As we approach the 91st anniversary of the Armistice that ended major hostilities in the First World War, this week’s picks are in remembrance of all those who served in the defence of their countries.

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We have released two new audiobooks this week: A School History of the Great War, which includes European history leading up to the war and reasons for America’s eventual entry into the war, and Diary of a Nursing Sister on the Western Front 1914-1915, a most moving account of a British nurse’s experiences during the first year of World War One.

In some of our weekly poetry projects, where a particular poem is read by a variety of readers, you will find works by some of the most distinguished war poets:

• Wilfred Owen:
  Smile, Smile, Smile
  Anthem for Doomed Youth
  Dulce et Decorum Est
• John McCrae:
  In Flanders Fields
  The Unconquered Dead

During the week commencing November 8th, why not come and join us in making your own recording of The Soldier by Rupert Brooke?

There is a rich variety of books written about the First World War. Here are some suggestions:

Two books by James Norman Hall: High Adventure A Narrative of Air Fighting in France and Kitchener’s Mob Adventures of an American in the British Army.

Four Weeks in the Trenches by Fritz Kreisler, the famed violinist’s account of his service on the Russian Front.

Canada’s Hundred Days: With the Canadian Corps from Amiens to Mons, Aug. 8 – Nov. 11, 1918. Part One. Amiens by John Frederick Livesay.

The Escape of a Princess Pat by George Pearson, an account of the capture, imprisonment and final escape of Corporal Edwards, of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

Brieven van den nutteloozen toeschouwer, a series of newspaper columns in Dutch, written by well-known Dutch author Louis Couperus in 1914, during the first weeks of World War I.

In the Field (1914-1915) by Marcel Dupont, “a modest Lieutenant of Chasseurs”.

Over the Top by Arthur Empey, an account of the horror of trench warfare. As a little light relief, this also includes Empey’s popular “Tommy’s Dictionary of the Trenches” which humorously demystifies the slang used by the British soldier.

Observations of an Orderly by Ward Muir, who brings us into the heart of an English war hospital, describing scenes of cleanliness, triumph, order and sadness.

There are also a number of interesting items in Short Works Collections, including:

• Bombardment of the Dardanelles
• Haig Strikes Near Arras
• The First World War – Selections from the Manchester Guardian
• Austrian Emperor to Take Command at Vienna Headquarters