Great Britain's Great War

by Jeremy Paxman

Jeremy Paxman's magnificent history of the First World War tells the entire story of the war in one gripping narrative from the point of view of the British people. 'If there is one new history of the war that you might actually enjoy this is very likely it' The Times 'Lively, surprising and memorable' Guardian 'A procession of fascinating details' Prospect 'Paxman writes so well and sympathetically and he chooses his detail so deftly' The Times 'Clever, laconic and racy' Daily Telegraph Life in Britain during the First World War was far stranger than many of us realize. In a country awash with mad rumour, frenzied patriotism and intense personal anguish, it became illegal to light a bonfire, fly a kite or buy a round of drinks. And yet the immense upheaval of the war led to many things we take for granted the vote, passports, vegetable allotments and British Summer Time among them. In this immensely captivating account, Jeremy Paxman tells the entire story of the war through the experience of those who lived it - nurses, soldiers, politicians, factory-workers, journalists and children - explaining why we fought it so willingly, how we endured it so long, and how it transformed us all. 'A profoundly personal and thought-provoking new analysis of the Great War' Mail on Sunday 'One is left with a better understanding of how the Great Britain that began the war became more like ordinary Britain by its end' Sunday Times 'A judicious mix between individual stories and the bigger picture ... engages the mind and emotions' Daily Telegraph 'Particularly good in showing how much a modern perspective distorts our understanding' Prospect 'Incisive, colourful. Paxman delves into every aspect of British life to capture the mood and morale of the nation' Daily Express Jeremy Paxman is a renowned broadcaster, award-winning journalist and the bestselling author of seven works of non-fiction, including The English, The Political Animal and Empire.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, World War I, Military Fiction, Military History, Audiobook

368 pages, Paperback

First published June 8, 2013

About the author

Jeremy Dickson Paxman is a British journalist, author and television presenter. He has worked for the BBC since 1977. He is noted for a forthright and abrasive interviewing style, particularly when interrogating politicians. His regular appearances on the BBC2's Newsnight programme have been criticised as aggressive, intimidating, condescending and irreverent, and applauded as tough and incisive.

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first book by Jeremy Paxman. It’s a relatively brief, discursive survey of Britain’s experience of WW1, covering the war and its immediate aftermath from a social, political and military perspective.

There are no surprises here, no fresh analysis or insight. In fact there are a fair few cliches - donkeys & lions, lambs to the slaughter, etc. This is really a synthesis of other views and sources.

But it’s very well written, compassionate, dryly witty, and I thought it was an excellent read.

[Sarah u · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeremy Paxman's book Great Britain's Great War discusses the Great War chronologically, taking the reader from origins to the battlefield to the aftermath of the Armistice. It is written plainly, and has some good insights and very thoughtful and intelligent observations about why men went to war, what the British hoped to achieve, and how our attitudes today perhaps misunderstand these fundamental ideas.

A good point about this book is it doesn't lose its focus- it's about Great Britain and her experiences through the war, and sticks to this theme. This is a slight disadvantage in some ways; for example the Eastern Front and Russian Revolution are only mentioned in passing, but it does mean the prose of the book maintains its focus on the topic at hand. I felt that the book did not glorify the war; indeed it is critical where necessary. Lots of key figures of the war were discussed, including Kitchener, Asquith and Lloyd George, Seigfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, and so on.

Paxman's work is clearly written and easy to understand, yet does not shy away from difficult topics. There is a discussion towards the end as to perhaps why some see the war today as "pointless" which I found interesting, as well as the discussions about the attitudes of the people who remained at home. One particular topic that made me think was the glorification of those that had died, but the revulsion at some of the men who were disfigured during battle. It seemed that many at home wanted the men to go and fight, but not many wanted to see the disfiguring results of such warfare, and sometimes the maimed were required to be hidden. I found this a difficult yet necessary topic.

There is a lot more that can be said, but as it is all in my status updates I will sum up my experience of Great Britain's Great War as a readable, engrossing account of the war from the British point of view that does not lean towards any particular 'side'. Paxman presents the information in a style that can be easily digested, although his conversational tone might not suit everyone, and his chapters make use of plenty of primary sources and scholarship. I do think perhaps those that are very well read in this topic might not gain a great deal from this book, but it would certainly suit those looking to begin or refresh their knowledge of the First World War from the point of view of the British and/or the Western Front.

[Michael Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy reading Jeremy Paxman's books, and this was no exception. I wondered how he would handle such a momentous historical event, and he confesses that he sometimes struggled with the weighty task in hand.

Although the general outline of the conflict is discussed, it's the little anecdotes and vignettes of everyday life during the Great War that really stand out for me. Paxman highlights the sense of paranoia which gripped Britain in the early days of the War, as it was assumed that German spies and agents were everywhere. This meant that anybody speaking a foreign language on the streets of Britain was automatically suspected of being an enemy agent. Thus, an elderly lady in Inverness was arrested by soldiers after she was heard speaking Scots Gaelic and assumed to be German!

Oh, and forget buying your mate or partner a drink. The Defence of the Realm Act, introduced in Britain in 1914, contained some of the most draconian legislation ever passed by Parliament. It outlawed buying drinks for other people and allowed beer to be watered down, as well as forcing pubs to shut early. All, of course, to keep important war work from being interrupted by drunken workers.

It's a book which, not surprisingly, captures snapshots of human emotion that such a bloody hell inflicted on that generation. I laughed in parts, and I almost cried in parts.

[Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

2018 is the centenary of the end of the First World War so I thought it only appropriate to read a book on the subject. Who better than Jeremy Paxman, that devout chronicler of the English, to write one? GREAT BRITAIN'S GREAT WAR is a typically fine exploration of the subject, remaining focused on life in British society and how the various aspects of the war impinged upon it.

This is far more than just a historical narrative: Paxman strives to work out what was making the nation tick, and why people, from the highest generals to the lowest soldiers, were motivated into doing what they did. It's by turns ghastly, thrilling, and completely moving, and the reader comes away with a very finely-painted picture of what it meant for our nation to go to war and the toll it took on virtually everyone in society.

[Ant Koplowitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeremy Paxman’s Great Britain's Great War is a brief but very readable tour through the landscape of World War I. It’s a mix of the political, military, social, domestic and personal stories that give a surprisingly rounded picture of 1914-18. Paxman dispels some of the myths of the war and its aftermath. I liked the fact that this wasn’t a strictly chronological account of the war, so there was no ‘aren’t we at the end yet’ feeling.

Recommended.

© Koplowitz 2015

[Lucy Shiels · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the centenary of the First World War, a flurry of new publications have emerged detailing the events of The Great War, insuring that its significance in terms of the changes it provoked and the tragedies and deaths it amassed are not forgotten. Jeremy Paxman’s ‘Great Britain’s Great War’, which goes alongside his television programme of the same name, describes the war in terms of the people who lived through it at home. He tells the common man’s story of the war.

Paxman argues that the First World War sparked a series of changes in British society that have been steadfastly held and are recognisable today. When talking about this book at The Edinburgh Book Festival this year, he used the analogy of a Victorian time-traveller coming to Britain in 1924 and struggling to identify with it; compared to coming along in 1914 and being able to find some recognition with Edwardian Britain.

Paxman narrates the important events of the war, from the “lamps going out all over Britain” to the Christmas armistice, the Somme, the stalemate in the mud to the last hundred days and the eventual Armistice. Interwoven with the tales from the Western Front are the tales of anguish and turmoil of those left back at home. He prosaically narrates how the war affected them in terms of governmental crackdown and intervention. He argues that this was the beginning of the government taking an interest in the workings of everyday life for the first time. With censorship and rationing came the, limited, vote for women in 1918, the passport and growth of allotments. The story of the everyman back home in Britain is often overlooked, which is incredible giving that it is tantamount to understanding why British society was so radically altered post-1918. Of course, the Western Front account of the war is significant, and where would we be without the war poetry from the trenches? However, it is refreshing to read something which pays particular attention to the other side of the story.

Paxman’s history of the Great War in Britain is written to be digested by the common man. He makes the struggles felt by those during the war years very real and very vivid. I would recommend this book as a starting point for those who want to learn more about the war in Britain.

http://lucyanneshiels18.wordpress.com...

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as knew very little about WW1. this good basic insight as to the conflict and ideal to help know what aspects you would like to further read up on. Paxan does tend to write as he appears on TV, a complete know all

[Jerry Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

World War 1 has a strong hold on me, as I think it does for many in the UK, despite the fact there are no longer any participants alive and the conflict ended well over a century ago. I think it is because I can remember grandparents who fought in the War but perhaps more resonantly, it is impossible to walk through villages, towns, rain stations and public buildings in my country of birth without coming across a war memorial with a long list of names, often clearly coming from the same family. Coming as it did, at the waning of the British Empire, it also forms one of the pivotal moments in UK history. It still remains fascinating for me that, but for the vagaries and fortunes of history, I would have been one of the soldiers had I been born just a few decades earlier.

Still, I guess that is always true of history and why I am such an avid devotee of historical works that examine what it must truly have been like at the time being chronicled. This is why this book was so appealing to me and I was already familiar with Paxman and enjoyed his work so it was an easy read for me. Is has an interesting structure. Basically it runs through the chronology of the war, touching on the main milestones such as the outbreak of hostilities, Mons, Gallipoli, trench warfare, the Somme, Passchendaele, the spring offensive in 1918 etc. but also marries that with the situation in the UK both politically and among the general population. I think it works well and it is the examination of the zeitgeist in the UK at the time that I find particularly interesting.

Some of this is very poignant - particularly, I thought, the discussion of the wounded who returned to England only to find it was far from the "land fit for heroes" that was promised, and the awful disfigurements that many suffered because of the new forms of mechanized warfare that meant head wounds were particularly prevalent. I would actually like to have seen a little more on the aftermath of the war although that is probably a subject for other books and I am sure has been covered elsewhere.

It is clear that WW1 profoundly changed history and, as is hinted at here, was really round one of the conflict that began again in 1939. There is some questioning of the narrative of "lions led by donkeys" here but again, that is perhaps beyond the scope of the book and has been explored elsewhere but it seems to me that JP doesn't take a strong view on it here. It is clear that the use of artillery, gas, flamethrowers, tanks, heavy machine guns and trench warfare wasn't something that the generals on either side, but perhaps especially the allies, had really thought about and the tactics at the beginning were woefully inadequate to cope. There was clearly hubris around the British Armies capabilities since the Empire relied very heavily on its Navy to enforce its rule, and only had a relatively small, albeit highly trained, army. This is what led to the need for massive recruitment and conscription.

It is hard to imagine what drove people, more than 100 years ago, to sign up with such gusto. Maybe a sense of duty we can't understand now and obviously, a misguided notion of what the war would be. Of course, hindsight is wonderful. People didn't know what they didn't know. It was ever thus. Overall I very much enjoyed this book. There is some repetition due to the structure, and there were a couple of areas mentioned above that could perhaps have been explored even more but that is just my personal preference. It is an excellent account that adds to the vast amount of literature on this most horrible of wars.

[Lordoftaipo · Rating 5 out of 5]

What we love about documentaries is its wide expanse of research that sheds news lights and clears the air. It is also what I love about this book, not surprisingly, recreated from the almost eponymous BBC One series, both of which were hosted by Paxo, who was, according to Boris Johnson, the ‘last One-Nation Conservative’ in the corporation.

Political convictions regardless, the received wisdom that wars are exhaustive, meaningless, and depraved is so general that it has tricked our minds that atrocities were afflicted by the belligerent kind. We truly need reminders of the sentiments back then, the ‘white man’s burden’ belonging to the pack of kindred spirits that shared nothing but the obligation and call of duty.

A century away is indeed a world away. Without reading the book, little do we know of the multifaceted prewar mood in the UK, and the subsequent change thereof. The suffragettes were planting bombs in David Lloyd George’s stately home. Industrial slums had become a prevalent eyesore in many cities, in response to which trade unions protested relentlessly. And saying that the war sped up the overdue enfranchisement of these people, by liberating the female labour force and subverting social classes, is not glorifying wars.

Apart from the sanguine take, we’ve also got the heart-wrenching details of how soldiers, who were young and able-bodied, had been maimed, ‘shell-shocked’, and mentally spent. My head spinned conjuring up the images, but my experience could under no circumstances be compared to the no man’s land that dreaded a rank of officers, who had soon to partake in another round of worthless trench warfare, as no other roles but cannon fodder. Wrote a colonel, ‘Dante would never have condemned lost souls to wander in so terrible a purgatory.’

No one in the book had demonstrated a thorough bloodthirst, no less than Churchill or the Central Powers. No one had not reflected upon the historic what-if, especially in the passing moment before shrapnels scattering all over you. The course of history led a robust empire to its downfall because of the promise in an entente, just as how it had risen centuries ago availed by good faith.

[Jemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another of my father's books and it's a reasonable account of WWI. It acknowledges many aspects of the conflict and mostly does so with nuance.

It's particularly good about aspects like facial wounds, which is a subject generally avoided but deserves attention. There are also great sections, like the alleged German conspiracy to turn people gay, which I've never heard before.

What let's it down is it's dogged insistence that the war had to be won on the Western Front, by attrition. Now Paxman does acknowledge the carnage and offers fair reason why a failed attack couldn't be called off quickly. This is not valid for more than a day. This is based on a supposed lack of alternatives and the failure of Gallipoli.

The truth is that Gallipoli was a disaster because it was about a year in the planning, with poor secrecy, so the Turks built Western front style defences where they knew they would be attacked. Gallipoli was a disaster because it reproduced the Western Front, not because it was inherently a poor strategy.

WWI generals were taught about Napoleonic strategy and the superiority of the indirect approach. Thus persisting in attacking in Belgium was poor strategy. Indeed Napoleon's failures were generally when he took the direct approach, most notably against Russia.

The lesser known landing at Salonika in 1918 shows what could've been achieved by more imaginative strategy. The Allied forces got almost to Vienna in just 6 weeks. Indeed, the Germans had a Western front strategy of holding the line while they win the war in the east, the war they actually wanted and did win. They too failed to win in 1914 and 1918 on the Western Front, partly because their objectives became obvious and resources could be placed to impede them.

[Cliff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a brief history of World War 1. While it mentions the important battles and milestones, it doesn't go into military minutiae but deals with the effects it had on British people both at the front and at home. I've read a lot about the conflict, but there are moments of illumination, dealing with things I didn't know before. The famous recruiting picture of Lord Kitchener is very well known. However, the gact that he became disliked by members of the cabinet less so. The dislike of the traditional, former public school boys, for the officers made up from the ranks, less so. The heroes led by donkeys platitude is mentioned without the author making a value judgement one way or the other. I didn't realise that Haig had been virtually ignored once the conflict was over. In fact, the politicians don't come out well. I received the impression that Asquith was well out of his depth within months of the war's start. Lloyd George comes across as a pompous windbag. The Daily Mail wasn't any more of a rag playing on the jingoistic trait in the British character, much as it still does. Lord Northcliffe was a thoroughly unpleasant individual. Even if you know a lot about WWI and the reasons which led to it, this book is still worth a read.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I already knew quite a bit about the Great War and how it is often (incorrectly) portrayed, so this caught my eye.

This book looks at what British people thought of the War and how the country was changed by it.
I found this really interesting, Paxman manages to convey some sense of how unrecognisable the country was before the war and how people universally thought differently than people today.

Paxman uses a lot of varied and interesting sources to show how the war was seen through the eyes of people at the time.
It is a little surprising, but understandable, how popular the war was in Britain.
He also pokes at the aftermath of the war and touches on the true costs to Britain and her Empire.

I am no particular fan of Paxman but I found his writing style for most part engaging and easy to read even though sometimes the language got a bit unnecessarily heavy and had me reaching for the dictionary. Yes, "Sanguinary" is a perfect word but hardly well known.

A great book that has a massive bibliography and index at the back making this a fairly short read.
This is a good thing as the remit of the book is quite light unless you are really going to drill down in to some quite expansive and complicated matters.

[Julian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some might criticise this book for being excessively influenced by personal opinion, but even if this view were true, the author's opinions are authoritative and deserving of consideration. The thematic approach worked well: it was certainly refreshing to this reader who has read many chronological accounts. Where Paxman scores great successes are in the areas of personalities - whether Lloyd George, Asquith, or The Kaiser - and causes, e.g. the treatment of the facially disfigured, the breaking down of class barriers.

And most telling were his observations on whether the war should have been fought by Britain at all. To really understand, one needs to think as the British did in 1914, not to judge by our own standards of today. The realisation that Britain could realistically have made no other decision leads on to the realisation that little more than 100 years ago this country was a vastly different place.

A fascinating read.

[Emma Dargue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting look at Great Britain World War I. Paxman generates an interesting narrative that covers all aspects of WW1 and shows the brutality that at the heart of it was a war of attrition. However sometimes I feel Paxman lets his own feelings about this particular war colour the narrative so that it sometimes falls into the common trap of a lot of history books of the time that the higher echelons of generals etc were all bumbling idiots when actually it was a lot more complex than that and was also about a lack of communication in terms of not having an effective communication method as well as other technologies that would have aided Britain to win the war a lot quicker. But overall this book was interesting and informative.

[Simon C · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative and compassionate look at the Great War in many of its facets. Paxman reads only the intro himself in the audio version and the bulk of it is voiced by Roy McMillan. The latter does a good job but the author's distinctive tones are missed.

While Paxman seeks to dispel what he considers the myth of 'Lions led by Donkeys' that has grown up around this conflict, he does seem to find rather a lot of examples that actually endorse this view. I would say that he wears his personal biases on his sleeve, giving upper class individuals an easier time than perhaps they deserve in multiple cases. I certainly learned a great deal about the subject and did a fair amount of additional reading off the back of it.

[John Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Great Britain’s Great War. Paxman has produced a account not just of the battles and trenches but also of the social impact the war had at home. He writes well with humour and empathy. And he doesn’t do the obvious, the war isn’t just one of lions led by donkeys, the reality was much more nuanced than that, the lions were biddable, socially conditioned but led by young men from public schools who led bravely from the front. The generals had learnt their trade at a different time but they, and the politicians they were answerable to could see no way out of the conflict.

[Matt (Bask in the Story) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeremy Paxman's book briefly covers the war from what triggered the events through key events of the war and the aftermath.

What I found most interesting in this book was the discussion of the reason people went to war and the challenges to the stereotypical view of the conduction of the war and the people involved (e.g. the oblivious generals sat miles away from the action ordering men over the top). It is fascinating to view the general mentality of the populace 100 years ago and how it has changed over this time.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good and interesting book. An informative journey through the events of the First World War. Journalistic in style it covers in detail the awful conditions of the trenches, and also the contemporary wranglings of the British politicians as they failed to grasp the war as it unfolded.
It lacked a decent conclusion and just sort of ended a little abruptly with a lot of threads untied, which had it have wrapped up nicely would have turned this from a good read to great one.

[Jen Cater · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book as research for my university degree. It was very well laid out and quite helpful in terms of dates and politics. However, I found that the writer tried to inject his own opinions quite a lot. That might not be a fault for someone hoping to read the book as a political opinion. The book was very factual however and has helped me to some extent in conducting effective and factual research.

[Esther* · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a real challenge to write well-known events in a way that engages people who already know them but that’s exactly what this book does. It hooked me as effectively as a first-time read-through of a thriller. I can’t put my finger exactly on what it is about his summary of these famous events that makes them so riveting, but his pacing and his commentary on them were spot on. Definitely interested in reading more of his books.

[Brian Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and well written with a slightly different take on WW1. Taken from perspective of what it was like for the many different strands of society - politicians, newspapermen, generals, Tommies, workers etc etc especially women and their role. Emphasises the transformation in society not always for the worst during and after the war . Clearly not a fan of how the British were lead during the war- politically or on the battlefield .

[Peter Thew · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting take on the first world war - exclusively from the British viewpoint. Much of the material in here is well known, but there are interesting asides on the effects on British society - the changing role of women in society, the breakdown of class barriers and the increased popularity of spiritualism and seances. The various explanations offered following the demise of Kitchener are hilarious. A good read.

[Nenya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had Paxman reading this book out to me in my head, which worked awfully well. Makes for a great read, full of interesting (and very human) vignettes from the Great War.

P.S: As for the accuracy of statistics stated, I haven't done my homework with related background reading, so I have treated this book as a mere point of general reference.

[Anil Dhingra · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is difficult to write factually about events and make it interesting. This book is about the first world war about how it affected life and the citizens of England.
Though the facts are interesting to read about, the author fails to make it interesting. It is drab, repetitive and fails to sustain reading interest.
Much better books are available on the subject.
Avoid.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started but now gone to recycle at the local Oxfam Bookshop as I've had a big clear out. Looks interesting and I may come back to it as I've enjoyed other books by Jeremy Paxman.

To be completely fair, I haven't given it too much of a 'go' but unfortunately I was hearing strong, "No! Read me instead", messages from other books that were waiting in the queue.

[Mr Michael R Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Social History

WWI was a period of profound change in Britain and Paxman guides us through the period with insights and humour.
We often forget that alongside the suffering and loss experienced by the combatants was the suffering, loss and changing way of life of those left at home.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I am not British, I really enjoyed this work. True it was not view of the war from all perspectives, but it did what it intended to do. A very readable and thought provoking work. Highly recommended.

[Syed Naser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth a read if you r interested in world wars. It talks about the spoils, the futility and impact of war. It talks about how individual lives got impacted..It has a British focus and talks how UKs society completely changed due to this war to end all wars!!!

[Sharon Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad that I finally got round to reading this book. I bought it ages ago.

I learned so much about the first world war, despite thinking previously that I knew a lot. I found it especially interesting to hear about what happened in the UK during that time and the section on STIs.

[Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it but found it a bit heavy going at times, don’t think that was down to the writing though, more the subject matter and what the author was trying to get through in a methodical manner. Very much reminded me of a history book that was used for all relevant topics toward exam back in ‘85.