Facing Armageddon: The First World War Experienced

Facing Armageddon is a major collection of scholarly work on the 1914-18 war that explores, on a worldwide basis, the real nature of the participants’ experience. The book is a classic in the field. Sixty-four scholars from all over the globe, including the USA, Russia, Germany, Italy, France, Holland and the UK, describe their research into what civilians and servicemen passed through, on the land, the sea and in the air.

Their pioneering work is as important today as it was when the book was first published, for we can see clearly now how the First World War has shaped the fundamental character of the twentieth century. The Second World War and the Cold War were among its direct, long-term consequences. Without an awareness of its effects on the individuals and societies involved, perceptible even now, we cannot fully comprehend the modern world.

Facing Armageddon, lucidly written and vividly illustrated, is aimed at those specialists – students and general readers alike – who seek a deeper understanding of human conflict in our times.

Dr Peter Liddle is a leading historian of the First World War and has concentrated on the personal experience of the men and women who took part. He founded the Liddle Collection, a repository of documents and memorabilia connected to the conflict, which is housed in the Brotherton Library, the University of Leeds. His many books include Captured Memories 1900-1918, Captured Memories 1930-1945, The Soldiers War 1914-1918, The Gallipoli Experience Reconsidered, The 1916 Battle of the Somme Reconsidered and, as editor, Facing Armageddon, Britain Goes to War and Britain and the Widening War.

Contributors: Holger Afflerbach, Phylomena Badsey, Niall Barr, Chris Bellamy, Nick Bosanquet, Peter Burness, George Cassar, Tim Cook, Irene Guerrini, Clive Harris, Kate Kennedy, Ross Kennedy, William Philpott, Marco Pluviano, Chris Pugsley, Duncan Redford, Matthew Richardson, Alan Sharp, Yigal Sheffy, Jack Sheldon, Edward Spiers, David Welch, Ian Whitehead

Dr Hugh Cecil taught Modern History at Leeds University. His acclaimed work on military history includes The Flower of Battle: How Britain Wrote the Great War. He has co-authored three outstanding biographies including most recently In Search of Rex Whistler: His Life and His Work.