as a single volume. With 80% certainty I believe its title to be a definite article followed by a multisyllabic latinate (but not too complicated) abstract noun. It was something like 'The Ambiguity.'

* First name might be David. (20% certainty here).

[Apologize for the sparse clues. As soon I read about his work I knew I was determined to track it down -- then neglected to bookmark or jot down the actual info. So this riddle is really a passionate query.]

Preserving a lot of WWI-era papers?

Nomiconic — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:23:48 -0800

I have a big box of very old papers (and other things) I'd like to preserve in a way that facilitates viewing. What's a good way to go about this? I have a quite large box (I'd say it weighs in around 20 lbs.) full of letters, binders, photographs, and various small paraphernalia belonging to a private in the US Army in France in World War I. Most of the letters are dated around 1918, so this stuff is verging on a century old. Right now it's all pretty much unprotected, and I hate the thought of all of it disintegrating and being more or less forgotten. I'd like to preserve it as best I can (though I'd also like to be able to look at it from time to time) and maybe digitize it in the long term. Is this feasible? If so, how should I do it?

Stories about WWI/WWII home fronts

booksandlibretti — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:30:21 -0800

Please recommend me some great books about the home front during WWI or WWII. I'm really interested in stories, not academic histories or anything. Novels, diaries, collected letters, and memoirs would all qualify -- basically, I like stories, fictional or not.

Again, I'm looking for a home front setting, not for soldiers' stories. England, Canada, and America would all be obvious choices, but stuff about noncombatant residents in contested areas (like A Woman in Berlin) is also fair game.

I'm especially interested in the London Blitz and the evacuated schoolchildren, so bonus points for books including those elements. Other examples of what I've enjoyed are The Night Watch, by Sarah Waters, and L. M. Montgomery's Rilla of Ingleside. Heck, even the Chronicles of Narnia qualify around the edges.

Thanks in advance!

Looking for a picture of a wwi monument

allthewhile — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 04:26:14 -0800

I'm looking for a large image of a very specific wwi monument. It is a version of the "pieta". Only instead of Mary holding a dead Christ, its a mother holding a dead soldier Its this picture

I can't seem to find a larger version.

Topical movies?

hampton — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 14:49:24 -0800

I am looking for movies about summer camp, movies about people lost at sea, movies about private school, and movies about World War I. Thanks for any suggestions.

Background reading for Against the Day?

PinkStainlessTail — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 05:40:43 -0800

Thomas Pynchon has a new novel coming out in December. It's called Against the Day. Can you recommend some good background sources for the period it is set in? Here is a description, from Pynchon himself:

"Spanning the period between the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the years just after World War I, this novel moves from the labor troubles in Colorado to turn-of-the-century New York, to London and Gottingen, Venice and Vienna, the Balkans, Central Asia, Siberia at the time of the mysterious Tunguska Event, Mexico during the Revolution, postwar Paris, silent-era Hollywood, and one or two places not strictly speaking on the map at all."

Ideally I'm looking for works that would cover a few of these topics and/or a good chunk of the time period, rather than more specific books like The Devil in the White City. I realize that's a pretty broad brief though, so all suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

Books about The Great War?

grabbingsand — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 06:12:41 -0800

MilitaryHistoryBookFilter. Seeking readable histories of soldier and homefront experience during World War I. I'm not so much interested in tactical aspect of particular battles as I am in the individuals and communities involved. This is partly inspired by the last book I read, and also because my grandfather served with The Sixth Cavalry in France during WWI. While I'd like to find some layman-friendly history books, I'll take fiction recommendations as well.

Print/poster of Edward Wadsworth's Dazzle-ships in Drydock at Liverpool?

junesix — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 10:50:09 -0800

This morning I saw the Boing-Boing post on WWI "Razzle-Dazzle" ship camo and became completely enamored by Edward Wadsworth's mesmerizing 1919 Dazzle-ships in Drydock at Liverpool oil on canvas painting. I'd love to have a large print or poster of it. So far my cursory Google searches have turned up nothing besides info on razzle camo and the painting's influence on OMD's Dazzle Ships CD title and cover 1,2. Where can I find a nice reproduction to put in a frame?

Guns for US Soldiers in WWI

dagnyscott — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 09:58:44 -0800

What sort of guns (by model) were issued to United States soldiers in the first world war? Smaller guns in particular.

Skyscraper Oddities

b1tr0t — Sun, 17 Oct 2004 11:43:40 -0800

In the late '90s, I went up to the top of the world trade center several times. One of the more unusual things I noticed was a first world war era biplane sitting on top of a building. I've recently tried to find more information on the unusual decoration and am coming up short. A number of pages reference a Sopwith Camel sitting on top of 77 water street. The yahoo map location for 77 water street seems too close to the water to match my memory. I though the plane was in the middle of a cluster of buildings.

Are there multiple decorative planes on top of buildings in lower manhattan (not counting helipads)? What other hidden oddities lurk on top of the world's skyscrapers? If anyone can point me to a picture to the *top* of 77 Water Street, including the biplane, that would be really cool.