Faces of World War One: The Tragedy of the Great War in Words and Pictures

I agree with the other reviews so will try not to repeat too much in my own review.

Children (and some adults) are all too dismissive of the previous generations and, although I would not recommend showing this to young children, it could help teenagers studying history to get a real sense of the conditions the men fighting in the First World War were subject to. The author does not shy away from showing the dead in photographs and I think it gives the reader something to think about and possibly discuss.

As a book, it is well thought out and presented beautifully. It's a book I would happily leave on my coffee table for friends to flick through. A couple of friends can not understand why I would want to look at pictures from the War (as they find the subject of warfare disturbing) but I've never believed in wrapping people in cotton wool - I think people should know what those men went through and be proud of them. Although it is a collection of frank photographs of war, I think the subject has been handled sensitively too - there are no gratuitous shots what so ever in this book.

Highly recommended to anyone who wants to get a real sense of the lives of the men involved.

Great book. (0/0 people found this helpful)

This is a brilliant book. Every picture, many of which I have never seen before tells a different story. Max Arthur has juxtaposed the photographs in chronological order and there is a real drama in the build up to the war from both sides and also in the lead up to the battles of the Somme and Arras. The consequence of the battles is poignantly told not only in photos but in words of the men who fought in them. I was particularly moved by the photo of the packs taken from the bodies of the dead, the photo shows British soldiers searching through for anything that can be sent home to the dead man's next of kin.

One particular photo is accompanied by the words of a young Lieutenant 'Now we die. It is the wet death, the muddy death, death dripping with blood. The bodies lie frozen in the earth which slowly sucks them in. The luckiest depart wrapped in canvas, to sleep in the nearest cemetery.'

But there are lighter moments such as the amazing shot of the Zulus dancing in their full battle costume and the tough looking Australian who the Kaiser loathed because he was always stealing from the German dead. There are many more like this in this memorable book.

Essential Addition to the WW1 Library (6/7 people found this helpful)

This is first and foremost a picture book. As you might expect, there are many uncomfortable images, but it is a far more balanced book than that. There are many depictions of strong comradeship and even happiness amongst the desperate conditions and casualties of the trenches. Without much in the way of text, it doesn't fully, even with pictures, convey the 'grit' of the WW1 experience that I think many of today's, removed generation would like to understand. But as a picture book, it has no rival, and is beautifully printed.

Unforgettable faces (47/48 people found this helpful)

There have been other books of photos of World War 1, and one might expect to see the same old images - but this is a collection of many unfamiliar, previously unseen photos - of subjects ranging from the Western Front, Gallipoli, the home front, and behind the lines - and both before, during and after the war.
The large format lends itself to the often panoramic images - and also allows you to see in detail extraordinary and haunting portraits - the 'faces' after which the book is named. It's a collection to please the expert and the interested browser alike - a WWI buff will appreciate the precisely captioned battle scenes - but any reader will feel the impact of the personal quotations which accompany many images - they add an extraordinary dimension to one's understanding of life and conditions in the trenches. It's an immensely moving photo-record, but my heart was particularly wrenched by the three Australian brothers who all died in one two-day attack, the home images of the average, working-class man who went to fight for king and country... not the Eton toffs, but the desperately poor. The images depict a world of contrasts, both in Britain and in Germany - but when it came down to it, all the men at the front were in the same boat, and returned after the conflict to their bleak lives with their terrible disfigurements, mental scars and the memory of lost comrades.

Faces of World War One: The Tragedy of the Great War in Words and Pictures

Max Arthur

Reader Reviews:

A Collection to make you think (0/0 people found this helpful)

Great book. (0/0 people found this helpful)

Essential Addition to the WW1 Library (6/7 people found this helpful)

Unforgettable faces (47/48 people found this helpful)

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