First World War classicsLike this list

17 items

• A Month in the Country

  Carr, J. L. (James Lloyd), 1912-1994

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  Two veterans are brought together in an idyllic Yorkshire village as they work on an old church. They struggle to come to terms with their wartime experiences. Brilliant storytelling.

• The Return of the Soldier

  West, Rebecca, 1892-1983

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  First published in 1918, it looks at the impact of war on the women who wait at home.

• The Return of the Soldier

  West, Rebecca, 1892-1983

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  First published in 1918, it looks at the impact of war on the women who wait at home.

• Catastrophe 1914

  Europe Goes to War

  Hastings, Max, 1945-

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  Max Hastings is a well-known journalist and historian and he has written a very readable history of the outbreak of the war, from the failure of diplomacy to the bogging down in the trenches.

• Birdsong

  Faulks, Sebastian, 1953-

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  Birdsong charts the life of a young man - Stephen Wraysford - before, during and after the war. A powerful tale of love and loss.

• Passport to Hell

  Hyde, Robin, pseud., 1906-1939

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  A powerful fictional account of the war service of James Douglas Stark, bomber, Fifth Regiment, New Zealand Expeditionary Forces. Recklessly brave and a rebel, Starkie was a real Kiwi character of WW1.

• An Awfully Big Adventure

  New Zealand World War One Veterans Tell Their Stories

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  Jane Tolerton has written wonderful oral histories of 80 veterans. Hear the voices of New Zealanders who served.

• War Horse

  Morpurgo, Michael, 1943-

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  This children's classic as gone on to be a stage show and a film which we have in our collection, as well as eBook and audio versions.

• Poetry of the First World War

  An Anthology

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  We have many World War 1 poetry anthologies in our collection. This features the well-known - Owen, Sassoon, Brooke - as well as the less familiar songs of music hall and the trenches.

• Memoirs of An Infantry Officer

  Sassoon, Siegfried, 1886-1967

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  Sassoon's account of his experiences in the trenches during World War I, between the spring of 1916 and the summer of 1917. It includes his determination to speak out about the stupidty of war and his experiences at Craiglockhart Hospital…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Memoirs of a Fox-hunting Man

  Sassoon, Siegfried, 1886-1967

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  Portrait of an innocent and rather spoilt young man who is caught up in war fever before finally encountering the grim realities of battle.

• We Will Not Cease

  a New Zealand Classic

  Baxter, Archibald, 1881-1970

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  Archibald Baxter was a conscientious objector who was shipped to France where he endured horrendous suffering for his beliefs.

• Soldier

  Lee, John A. (John Alexander), 1891-1982

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  They don't make politicians like this anymore. John A Lee is best known for his autobiographical writing like Children of the poor and Shining with Shiner. This war novel was written in 1918 while he was convalescing from the loss of an…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• All Quiet on the Western Front

  Remarque, Erich Maria, 1898-1970

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  World War 1 from the German side. A young man enlists full of enthusiasm, learns the realities of war and wows that if he survives he will fight against the hatred that sacrifices so many young men.

• A Farewell to Arms

  Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961

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  Hemingway served as an ambulance driver on the Italian front and used his experience in this fine novel of love and suffering during wartime.

• Goodbye to All That

  Graves, Robert, 1895-1985

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  Poet Robert Graves fought with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers during WW1 and this is his powerful account of experience of the stupidy and suffering of war and how it changes people.

• Regeneration

  Barker, Pat, 1943-

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  Pat Barker's trilogy of WW1 novels has been enormously popular. Tackles gritty issues that are thrown into sharp relief by the pressures of war - loss of belief in the cause, homosexuality, shell shock, and fear of fighting.