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The Christmas Truce: Myth, Memory, and the First World War
In late December 1914, German and British soldiers on the western front initiated a series of impromptu, unofficial ceasefires. Enlisted men across No Man's Land abandoned their trenches and crossed enemy lines to sing carols, share food and cigarettes, and even play a little soccer. Collectively known as the Christmas Truce, these fleeting moments of peace occupy a mythical place in remembrances of World War I. Yet new accounts suggest that the heartwarming tale ingrained in the popular imagination bears little resemblance to the truth.
In this detailed study, Terri Blom Crocker provides the first comprehensive analysis of both scholarly and popular portrayals of the Christmas Truce from 1914 to present. From books by influential historians to the Oscar-nominated French film Joyeux Noel (2006), this new examination shows how a variety of works have both explored and enshrined this outbreak of peace amid overwhelming violence. The vast majority of these accounts depict the soldiers as acting in defiance of their superiors. Crocker, however, analyzes official accounts as well as private letters that reveal widespread support among officers for the detentes. Furthermore, she finds that truce participants describe the temporary ceasefires not as rebellions by disaffected troops but as acts of humanity and survival by professional soldiers deeply committed to their respective causes.
The Christmas Truce studies these ceasefires within the wider war, demonstrating how generations of scholars have promoted interpretations that ignored the nuanced perspectives of the many soldiers who fought. Crocker's groundbreaking, meticulously researched work challenges conventional analyses and sheds new light on the history and popular mythology of the War to End All Wars.
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In this detailed study, Terri Blom Crocker provides the first comprehensive analysis of both scholarly and popular portrayals of the Christmas Truce from 1914 to present. From books by influential historians to the Oscar-nominated French film Joyeux Noel (2006), this new examination shows how a variety of works have both explored and enshrined this outbreak of peace amid overwhelming violence. The vast majority of these accounts depict the soldiers as acting in defiance of their superiors. Crocker, however, analyzes official accounts as well as private letters that reveal widespread support among officers for the detentes. Furthermore, she finds that truce participants describe the temporary ceasefires not as rebellions by disaffected troops but as acts of humanity and survival by professional soldiers deeply committed to their respective causes.
The Christmas Truce studies these ceasefires within the wider war, demonstrating how generations of scholars have promoted interpretations that ignored the nuanced perspectives of the many soldiers who fought. Crocker's groundbreaking, meticulously researched work challenges conventional analyses and sheds new light on the history and popular mythology of the War to End All Wars.
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310 pages, Hardcover
First published November 5, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 9, 2016
This is a great book that examines how we choose to remember our history. The author uses the example of the famous Christmas Truce in 1914 and the shifting narratives over time as historians and authors tried to make sense of it.
In reality the "Christmas Truce" was not one monolithic event but a series of similar but different truces, often for the main purpose of burying the dead, negotiated by the various battalions along the Western Front. None of these had any broader political or social meaning but were rather in the tradition of the temporary battlefield truces which have happened countless times through history.
Through the years these events have been lumped into a single occurrence and merged with the view that the First World War was a futile conflict and the Truce was a result of the soldiers rebelling against what they saw as a senseless waste of life.
I like this book because it examines how we choose to remember our history and how that narrative can be shaped over time. It also shows that once a narrative, even a false one, has firmly taken root it can be nearly impossible to contradict it. Definitely worth the read if you're interested in history or even how history is remembered.
In reality the "Christmas Truce" was not one monolithic event but a series of similar but different truces, often for the main purpose of burying the dead, negotiated by the various battalions along the Western Front. None of these had any broader political or social meaning but were rather in the tradition of the temporary battlefield truces which have happened countless times through history.
Through the years these events have been lumped into a single occurrence and merged with the view that the First World War was a futile conflict and the Truce was a result of the soldiers rebelling against what they saw as a senseless waste of life.
I like this book because it examines how we choose to remember our history and how that narrative can be shaped over time. It also shows that once a narrative, even a false one, has firmly taken root it can be nearly impossible to contradict it. Definitely worth the read if you're interested in history or even how history is remembered.
June 16, 2022
According to popular legend and some histories, the 1914 Christmas truce in WWI was an act of defiance, soldiers refusing, however briefly, to keep on as part of the killing machinery of a pointless war. It was so shameful, the media and military histories buried the event for years. Crocker thinks that's nonsense.
As she shows in detail, the troops at the time saw the truce as a welcome break, but understanding they'd be back to shooting the day after. Their superiors, who in the legend punished them for not hating the enemy, were cool with it—as a practical matter it allowed both sides to bury their dead and shore up their trenches. And the news made it out into the papers, regimental histories and post-war accounts so it was hardly buried.
4.5 for dryness, but a solid historical work.
As she shows in detail, the troops at the time saw the truce as a welcome break, but understanding they'd be back to shooting the day after. Their superiors, who in the legend punished them for not hating the enemy, were cool with it—as a practical matter it allowed both sides to bury their dead and shore up their trenches. And the news made it out into the papers, regimental histories and post-war accounts so it was hardly buried.
4.5 for dryness, but a solid historical work.
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January 11, 2020So I should probably make a shelf for books I chose to not finish as opposed to books I simply could not finish or waste my time on.
This book is highly rated (only 3 reviews though) but it's a little too textbook-y for me. If I were back in school needing to do more serious research, I would totally give this one a shot. As it is, the Christmas Truce of 1914 is just something that I was mildly interested in learning a little more about (having NEVER paid attention to this stuff in school! Truth be told, we were taught WWII, but not WWI so much.)
So, I chose to only flip through this one and not take the time to actually read it. Seems like there's a lot of good stuff in it though!
This book is highly rated (only 3 reviews though) but it's a little too textbook-y for me. If I were back in school needing to do more serious research, I would totally give this one a shot. As it is, the Christmas Truce of 1914 is just something that I was mildly interested in learning a little more about (having NEVER paid attention to this stuff in school! Truth be told, we were taught WWII, but not WWI so much.)
So, I chose to only flip through this one and not take the time to actually read it. Seems like there's a lot of good stuff in it though!
September 7, 2020
2.5 stars. I wanted to like this book more. It does operate as a much-needed corrective of the romantic view of the 1914 Christmas truce, and also contains some impressively detailed research. But, I found her prose wordy and prosaic. Further, her assessments of the works of more imminent authors and historians (Taylor, Fussell, Gilbert, Winter) appeared oversimplified and cheeky. She seemed, in my opinion, to use too many "straw man" arguments, and made too much use of unnecessary adverbs (clearly, surely, etc.). Hopefully, her writing and marshaling of evidence will mature over time.
January 26, 2022
It's a trip down a rabbit hole you may not emerge from ... the book starts an intellectual argument with every other book, article or movie/show ever produced on the subject ... i completely understand that the author very much wants to set aside all the myths and half-truths surrounding the truce and I appreciate that but the result is paralyzing and circular ... i just wanted to hear the real story about how a soccer game broke out in the middle of a war; this is NOT that story, rather, it's an unnecessary historical debate
December 31, 2023
I've heard about The Christmas Truce since childhoos. What I heard wasn't far from the truth.
This book explains how the truce was called, that more than one area experienced a truce, though they were of various lengths, and tells how humanity excelled over war.
The bulk of the book concerned the reaction of the brass.
This was told solely from a British point of view. I'd like to know how the Germans told the story.
This book explains how the truce was called, that more than one area experienced a truce, though they were of various lengths, and tells how humanity excelled over war.
The bulk of the book concerned the reaction of the brass.
This was told solely from a British point of view. I'd like to know how the Germans told the story.
December 27, 2017
An excellent, dispassionate look at original sources to discern the truth from misrepresentation and misinformation. Slightly dry, but well well worth the read.
February 20, 2016
An excellent read. Crocker presents first some surprising truths about the "Christmas truce" and the soldiers who participated in it, contradicting the popular idea of the truce as an act of defiance or rebellion against the war. I found the excerpts from the letters and diaries of men in the trenches to be particularly interesting and often moving. The book also investigates the way the accounts of the truce began to change over time, creating the "myth" that still surrounds it. The author's entertaining and jargon-free writing is particularly welcome in an academic work. Any general reader with an interest in history will enjoy it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews