Toward the Flame: A Memoir of World War I

by Hervey Allen, Steven Kirk Trout (Introduction)

Considered by many to be the finest American combat memoir of the First World War, Hervey Allen’s Toward the Flame vividly chronicles the experiences of the Twenty-eighth Division in the summer of 1918. Made up primarily of Pennsylvania National Guardsmen, the Twenty-eighth Division saw extensive action on the Western Front. The story begins with Lieutenant Allen and his men marching inland from the French coast and ends with their participation in the disastrous battle for the village of Fismette. Allen was a talented observer, and the men with whom he served emerge as well-rounded characters against the horrific backdrop of the war.

 

As a historical document, Toward the Flame is significant for its highly detailed account of the controversial military action at Fismette. At the same time, it easily stands as a work of literature. Clear-eyed and unsentimental, Allen employs the novelist’s powers of description to create a harrowing portrait of coalition war at its worst.

Genres: World War I, Nonfiction, History, Military Fiction, Classics, Memoir, Military History

282 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1926

About the author

Born William Hervey Allen. 1915 University of Pittsburgh graduate. In WWI served as a Lieutenant in the 28th (keystone) Division, US Army and fought in the Aisne-Marne offensive July-August, 1918. He wrote "Toward the Flame" (1926), a nonfictional account of his experiences in the war.

Allen is best known for his work Anthony Adverse, a 1933 bestseller. He also planned a series of novels about colonial America called The Disinherited, of which he completed three works: The Forest and the Fort (1943), Bedford Village (1944), and Toward the Morning (1948). The novels tell the story of Salathiel Albine, a frontiersman kidnapped as a boy by Shawnee Indians in the 1750s. All three works were collected and published as the City in the Dawn. Allen also wrote Israfel (1926), a biography of American writer Edgar Allan Poe.

Reviews

[Bobbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an astonishing memoir, even if you aren't particularly interested in WW I. It was written by Lieutenant Hervey Allen in 1918. He was in a National Guard unit that was called up and was poorly trained, although that really didn't matter in the situation in which they found themselves. As it says on the back of the book, it's "considered by many to be the finest American combat memoir of the First World War" and with good reason. It is "clear-eyed and unsentimental" and was written during a controversial military action during the Second Battle of the Marne, Germany's last attempt to take Paris.

A few years ago I read Blackhawk Down and was stunned at the confusion and seeming incompetence of military activities. My husband, who was in Vietnam, puts this in the same category, part of the "fog of war". An eye-opening book.

[Nadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"There is no man who is so totally absorbed by the present as the soldier. It claims all his attention and he lives from moment to moment in times of danger with an animal keenness that absorbs him utterly. With time to brood, conditions would often seem intolerable. To the soldier, now is everything. It is in the piping times of peace and leisure that man has had the time to afford himself the luxury of an immortal soul."

It is difficult for the layman to imagine, and really understand that which the soldiers of the Great War had to endure; atrocities represented in figures can only do so much. Memoirs from the war are therefore important because they gives us a closer and more personal understanding of such a large-scale conflict. A memoir written by a soldier gives important insight, and provides us with one individual's experience which can then be placed inside a larger historical framework.

Hervey Allen's Toward the Flame is a short but gripping account of the experiences of the Twenty-eighth Division in France in the summer of 1918. Allen's prose is swift and beautiful and his memoir stands out from other similar works. It is not a political account or a diary that captures the life of soldiers in the trenches so typical for the Great War. The memoir starts with depictions of the troops moving inland from the French coast, and culminates in disastrous fighting in the village of Fismette. The Second battle of the Marne lacked the typical characteristics of WWI combat and instead introduced the chaotic 'open warfare'. In his introduction, Steven Trout captures the spirit of this memoir quite well:

"Towards the Flame offers a succession of scenes and images, photographic in their intensity and detail, that capture the essence of combat during the final summer of the conflict."

Allen's account also showcases the attitudes and inner sentiments of the men who participated in the war and removes the focus from the collective army and instead gives us a glimpse of what the individual soldier could experience, think and feel.

[Jaslyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dec 12: read it for a third time for the final.......am very tired :)

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I've had to read this twice for class now (once for discussion, second time for the paper) which I think is too many times in a row. HOWEVER my midterm paper IS on Eucharistic imagery and the breaking of bread (which I find very very interesting) so it wasn't as painful as trying to trudge through Women in Love after finishing a masterpiece like Strong Poison

[Bella Dufresne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is probably the most boring book I’ve ever read in my life. That being said, it’s someone’s life story so I can’t really say it was terrible.

[Kayla]

Read for my Military History class! Another one that I want to go back and *genuinely* read when I have more time.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look at WWI from someone who was there. Up close and personal.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could not put this book down. A gripping account of what our soldiers endured during WWI. Even the moments of leisure grab the reader's attention.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping, vividly detailed, unsentimental combat memoir by an American soldier who served on the Western Front.

[Bert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously a classic book about the Great World War. I didn't realize they were using poison gas until the end of the War.

[Michael- Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better known and better written WWI memoirs.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Direct and detailed, reads as patched together diary entries, which I'm sure it largely was. Provides a good viewpoint of late-entry Americans moving to southern parts of the Western front (Marne) as Germany was pushed back from its last Spring Offensive, which results in scattered mobile warfare more reminiscent of WW2 then the trench warfare typical of WW1. The author's voice is at a minimum in its description of events, except where he makes the odd exception to criticize the incoherence of military authority and the naivety of religious faith. He does also make other often poetic observations throughout, but it is still mostly a record of events.

Besides simply describing violent events a lot of time is spent in down time, describing how the soldiers ate, entertained themselves, and saw their situation. It makes sense, given that the events described follow movement up to the line rather than line itself. As the author himself states, "There is no plot, no climax, no happy ending to this book. It is a narrative, plain, unvarnished, without heroics, and true."

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best ww1 memoirs I have read. What makes this one unique is it solely covers the authors time in France, and it ends without victory. The author actually ends the book during a climax of a German attack on the village of Fismette. Fismette is an example of how coalition warfighting can go wrong, and it cost the lives of many Americans in the 28th infantry division. The fact that the book ends with the German attack of high explosive, gas shells, and the sighting of flamethrowers is powerful. I appreciate that the book doesn’t try to make the authors experiences seem like nostalgia, but instead he is honest about what war is at its worst, sheer terror. And just like this book, war ends for so many without victory, but instead with fear and dread.

[Aidan Gowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

An account of WWI by Lieutenant Hervey Allen of the 28th Pennsylvania Division AEF, taking place between July and August of 1918. This is an excellent primary source written by an infantry platoon commander through major combat, and Allen reflects with (seemingly) genuine emotion and introspection on the events which he recalls.

[Sonny · Rating 3 out of 5]

A personal account of the disastrous military action at the village of Fismette during WW I. It's not the best written book on WW I that I have read but still worth reading if you are interested in learning more about the Great War.

[Charles R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent

[Bret Bilyou · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing happens don’t waste your time.

[c · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a bummer.