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tlchand's review against another edition
2.0
The topic was interesting - especially learning about WW1 from all different perspectives. It was hard for me to keep track of who was who.
mark_lm's review against another edition
5.0
A narrative history of the first world war. The author, an historian and war correspondent, uses the diaries and reports of about 20 different people - soldiers, nurses, a German child, the brain surgeon Harvey Cushing - and runs through the war years chronologically, telling us what each different person is doing at one time wherever they happen to be. Unlike some books of this type, the book is not made from extracts of the diaries themselves, rather the author describes what each has said in the third person. There are some direct quotes, and the work is heavily footnoted with explanations and asides. The advantage of this approach is that someone's bare diary might contain valuable information but be difficult to read or contain less interesting extraneous material. (As when, for example, reading Mary Chestnut's Civil War diary). It works very well, I think. A reminder of how little control we have over the world we live in.
emmkayt's review against another edition
5.0
Historian Peter Englund moves month by month through the First World War through the eyes of twenty participants, with the aid of their memoirs, diaries, and letters. In his introduction, he explains that when he worked in a warzone as a correspondent, he was intrigued to see how little he understood of what was going on around him, without the benefit of a bird's eye view and hindsight. I thought this introduction offered interesting insight into his project, in which we see how each individual's war was shaped and to some degree their understanding confined by their own particular experiences. By assembling and interspersing twenty accounts, Englund provides the reader with a sobering overview that captures both the broad sweep of the conflict and its effects, and a glimpse of the variety of individual experiences it encompassed.
greenie_'s review against another edition
Very memorable and personal stories of World War One. I see people in the reviews complaining about the "overwriting" - that is exactly what makes it great. It is more like reading a novel with sympathetic characters than a dry text book.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review
5.0
Disclaimer: I won this book in a giveaway sponsored by Regal Literary.
Englund’s book isn’t a history of the First World War, at least not a normal history. Following the experiences of twenty nobodies, The Beauty and the Sorrow showcases the experience of people during the war, from the battlefields to the nursing stations to the home front. His cast is diverse, Germans, Brits, Americans, nurses, one house wife, and a schoolgirl. The book is organized by year and jumps around. The people come and go and not everyone makes it.
The book is more about personal experience than the general battle, though Englund does include a timeline for each year. So the reader discovers what the nurses went through or hears about cavalry man who had to see to the death of his horse and then eat the gelding. If works such as Tuchman’s give you a global scope, this is intimate, and far more important because of that.
In the 100 years since the War, it is important that we remember it simply because of how it changed everything. IN the US, we don’t really think about it, and while the National Mall in DC does boast a WW I memorial, it is for those from the area, not a National memorial like for the other wars. This book deals with the war in a far more intimate way, and does not romanticize it in a way that certain televised dramas do.
Highly recommended for history bluffs. Highly recommended for everyone.
alexandrahughes's review against another edition
5.0
It was great, if you love history or wars (which I do!). It had a lot of detail. I mean, right down to the way things sounded when they exploded or whizzed past your head. Or the way decaying bodies smelled. The details were sometimes hard to read (I mean, it's war. Things are horrible). But It followed the lives of several people throughout the war. It used their diaries and letters to loved ones to follow their lives during the war. Some were part of the army for various nations, some were nurses, doctors, pilots. Some were average people. Some died or went crazy. Others fell in love and got engaged. I loved it. I wish it had been assigned in school. Reading what each person was thinking gives different perspectives on the war. The youngest person was 12, and the oldest was 49, so it really covered a lot of emotions and thoughts. If anyone enjoys history, I would highly suggest this book.
My biggest complaint is that it lists every person on one page in the beginning of the book: their age, what they do and where they do it. Now, it gets confusing when reading the book because the book is arranged in chronological order, so it shows every diary or letter from that day for every person in the book (if they wrote that day). It gets confusing because it only gives their name, and remembering each person can be quite challenging. I had to bookmark the page in the beginning of the book so I could go back each time someone wrote so I could remember where they are from and what they do. Too many footnotes too.
My biggest complaint is that it lists every person on one page in the beginning of the book: their age, what they do and where they do it. Now, it gets confusing when reading the book because the book is arranged in chronological order, so it shows every diary or letter from that day for every person in the book (if they wrote that day). It gets confusing because it only gives their name, and remembering each person can be quite challenging. I had to bookmark the page in the beginning of the book so I could go back each time someone wrote so I could remember where they are from and what they do. Too many footnotes too.
readeatretreat's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.5
bookwormmichelle's review against another edition
5.0
I wasn't sure when I picked this up if I really wanted 500 pages of personal narratives of WWI. But I am so glad I started reading it anyway--I was immediately engrossed and could hardly put it down. Englund told these stories SO well, I could almost hear the artillery shells. I ached for all the narrators as their initial enthusiasm for war turned to disillusionment. What a record of the cost of war. Englund did only minimal situating the narratives in the "bigger picture" and I think tried to let the stories speak for themselves as much as he could, but I do believe that the "beauty" mentioned in the title was in short supply in this book. How could a book about this war be anything but grim? I especially appreciated having narratives from so many different countries, even from the Central Powers. Well done and a real contribution to any modern view of this war.
cathyofcary's review against another edition
2.0
I can't explain the rave reviews on this one. The reporting is definitely there. The author has found 20 ordinary, but interesting, people engaged at some level in World War I. They come from all sides of the conflict (no Turks -- but he's got a S. American who fought for the Ottoman Empire). It looks like quite a bit of the material comes from memoirs that would have been lost in some dusty old library (if they ever made it to one to begin with). Unfortunately, the writer just forgot to. . . write. The book takes the reader through the war years with short journal entry style chapters. Cutting to the chase is definitely not Mr. Englund's style. We're subjected to 500 pages of paragraphs that start with: "Early autumn, clear skies", "A light mist. Hazy sunshine." or "Nothing of any importance has occurred." Particularly aggravating is that some of the best material is in the footnotes -- long, footnotes that sometimes take up half the page in itty, bitty type. The author also makes the mistake of quoting some of the memoir writers at length. This is when you realize that while these people led interesting lives during the war, their turgid prose was probably one reason we haven't heard of them today. We don't have any Primo Levi's in the bunch.
I stuck it out because I was curious about the people but I wish the author had spent more time editing and crafting the narrative.
I stuck it out because I was curious about the people but I wish the author had spent more time editing and crafting the narrative.
northeastbookworm's review against another edition
5.0
Peter Englund tells the story of the First World War through the eyes, letters, and diaries of twenty individuals. They cover a range of nationalities and social classes. All lives are changed, and sadly, some are lost. The result is a powerful book about what war does to the people who participate in it. The war took a profound toll on old world Europe. The seeds of the world we know today were sown in the conflict that started in June 1914 and really did not end until September 1945. During the coming centennial the book market,as well as the idiot box, will be flooded. Turn off the idiot box, pick this book, and say five other titles on the topic, and just read! You will have a much better understanding.