'Neath Verdun: the Experiences of a French Soldier During the Early Months of the First World War

Ceux de 14 #1

by Maurice Genevoix, H. Graham Richards (Translator)

The war of the French volunteers

This book does not concern the Battle of Verdun in 1916--widely considered to be the largest battle in world history, rather it positions the action geographically for the reader. Written during wartime this account concerns the personal experiences of a young officer of the French infantry from the earliest days of the Great War through a period of comparative fluidity of movement before the stalemate of trench warfare. The fighting concerns the actions about the Meuse and the Marne in the first year of the war from a French perspective and concludes as the 'armies go to earth' in the early part of 1915. Genevoix takes the reader into the heart of his enthusiastic young group of comrades and soldiers on campaign to provide valuable insights into the opening phases of the great conflict the French infantry knew. Available in soft cover and hard cover with dust jacket.

Genres: Nonfiction, World War I, War, Memoir, France

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1916

About the author

Maurice Genevoix (1890–1980) was a French author.

Born on 29 November 1890 at Decize, Nièvre as Maurice-Charles-Louis-Genevoix, Genevoix spent his childhood in Châteauneuf-sur-Loire. After attending the local school, he studied at the lycée of Orléans and the Lycée Lakanal. Genevoix was accepted to the Ecole Normale Supérieure, being first in his class, but was soon mobilized into World War I in 1914. He was quickly promoted to a lieutenant, but was seriously wounded at the Battle of the Marne in 1914 and returned to Paris. The battle left a profound influence on him, and he wrote the tetrology Ceux de 14 (The Men of 1914), which brought him recognition among the public.

Around 1919, Genevoix contracted Spanish influenza, causing him to move back to the Loire. He was quite prolific during his time in the Loire area, earning a Prix Blumenthal grant from the Florence Blumenthal Foundation to support him as a professional writer. It was this grant that allowed him to continue with some of his most celebrated works, Rémi des Rauches and Raboliot, the latter of which earned him the Prix Goncourt.

In 1928, his father died, and Genevoix moved to Vernelles in Loiret. At around this time, Genevoix started to travel abroad to Canada, Scandinavia, Mexico, and Africa. Canada and Africa were both admired by the writer, the latter of which he dedicated a 1949 essay to it, Afrique blanche, Afrique noire. He was elected to the Académie française on 24 October 1946 and was formally inducted the following year. In 1950, he returned to Paris and became secretary of the Académie française in 1958. In 1970, Genevoix, who was president of the program committee of French state radio, started a television series on French writers. He was also offered the Grand Prix National de Letters. He died on 8 September 1980.

The Académie française literary Prix Maurice Genevoix is named for him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_...

Reviews

[Peter Corrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. A rare WW1 memoir during the brief period before the Western Front settled into the stalemate of the trenches. These guys are actually marching, back and forth, up and down, digging and then moving. Billeting on the ground or in small villages. The action is from late August to early October 1914 in the Meuse Valley near Verdun which of course became the site of the titanic battle by that name starting in February, 1916. The John Mosier book on Verdun I read a few months ago described these early battles and the importance of the Meuse Valley to the French defenses. None of these great strategic questions are asked or answered in this book. It is very much a 'poilus', well a lieutenants, viewpoint. The weather, terrain, food, mud, artillery, small-arms fire, the encounters with the 'Boche'. It was published in 1916 so there are censor omissions here and there. Not perhaps to be compared with Robert Graves or Siegfried Sassoon but those were done much later I believe. It was a bit more like a French 'All Quiet on the Western Front' but that is ostensibly fiction. I believe there may be two follow-ups to this one but not sure if they are translated. Very well written and credible. What those guys went through still amazes!

[Droocoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great French account

[Yves Panis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tome 1 de "Ceux de 14". Extraordinaire récit sur l'enfer du combat en première ligne. Énorme leçon de courage, de patriotisme, d'abnégation. Bref, un très beau premier tome.