Veterans: The Last Survivors of the Great War

by Steve Humphries

The 80th anniversary of the end of World War I is fast approaching, and the event will be commemorated by a special documentary on the BBC and Discovery Channel. Veterans is the official tie-in to the series.

Genres: World War I, War, History

Hardcover

First published October 1, 1998

Reviews

[Nicholas Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

The BBC program aired twenty years ago and was an exceptional piece of oral history. Having seen the programs probably twenty times whilst teaching about WW1, I never tired of hearing these veterans tell their stories - my students were equally drawn to them.

This book is a superb insight into the Great War as seen by those who lived through it. Not meant to be an exhaustive study but rather to preserve and share the experiences of not just the front line soldier but also the nurses and those on the Home Front by talking to them. Many different experiences shared, well written and with numerous photographs, this adds to our understanding of the war in honest and heartfelt reminiscences by the veterans, many of whom died not long afterwards. My only criticism is that it was too short.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book opened my eyes to the WW1 conflict. It reinforced my concept of the futility and unnecessary horror of conflict.

It's a shame, in my opinion, that we didn't get any views from the other side. But I guess it wasn't the scope of the book, or the material wasn't available.

It was interesting to read the first hand reports and gave more of an insight, often in typical dry unfeeling manner, of death, loss, injury, and life in the Great War.

I understand that a lot of the author's material is repeated over some of his works, which makes me reluctant to pick up ay other volumes.