The Great War Of Words

In September 1914, twenty-five of Britain's most distinguished authors met with the war propaganda bureau to discuss how they could defend civilization against the savagery of the invading 'Huns'. In The Great War of Words Peter Buitenhuis tells the hitherto unknown story of the secret collaboration between the government and leading writers of the time, including H.G. Wells, John Buchan and John Galsworthy. The book also chronicles their disillusionment with the Allied propaganda machine after the war -- and how this changed the course of literary history in the 20th century.

Paul Tripp identifies the attitudes and assumptions behind our words and shows how to develop God-honoring communication.

A timely call for recovering the true meanings of the nineteenth-century terms that are hobbling current political debates "Masterful. . . . James cuts through the tangled terminological and conceptual jungle of modern globalist discourse . . . [with] fascinating discussions of the origins and meanings of the words."--G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs "James delves into the often-surprising intellectual origins of key concepts in the arguments about globalisation--and illuminates the debate in the process."--Gideon Rachman, Financial Times, "Best Books of 2021: Politics" Nationalism, conservatism, liberalism, socialism, and capitalism are among the most fiercely debated ideas in contemporary politics. Since these concepts hark back to the nineteenth century, much of their nuanced meaning has been lost, and the words are most often used as epithets that short-circuit productive discussion. In this insightful book, Harold James uncovers the origins of these concepts and examines how the problematic definition and meaning of each term has become an obstacle to respectful communication. Noting that similar linguistic misunderstandings accompany such newer ideas as geopolitics, neoliberalism, technocracy, and globalism, James argues that a rich historical knowledge of the vocabulary surrounding globalization, politics, and economics--particularly the meaning and the usefulness that drove the original conceptions of the terms--is needed to negotiate the gaps between different understandings and make fruitful political debate once again possible.

Charting the Allies' entry into warfare in 1914, Max Arthur tells the story in words and pictures of the new conscripted army's life through the five years of slaughter and suffering. He brilliantly conveys not only the heroism, but also the universal horror, futility, humour and boredom of warfare. From the front-line troops and the daily dice with death, to the support lines, communications, enlistment, training and propaganda, every aspect of the soldier's life is covered in this brilliant collection of images and interviews that brings the Great War to life once more.

From "the heir to R. Crumb and Art Spiegelman" (Economist) comes a monumental, wordless depiction of the most infamous day of World War I.

'May the eyes of Canada never be blind to that glorious light which shines upon our young national life from the deeds of those "who counted not their lives dear unto themselves"'. When World War I broke out in the summer of 1914, the Canadian chaplain Frederick George Scott volunteered for service despite his fears. He spent four long years in the trenches on the western front, where he developed close bonds with his fellow soldiers and sought to maintain his faith while the world around him collapsed into chaos. In evocative language befitting his background as a poet, Scott lays bare the horrors of modern warfare. Filled with heart-wrenching descriptions and tragic detail, The Great War as I Saw It is a powerful meditation on the Canadian experience during World War I and an important look into the life of the ordinary soldier.

This vivid, detailed history of World War I presents the general reader with an accurate and readable account of the campaigns and battles, along with brilliant portraits of the leaders and generals of all countries involved. Scrupulously fair, praising and blaming friend and enemy as circumstances demand, this has become established as the classic account of the first world-wide war.

Writing a War of Words is the first exploration of the war-time quest by Andrew Clark - a writer, historian, and volunteer on the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary - to document changes in the English language from the start of the First World War up to 1919. Clark's unique series of lexical scrapbooks, replete with clippings, annotations, and real-time definitions, reveals a desire to put living language history to the fore, and to create a record of often fleeting popular use. The rise of trench warfare, the Zeppelinophobia of total war, and descriptions of shellshock (and raid shock on the Home Front) all drew his attentive gaze. The archive includes examples from a range of sources, such as advertising, newspapers, and letters from the Front, as well as documenting social issues such as the shifting forms of representation as women 'did their bit' on the Home Front. Lynda's Mugglestone's fascinating investigation of this valuable archive reassesses the conventional accounts of language history during this period, recuperates Clark himself as another 'forgotten lexicographer', challenges the received wisdom on the inexpressibilities of war, and examines the role of language as an interdisciplinary lens on history.