Private Peat

by Harold Peat

The Shelf2Life WWI Memoirs Collection is an engaging set of pre-1923 materials that describe life during the Great War through memoirs, letters and diaries. Poignant personal narratives from soldiers, doctors and nurses on the front lines to munitions workers and land girls on the home front, offer invaluable insight into the sacrifices men and women made for their country. Photographs and illustrations intensify stories of struggle and survival from the trenches, hospitals, prison camps and battlefields. The WWI Memoirs Collection captures the pride and fear of the war as experienced by combatants and non-combatants alike and provides historians, researchers and students extensive perspective on individual emotional responses to the war.

Genres: World War I, History

282 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1917

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, harsh, sad and honest. A real look at what it was like as a young greenhorn in the First World War!

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

An above average personal account of someone's experiences during World War 1. A good read.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book that can be best described as 40% memoir and 60% propaganda that was clearly written to boost American home morale upon entry into the Great War. The war is described as noble and a great, albeit somewhat painful pursuit. People die, but they fall gently- much as those shot in 1940s movies.
To give a flavor of the prose:
“ it is terribly hard for women to let their men go. We know that. Our women know it, but they are ashamed should one of their men attempt to hold back. The German lie- mongers whisper:’It is the last time you will see your boy.It is certain death on the Western Front’. It is not so”.......” Do not think of his leaving, think of the pride of his going....Wait till the boys get over to France; wait till they see the ( Huns) outrages on women and on nature, and all the blood of their fighting ancestors will boil with indignation and rage”. etc. etc..
Prose from a bygone era certainly.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an absolutely enchanting biography, written during WWI. It was actually written by Private Peat's wife, though Harold gets the credit. Fascinating and several haunting photos. I see some comments about it being propaganda to sway American public opinion - to me that adds to the interest.

[Caer Glas · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a typical wartime hate-the-hun-yea!-king-and-country memoir of the sort produced while the war still raged. A few interesting details here and there, but what use it has is mainly for getting a sense of zeitgeist.