Book Review - Strachan

The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War

When I picked up Hew Strachan's The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War, I was immediately hooked. Many textbooks or scholarly works lose something in translation, turning a momentous event that shaped humanity's course into something no more than a thesis supported by emotionless arguments. When it comes to WWI, I associate more so with the soldiers on the ground, trying to get through each day in the midst of artillery, machine gun fire and horrific conditions. When I read their diaries or letters home, I imagine what it would be like to face that same situation, and I have much more empathy with those on the front line than the generals in the back. I must say, of all the books on WWI that I've read, Strachan has piqued my interest and held my attention much more so than the others.

I was expecting the book to focus specifically on the war itself, going into detail on trench warfare, what they wore, what weapons they used and any number of different objective-focused information. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was only a very small portion of the book. Much of it was dedicated to auxiliary topics, such as civilian support behind the war, propaganda and politics on the home front, of which I learned a great deal. For instance, the role that film had on the soldiers cannot be overstated, as each showing drastically uplifted the morale of these tired and fatigued troops. Meanwhile, films played an important role in directing the soldiers' anger outwards to the enemy rather than inwards at their own country. I think Strachan says it best in his quote, "It [film] satisfied longings for the mundane at an extraordinary moment: it lampooned the dreariness of military life, and it added a large dose of outrage directed against the source of all the troubles - the enemy" [221]. By giving soldiers some brief moments of calm in the middle of a dangerous war, iconic film stars such as Charlie Chaplin reinvigorated the troops in ways that would be hard to replicate today (perhaps the Chuck Norris infatuation could be comparable). However, Strachan was clear by saying that propaganda did NOT shorten the war, it merely relieved some of the tension among the soldiers and made certain moments more bearable [224].

While skimming through all the pictures and captions, I came across a photo that I could not stop looking at. The picture was taken on the first day of the Arras offensive in August 1918, and it shows the railway line near Achiet-le-Petit completely destroyed.

-- Railway near Achiet-le-Petit, 21 August 918

What got my attention was the completely desolate landscape, with absolutely no trees on the horizon, just flat farmland. The railway stretches off into the distance, but it is obvious nowhere near operational because of the intense artillery barrage, and there is debris that litters the entire scene. In the forefront, there is a mound of weaponry piled relatively haphazardly. And next to this mound is one German soldier lying dead, with half of his face gone. You cannot see the complete details, but it appears that the rest of his body is unharmed, while he lies face up. Two feet away from his body is a puddle of what looks to be blood in the dirt, indicating this man died where he fell. In the midst of this very calm looking scene, another troop walks by his body, glancing straight forward, walking with obvious purpose. I don't know exactly why this image stuck with me, as there are many different photos of intense carnage - it is very simple and almost peaceful, but at the same time it is obvious that there was a heavy struggle in this area. In addition, there is only one body on the ground, which makes me wonder how this soldier died. Was he just in the wrong place? Why is nobody else lying dead on the ground? There are so many questions that the photograph does not answer, which makes the experience all the more haunting. Perhaps it is the dichotomy between the quiet desolation in the scene versus the chaos that happened earlier that day. While books about the subject are informative, photos from the war stay with you and bring the story to life.

While much of this book is based upon the illustrations and photographs, Strachan includes some very interesting and necessary narrative. His focus is very broad, and differs from such writers as Hermann or Herwig, who argue relatively narrow points. Strachan expands the discussion to the wars in Africa, Turkey and the Balkans, economic mobilization, and the role of women to set the cultural scene of the Eastern and Western Front. With such a varied amount of information, he admittedly does not try to go down the same path as some of his contemporaries. He writes "Scholarship has deepened, and often revised and transformed, our understanding of what is familiar; it has also taken the history of the war in fresh directions, from campaigns and strategy to mentalities and culture". I find myself wondering what the role of academic historiography is when I read dry material on something as overwhelming as war. For instance, in Hamilton's Decisions for War, much of the war was broken down into numbers, charts, supply forms and legal documents. Yes, understanding the numbers can provide some insight, but at the same time, it lacked any emotion or humanity. I felt no true connection with the generals and politicians, and I worry that people will read a book like Decisions for War, lose interest in it, and dismiss WWI as boring. In both high school and college, I had classes with people that were turned off by the intellectual approach to history, based upon memorization and forcing history into academic themes. It turns off many people from the field of history altogether. In addition, many scholars become so concerned with the analysis of an event that they lose sight of what actually happened -- this makes it all too easy to dismiss the suffering and humanity involved. Personally, I strongly connected with Strachan's approach to WWI, and while I acknowledge the importance of history from an intellectual perspective, I think it is beneficial to connect with the subject from a humanistic approach.

Strachan is an essential read for historians who may have felt that some of the emotion in WWI has been lost. There is a quote that says a picture is worth a thousand words, and this book is the ultimate example of that. His use of illustrations and photographs captured my attention cover-to-cover, and made me realize the vastness of this war, encompassing millions of people around the globe. His writing is very straightforward, moving topic-to-topic in a chronological order to give the reader a general idea of how the war and the proximate events came about. He avoids any extended theses that break from the common understanding of WWI, but at the same time, he makes firm assertions about cultural impact on the war.

Overall, I was impressed with this book. Strachan successfully blends visuals with solid writing, providing a more complete "package" of WWI. His ability to bring out the emotion and feelings experienced in this global war goes well beyond most other books on the subject. His shift away from the generals and tactics and towards those that experienced the war is a refreshing approach.