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To End All Wars: The Graphic Anthology of the First World War
An omnibus of 27 short graphic narratives based on actual events, characters, circumstances, incidents, myths or consequences of the Great War. Featuring the four theatres of war (land, sea, air and the home front), spanning four continents and drawn from both sides of the conflict, our stories range from four to sixteen pages long, each by a different author and/or illustrator from the world of independent comics. Two dollars from the sale of copy will go to Medicins Sans Frontiers/Doctors Without Borders. The beauty of the To End All Wars project is the range of themes it covers, away from the usual focus on the Western Front. � oeWe have dramatic reconstructions of the war in the Atlantic that could have come straight out of Steve Ditko� (TM)s vault of horror
320 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 12, 2014
An excellent book that I am glad to be included in. Please check it out, folks. A key issue we need to consider is the reality of war and the experience of the soldiers, civilians and societies in it. Too many people still think its either glorious or inevitable. It's neither.
May 12, 2016
This collection pulls together a variety of stories, both fiction and non-fiction, all set during the Great War showing different views, events, experiences and tragedies in stark black, white and grey illustrations that seem to really capture the mood of each. The styles vary greatly but each one is connected to the other as the War affects them all. An insightful and compelling collection.
June 3, 2016
Great insight to the harsh reality of world war 1 from many different perspectives and from various artists and writers ....no great war depicted here
February 11, 2018
Somehow I had not heard of this book until I saw it in a sale from its publisher, Soaring Penguin Press. It was publicised with its two Eisner nominations (like the Oscars of comics), and that plus the subject matter was enough to get me to pony up the little bit of dough they were asking for this hefty anthology.
In sharp contrast to the war it depicts from numerous angles, the book ends better than it begins. The start is rough and patchy and at times downright bewildering, but the second half really picks up the pace and closes things out in a brilliant fashion. What lies between is an uneven assortment of mostly underpracticed artists and writers (with a remarkable number of women -- for comics -- present). Though nothing here is completely bad, there is a tendency to rely on the reader's previous knowledge of dates and places rather than assuming everyone is coming to the work uninformed.
The stories run from maudlin, pointless and confusing to stirring, sumptuous and rich, with plenty of everything in between.
While I can't say I would have been happy to the US price of $26 for this book, for the £8 I did spend I'm a satisfied reader. I would not recommend this for the reader with only a passing knowledge of the first World War (e.g., it was in Europe and involved Germany), but anyone with a basic grounding in its history should find this an engrossing collection of varying perspectives.
In sharp contrast to the war it depicts from numerous angles, the book ends better than it begins. The start is rough and patchy and at times downright bewildering, but the second half really picks up the pace and closes things out in a brilliant fashion. What lies between is an uneven assortment of mostly underpracticed artists and writers (with a remarkable number of women -- for comics -- present). Though nothing here is completely bad, there is a tendency to rely on the reader's previous knowledge of dates and places rather than assuming everyone is coming to the work uninformed.
The stories run from maudlin, pointless and confusing to stirring, sumptuous and rich, with plenty of everything in between.
While I can't say I would have been happy to the US price of $26 for this book, for the £8 I did spend I'm a satisfied reader. I would not recommend this for the reader with only a passing knowledge of the first World War (e.g., it was in Europe and involved Germany), but anyone with a basic grounding in its history should find this an engrossing collection of varying perspectives.
April 8, 2014
There's not a weak story in this book, there's no repetition between them. Joe Gordon's 'Memorial to Mothers' is a poignant and direct-to-soul type epilogue to the book, which includes more than the twenty-six narratives it states. Focus is not just on trench warfare, but the domestic front, the war from home in ammunition, entertainment, propaganda and the heart. At times this is a very ugly book. It bubbles up scenes of delirium washed in mud and throws legs at you. At other times, it's a window into the soul of the characters, laughing and teary-eyed and yearning and stinking.
January 24, 2015
Excellent Graphical Historical book upon events of the First World War, show events from the European War and East Africa, Excellent, I love the art work included, it is very good, a sensation good review of the First World War. Includes many short graphic narratives based on actual events and it does it very well. A combination of writers and artists combine to make this excellent look into our history. Brilliant Five star!!!!!!!!
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July 17, 2014Well, I'm one of the contributors, but the I found all the stories beautifully illustrated and the content thought provoking.
December 28, 2018
A collection of graphic short stories related to WWI.
An array of subject matters and styles were used in this book and all the pieces were reasonable but none of them really grabbed me.
An array of subject matters and styles were used in this book and all the pieces were reasonable but none of them really grabbed me.
August 2, 2014
If there is one collection to read on WWI history, it is this one.
July 11, 2024
I like to read history via graphic novels. I admit to not knowing as much about this war as I could/should. Still, I was surprised by the introduction (not graphic). It was a strongly-worded objection to “A Very British Lie” – revisionists trying to justify some of the decisions made during that war, decisions that cost many lives. I hadn’t been aware of the controversy. This book is British, and Great Britain suffered terribly in that war. So the issue may loom large there.
The entries in this anthology were not as specific as the introduction, but they did portray all the miseries of that war - the bloody, extended battles with no gains in territory; the trenches; conscription in Great Britain. A few stories stood out: one was about a circus elephant who ended up helping the war effort; Scottish nurses working in Russia; the effect of the war on both British and German East Africa, where the natives were forced to work in the war effort. The book ends with a tribute to mothers who lost sons in the war. It suggests that a mother “is as dreadfully wounded as any of those maimed in body or mind in the trenches.” I don’t quite agree; as terrible as it is to lose a child, how much worse to lose your life or your faculties.
My reaction to this book is as scattered as the various entries; I would have enjoyed it more if it had related the history of the war in a chronological fashion, rather than present a series of unrelated stories about the war.
The entries in this anthology were not as specific as the introduction, but they did portray all the miseries of that war - the bloody, extended battles with no gains in territory; the trenches; conscription in Great Britain. A few stories stood out: one was about a circus elephant who ended up helping the war effort; Scottish nurses working in Russia; the effect of the war on both British and German East Africa, where the natives were forced to work in the war effort. The book ends with a tribute to mothers who lost sons in the war. It suggests that a mother “is as dreadfully wounded as any of those maimed in body or mind in the trenches.” I don’t quite agree; as terrible as it is to lose a child, how much worse to lose your life or your faculties.
My reaction to this book is as scattered as the various entries; I would have enjoyed it more if it had related the history of the war in a chronological fashion, rather than present a series of unrelated stories about the war.
February 16, 2021
I really appreciated the efforts here to go beyond the established WW1 narratives.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews