Synopses & Reviews
Along with millions of other Frenchmen, Louis Barthas, a thirty-five-year-old barrelmaker from a small wine-growing town, was conscripted to fight the Germans in the opening days of World War I. Corporal Barthas spent the next four years in near-ceaseless combat, wherever the French army fought its fiercest battles: Artois, Flanders, Champagne, Verdun, the Somme, the Argonne. Barthasand#8217; riveting wartime narrative, first published in France in 1978, presents the vivid, immediate experiences of a frontline soldier.
and#160;
This excellent new translation brings Barthasand#8217; wartime writings to English-language readers for the first time. His notebooks and letters represent the quintessential memoir of a and#147;poilu,and#8221; or and#147;hairy one,and#8221; as the untidy, unshaven French infantryman of the fighting trenches was familiarly known. Upon Barthasand#8217; return home in 1919, he painstakingly transcribed his day-to-day writings into nineteen notebooks, preserving not only his own story but also the larger story of the unnumbered soldiers who never returned. Recounting bloody battles and endless exhaustion, the deaths of comrades, the infuriating incompetence and tyranny of his own officers, Barthas also describes spontaneous acts of camaraderie between French poilus and their German foes in trenches just a few paces apart. An eloquent witness and keen observer, Barthas takes his readers directly into the heart of the Great War.
Review
andldquo;This translation of the diaries and letters of a French corporal on the Western front in World War I brings the gritty reality of trench warfare to an English-speaking audience in a manner unparalleled even in the best soldier writings from that war. The reader feels and smells and hears the mud, the blood, the fear, the deafening noise of exploding shells, the clatter of machine guns, the cries of the wounded and dying. andnbsp;Here is the war as the men in the trenches experienced it.andrdquo;andmdash;James McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom
Review
and#8220;An exceptionally vivid memoir of a French soldier's experience of the First World War.and#8221;and#8212;Max Hastings, author of Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes to War
Review
and#8220;Louis Barthas, cooper, citizen, cynic and reluctant reservist, is one of the truly authentic voices of the Great War. A classic in France from its first publication, his account of the fighting (and he saw more of it than most) speaks not only for the 'poilu' but for all solders of the conflict.and#8221;and#8212;Hew Strachan, author of The First World War
Review
"A revelatory book that brings the French experience of the Great War to life as you read. However much we may think the British and Americans suffered, their agony was shorter and less intense than the tragedy that overwhelmed the French nation in 1914-1918."and#8212;Peter Hart, author of The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War
Review
and#8220;Ah, the notebooks of Louis Barthas! This book has profound historic value. It is also a genuine work of literature.and#8221;and#8212;Franand#231;ois Mitterrand, former president of France
Review
and#8220;Louis Barthasand#8217; stunningly honest, graphic and gripping narrative has rightly made Poilu a classic trench memoir.and#8221;and#8212;Douglas Porch, author of The French Foreign Legion: A Complete History of the Legendary Fighting Force
Review
and#8220;This book shows clearly and viscerally what were the origins of French soldiersand#8217; pacifism. . . . Barthasand#8217;s voice is unlike any other I know in the vast literature on the First World War.andnbsp; The translation is excellent; the grittiness of the text is captured beautifully, and so is the humanity of the man who wrote it.and#8221;and#8212;Jay Winter, Yale University
Review
"There is nothing like this for the French experience of WWI, almost nothing from equivalent British and German perspectives. . . . I believe this will be a major contribution to the study of Third-Republic France, the French army, and the First World War: regularly cited, regularly assigned.”—Dennis Showalter, Colorado College
Dennis Showalter
Review
andldquo;One wonders why it took so long for an English translationandmdash;this is clearly one of the most readable and indispensable accounts of the death of the glory of war.andrdquo;andmdash;Nicholas Mancuso, The Daily Beast
Review
andquot;A century after the guns of August first boomed, World War I has lost none of its power to boggle the mind. . . . Louis Barthas, an enlisted man from southwestern France, managed to reduce the conflict to human scale with a pen and 19 notebooks. . . . With Edward M. Straussandrsquo;s translation of Poilu, English-language readers now have access to a classic account of the war, a day-to-day chronicle of life in the trenches and a richly detailed answer to the seemingly unanswerable question: What was it like?andquot;andmdash;William Grimes, New York Times
Review
andquot;Nothing ever written provides a more accurate, raw and close-in account of the beastly life of the common soldier...andquot;andmdash;Marc Wortman, The Daily Beast
Review
andldquo;The material here is raw and unvarnished andmdash; not just primary, but primal. This is not the grand stuff of geopolitics and strategy, nor of literary arcs and historical perspective, nor even of battlefield tactics and logistics. It is the day-to-day life of a foot soldier in the trenches.andrdquo;andmdash;Andrew Imbrie Dayton, The Washington Independent Review of Books
Review
andldquo;Barthas was an ordinary working man, a barrel maker of socialist inclinations, and there was nothing about him to suggest he harbored literary gifts or genius. But his notebooks, assembled under the title Poilu, are among the great works of the war, deserving a place of mention with memoirs like Guy Chapmanandrsquo;s A Passionate Prodigality and Ernst Janduuml;ngerandrsquo;s Storm of Steel.andrdquo; andmdash;Geoffrey Norman, The Wall Street Journal
Review
and#8220;Among World War I books being published in this centennial year of that conflict's start, none likely can connect readers more directly or vividly to the experience of those who fought it.and#8221;and#8212;Alan Wallace, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Review
andquot;Barthas provides one of the best pictures of life in the trenches.andquot;andmdash;J.W. Thacker, Park City Daily News
Review
andldquo;In Barthasandrsquo; telling, the fighting men on both sides of No Manandrsquo;s Land shared a more natural bond with their fellows than with those career officers who pitted them against each other. Barthasandrsquo; detailed real-time reportage captures instances of informal truces and slowdowns between combatants, as they tacitly aid one another in their shared struggle to survive the madness.andrdquo; andmdash;David Wright, The Seattle Times
Review
andldquo;Barthasandrsquo; testimony, which exemplifies the title of this review and demonstrates the shared experiences of all the belligerents, is a superb addition to the many moving reminders of manandrsquo;s bravery in the face of the futility of war.andrdquo; andmdash;Patricia M.E. Lorcin, The Los Angeles Review of Books
Review
andldquo;A vivid, riveting, true tale of courage and compassion. . . . I fell in love with Rags, and Iandrsquo;ll be first in line for the movie!andrdquo;andmdash;Maria Goodavage, author of Top Dog: The Story of Marine Hero Luccaand#160;
Review
andldquo;Simply brilliant. An inspired storyteller. . . . Those who consider themselves dog lovers should read this book.andrdquo;andmdash;Mary Elizabeth Thurston, author of The Lost History of the Canine Raceand#160;
Review
andldquo;Utterly charming, and if you love dogs, this will prove irresistible!andrdquo;andmdash;Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of Dogs Never Lie about Loveand#160;and#160;
Review
andldquo;A beautiful story, beautifully written.andrdquo;andmdash;Kristin von Kreisler, author of The Compassion of Animals
Review
andldquo;Many spiritual traditions condemn animals as lesser beings. But Rags and the other heroes of Hayter-Menziesandrsquo;s beautiful book show otherwise. Learn from this book and use its message to transform the world to a place where all animals once again live in dignity and freedom.andrdquo;andmdash;Gay Bradshaw, author of Elephants on the Edge: What Animals Teach Us about Humanity
Review
andldquo;This is an exciting, well-written, and engrossing book with all the elements that a reader hopes forandmdash;adventure, heroism, love, loyalty, and encounters with celebrities and historically interesting people. From Stray Dog to World War I Hero is a must-read for dog lovers and history fans alike.andrdquo;andmdash;Stanley Coren, author of How Dogs Think and Born to Bark
Synopsis
The harrowing first-person account of a French foot soldier who survived four years in the trenches of the First World War
Synopsis
The harrowing first-person account of a French foot soldier who survived four years in the trenches of the First World War
Along with millions of other Frenchmen, Louis Barthas, a thirty-five-year-old barrelmaker from a small wine-growing town, was conscripted to fight the Germans in the opening days of World War I. Corporal Barthas spent the next four years in near-ceaseless combat, wherever the French army fought its fiercest battles: Artois, Flanders, Champagne, Verdun, the Somme, the Argonne. Barthas riveting wartime narrative, first published in France in 1978, presents the vivid, immediate experiences of a frontline soldier.
This excellent new translation brings Barthas wartime writings to English-language readers for the first time. His notebooks and letters represent the quintessential memoir of a poilu, or hairy one, as the untidy, unshaven French infantryman of the fighting trenches was familiarly known. Upon Barthas return home in 1919, he painstakingly transcribed his day-to-day writings into nineteen notebooks, preserving not only his own story but also the larger story of the unnumbered soldiers who never returned. Recounting bloody battles and endless exhaustion, the deaths of comrades, the infuriating incompetence and tyranny of his own officers, Barthas also describes spontaneous acts of camaraderie between French poilus and their German foes in trenches just a few paces apart. An eloquent witness and keen observer, Barthas takes his readers directly into the heart of the Great War."
Synopsis
On the streets of Paris one day in July 1918, an American doughboy, Sgt. Jimmy Donovan, befriended a stray dog that he named Rags. No longer an unwanted street mutt, Rags became theand#160;mascot to the entire First Division of the American Expeditionary Force and a friend to the American troops who had crossed the Atlantic to fight. Rags was more than a scruffy face and a wagging tail, however. The little terrier mix was with the division at the crucial battle of Soissons, at the Saint-Mihiel offensive, and finally in the blood-and-mud bath of the Meuse-Argonne, during which he and his guardian were wounded. Despite being surrounded by distraction and danger, Rags learned to carry messages through gunfire, locate broken communications wire for the Signal Corps to repair, and alert soldiers to incoming shells, saving the lives of hundreds of American soldiers. Through it all, he brought inspiration to men with little to hope for, especially in the bitter last days of the war.
From Stray Dog to World War I Hero covers Ragsandrsquo;s entire life story, from the bomb-filled years of war through his secret journey to the United States that began his second life, one just as filled with drama and heartache. In years of peace, Rags served as a reminder to human survivors of what held men together when pushed past their limits by the horrors of battle.
About the Author
Grant Hayter-Menzies is the author of several books, including The Empress and Mrs. Conger: The Uncommon Friendship of Two Women and Two Worlds; Lillian Carter: A Compassionate Life; and Shadow Woman: The Extraordinary Career of Pauline Benton. Pen Farthing was named the 2014 CNN Hero of the Year and is the founder and chairman of Nowzad Dogs, a nonprofit organization that reunites soldiers with the stray dogs and cats they took in during combat. Maj.and#160;Gen.and#160;Paul E. Funk II is a commanding general of the First Infantry Division in the U.S. Army and has commanded the Special Forces units with military detection dogs while in Afghanistan.