Trench Talk Trench Life: A Beginner's Guide to World War One

by Frederic Winkowski, Stephen Bull (Foreword)

This concise, handsomely illustrated, boots-on-the ground guide provides a unique introduction to life on the Western Front during World War I. Readers will learn about the drastic living circumstances of characters Tommy Atkins, Poilu, and Doughboy, respectively the foot soldiers of Britain, France, and the United States. We all know something of how these men existed in muddy trenches, subject to shelling, snipers and waiting for the next Big Push; but it is through the unique vocabulary of those troops, with their newly coined words, slang, and euphemisms that we can most easily enter their world. Readers will learn the meaning behind the long lost wartime language of these soldiers, with such words and phrases as: Black Hand Gang, Ace, Crummy, Barker, Dud, Come-alongs, Hush-hush, and Over the top. Based on extensive research, Trench Talk Trench Life is a wide-ranging and sympathetic look at the lives of initially patriotic, but ultimately tenacious front line soldiers of the Western Front.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, World War I

160 pages, Hardcover

Published June 22, 2017

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting reference, and very accessible. YA readers looking to learn about World War I will find this of interest, as will any adult who wants to learn a bit more about what soldier life was like outside of fighting and death. Winkowski includes a bibliography, an index, AND a glossary--mirabile dictu!--and frankly that alone makes this book a valuable resource. (I am deeply grumpy about how few nonfiction books that make use of complicated jargon include glossaries these days.) What Trench Talk is missing, and what would have aided its purpose and its narratives, is a timeline of the war. This book is A Beginner's Guide, and for that audience, a very basic timeline--when did the war start? When did the British enter? When did the Americans join? When did the battles mentioned occur? Etc.--is necessary here. (I'd argue that a basic overview of the war should accompany it, difficult as that is.) Also, the book doesn't so much end as stop--it would read like a cliffhanger if it weren't nonfiction history, and makes the reader feel like there must be, if not another page, certainly a sequel? Trench Talk 2: No More Trenches But Still Talking, WWII?

And as long as I'm complaining, there were some typos in here. Glaring ones. I hate typos in professionally published books, and I especially hate them when they're misspelling "Alsace-Lorraine" as "Alcase-Lorraine." Truly, I shall never recover, and shall die, all because of "Alcase"! *SWOON*

tl;dr Some typos aside, Trench Talk Trench Life is a very accessible, useful reference and a good entrée to learning about World War I. It lacks a timeline of the war and has no general overview, so if you're entirely unfamiliar with WWI, it's worth finding those first.

[George Kasnic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings about this one. Some good basic knowledge and interesting facts.

Much more lacking, ethnocentric, misogynistic, chauvinistic, nationalistic. Apparently only “conservative” men went to fight, all of whom were rural farmers who apparently were tougher than city folk.

No mention of Russian soldiers, Italians, Austria-Hungarians, or Ottomans. Just the western front, just the Triple Entente.

Aldo heavy doses of ethnic stereotypes, the “emotional” French, “stodgy” Brits, “rough” Americans. Better works exist elsewhere without the leading references , I would not let my middle school students near this one.

[Michelle Ule · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has most of what you need to know about life in the WWI trenches.

It misses a bit on sound and smell, the full sensory experience, though it does include some of that in the commentary.

As a WWI novelist, there are resources here I can use to make my novel more accurate.

It's a beautiful book, for sure. While I understand his reasoning behind using drawings, the many photos from the war are so much more poignant--particularly the colorized ones.

You can see my own Pinterest board if interested: https://www.pinterest.com/michelleule...

[Jbussen · Rating 4 out of 5]

All drawings are black and white. The focus is almost exclusively on the vernacular, phrases, and slang used. (Excludes Germany. Only French, English, and American.)

The title does say "A Beginners Guide" and it is just that. A good easy read. I like BR readers and that is what this was. I can't put my finger on it, but I just couldn't give it 5 stars.

[Adam Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible book. I loved all of the info and slang introduced and explained in this book. There is a tremendous amount of words and slang we still use and I didn't realize it was born during WW1.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent overview of the unique language of the Great War.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot less trench talk than i thought there would be. The pictures in colour would have been better.