Spring 1918

To the Last Man

Lyn Macdonald has established an unrivalled reputation as a historian of the First World War.  Her books include: SOMME: THEY CALLED IT PASSCHENDAELE, 1914 and 1915.  She lives in London.

'Hers is a formidable achievement.' - Sebastian Faulks 
 
This is the account of the battle, the retreat and the stand at Amiens which saved the city, secured the line, and caused Ludendorff to call off his offensive in the spring of 1918. But mostly it is the story of the men who took part: the Commanders, the weary, resolute British Tommies, the exultant Germans, the French poilus rushed up to stiffen the defence and the still unblooded Doughboys from the U.S.

The Days Of Hope

1914

Lyn MacDonald's acclaimed history 1914: The Days of Hope, is not so much the story of war as the story of an army. 
 
In this vivid account of the first months of the First World War, Lyn Macdonald draws on personal accounts of surviving veterans, bringing to life the disillusionment, the questioning and the heroism of the men of the British Army. 
 
The officers and men of 1914 were prepared to fight and ready to lay down their lives because it was their job. These men believed they were fighting the War to end War. 
 
'Once again Lyn Macdonald has collected an extraordinary mass of original accounts, some by old soldiers, some in the form of diaries and journals, even by French civilians . . . Her research has been vast, and in result is triumphant' Tablet 
 
'These poignant voices from the past conjure up a lost innocence as well as a lost generation' Piers Brendon, Mail on Sunday 
 
'A mammoth, vivid compendium of the first months of the war . . . What Lyn Macdonald captures is the extraordinary resilience of the British regulars faced with the brutal shattering of their expectations' Daily Mail 
 
Lyn Macdonald is one of the most highly regarded historians of the First World War. Her books tell the men's stories in their own words and cast a unique light on the experiences of the ordinary 'Tommy'. The Roses of No Man's Land, Somme and They Called it Passchendaele have been recently reissued by Penguin.

Once again Lyn Macdonald has collected an extraordinary mass of original accounts, some by old soldiers, some in the form of diaries and journals, even by French civilians . . . Her research has been vast, and in result is triumphant

These poignant voices from the past conjure up a lost innocence as well as a lost generation

A mammoth, vivid compendium of the first months of the war . . . What Lyn Macdonald captures is the extraordinary resilience of the British regulars faced with the brutal shattering of their expectations

Powerful and beautifully researched. A mind-numbing, heart-breaking book that should be alongside the field marshal's baton in every subaltern's kitbag

Lyn Macdonald is one of the most highly regarded historians of the First World War. Her books are based on the accounts of eyewitnesses and survivors, told in their own words, and cast a unique light on the First World War. Most are published by Penguin.

In this vivid account of the first months of the First World War, Lyn Macdonald draws on personal accounts of surviving veterans, bringing to life the disillusionment, the questioning and the heroism of the men of the British Army. 
 
The officers and men of 1914 were prepared to fight and ready to lay down their lives because it was their job. These men believed they were fighting the War to end War.

Somme

2016 is the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme 
 
'There was hardly a household in the land', writes Lyn Macdonald, 'there was no trade, occupation, profession or community, which was not represented in the thousands of innocent enthusiasts who made up the ranks of Kitchener's Army before the Battle of the Somme...' 
 
The year 1916 was one of the great turning-points in British history: as the youthful hopes of a generation were crushed in a desperate struggle to survive, and traditional attitudes to authority were destroyed for ever. On paper, few battles have ever been so meticulously planned. Yet while there were good political reasons to launch a joint offensive with a French Army demoralized by huge casualties at Verdun, the raw troops on the ground knew nothing of that. A hundred and fifty thousand were killed in the punishing shellfire, the endless ordeal of attack and counter-attack; twice that number were left maimed or wounded. Here, almost for the first time, Lyn Macdonald lets the men who were there give their own testimony. Their stories are vivid, harrowing, sometimes terrifying - yet shot through with humour, immense courage and an astonishing spirit of resilience. 
 
'What the reader will longest remember are the words - heartbroken, blunt, angry - of the men who lived through the bloodbath...a worthy addition to the literature of the Great War...'Daily Mail 
 
Over the past twenty years Lyn Macdonald has established a popular reputation as an author and historian of the First World War. Her books are based on the accounts of eyewitnesses and survivors, told in their own words, and cast a unique light on the First World War. Most are published by Penguin.

Somme expresses the full range of meaning of the word 'grim'...I doubt if there are any better than this

A worthy addition to the literature of the Great War

Lyn Macdonald is one of the most highly regarded historians of the First World War. Her books tell the men's stories in their own words and cast a unique light on the experiences of the ordinary 'Tommy'. The Roses of No Man's Land, Somme and They Called it Passchendaele have been recently reissued by Penguin. She lives near Cambridge.

'There was hardly a household in the land'. writes Lyn Macdonald, 'there was no trade, occupation, profession or community, which was not represented in the thousands of innocent enthusiasts who made up the ranks of Kitchener's Army before the Battle of the Somme...' 
 
The year 1916 was one of the great turning-points in British history: as the youthful hopes of a generation were crushed in a desperate struggle to survive. On paper, few battles have ever been so meticulously planned. Yet while there were good political reasons to launch a joint offensive with a French Army demoralised by huge casualties at Verdun, the raw troops on the ground knew nothing of politics. A hundred and fifty thousand were killed in the punishing shellfire, the endless ordeal of attack and counter-attack; twice that number were wounded. 
 
Here, Lyn Macdonald lets the men who were there give their own testimony. Their stories are vivid, harrowing, sometimes terrifying - yet shot through with humour, immense courage and an astonishing spirit of resilience.

The Roses of No Man's Land

THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE BBC DRAMA THE CRIMSON FIELD 
 
'On the face of it,' writes Lyn Macdonald, 'no one could have been less equipped for the job than these gently nurtured girls who walked straight out of Edwardian drawing rooms into the manifest horrors of the First World War ...' 
 
Yet the volunteer nurses rose magnificently to the occasion. In leaking tents and draughty huts they fought another war, a war against agony and death, as men lay suffering from the pain of unimaginable wounds or diseases we can now cure almost instantly. It was here that young doctors frantically forged new medical techniques - of blood transfusion, dentistry, psychiatry and plastic surgery - in the attempt to save soldiers shattered in body or spirit. And it was here that women achieved a quiet but permanent revolution, by proving beyond question they could do anything. All this is superbly captured in The Roses of No Man's Land, a panorama of hardship, disillusion and despair, yet also of endurance and supreme courage. 
 
'Lyn Macdonald writes splendidly and touchingly of the work of the nurses and doctors who fought their humanitarian battle on the Western Front' Sunday Telegraph 
 
Over the past twenty years Lyn Macdonald has established a popular reputation as an author and historian of the First World War. Her books are based on the accounts of eyewitnesses and survivors, told in their own words, and cast a unique light on the First World War. Most are published by Penguin.

The tale is allowed to tell itself without any frontal assault on the emotions, and is all the more stirring thereby

Lyn Macdonald is one of the most highly regarded historians of the First World War. Her books tell the men's stories in their own words and cast a unique light on the experiences of the ordinary 'Tommy'. The Roses of No Man's Land, Somme and They Called it Passchendaele have been recently reissued by Penguin. She lives near Cambridge.

On the face of it', writes Lyn Macdonald, 'no one could have been less equipped for the job than these gently nurtured girls who walked straight out of the Edwardian drawing-rooms into the manifest horrors of the First World War...' 
 
Yet the volunteer nurses rose magnificently to the occasion. In leaking tents and draughty huts they fought another war, a war against agony and death, as men lay suffering from the pain of unimaginable wounds or diseases we can now cure almost instantly. 
 
It was here that young doctors frantically forged new medical techniques - of blood transfusion, dentistry, psychiatry and plastic surgery - in an attempt to save soldiers shattered in body or spirit. And it was here that women achieved a quiet but permanent revolution, by proving beyond question they could do anything. 
 
All of this is superbly captured in The Roses's of No Man's Land, a panorama of hardship, disillusion and despair, yet also of endurance and supreme courage.

The Death of Innocence

1915

Over two decades' research puts Lyn Macdonald among the greatest popular chroniclers of the First World War. In 1915: The Death of Innocence, from the poignant memories of participants, she has once again created an unforgettable slice of military history. 
 
By the end of 1914, the battered British forces were bogged down, yet hopeful that promised reinforcements and spring weather would soon lead to a victorious breakthrough. A year later, after appalling losses at Aubers Ridge, Loos, Neuve Chapelle, Ypres and faraway Gallipoli, fighting seemed set to go on for ever. Drawing on extensive interviews, letters and diaries, this book brilliantly evokes the soldiers' dogged heroism, sardonic humour and terrible loss of innocence through 'a year of cobbling together, of frustration, of indecision'. 
 
'It is rare to find a history of the First World War which manages to convey the front-line soldiers' experiences and to describe what it was that enabled those who survived to get through it. Lyn Macdonald has done just that' Sunday Times 
 
Over the past twenty years Lyn Macdonald has established a popular reputation as an author and historian of the First World War. Her books are based on the accounts of eyewitnesses and survivors, told in their own words, and cast a unique light on the First World War. Most are published by Penguin.

By the end of 1914, the battered British forces were bogged down, yet hopeful that promised reinforcements and spring weather would soon lead to a victorious breakthrough. A year later, after appalling losses at Aubers Ridge, Loos, Neuve Chapelle, Ypres and faraway Gallipoli, fighting seemed set to go on for ever. Drawing on extensive interviews, letters and diaries, this book brilliantly evokes the soldiers' dogged heroism, sardonic humour and terrible loss of innocence through 'a year of cobbling together, of frustration, of indecision'. Over two decades' research puts Lyn Macdonald among the greatest popular chroniclers of the First World War. Here, from the poignant memories of participants, she has once again created an unforgettable slice of military history.

The Story of the Battle of Ypres and of the Men Who Fought in it

They Called it Passchendaele

The third battle of Ypres, culminating in a desperate struggle for the ridge and little village of Passchendaele, was one of the most appalling campaigns in the First World War. In this masterly piece of oral history, Lyn Macdonald lets over 600 participants speak for themselves. A million Tommies, Canadians and Anzacs assembled at the Ypres Salient in the summer of 1917, mostly raw young troops keen to do their bit for King and Country. This book tells their tale of mounting disillusion amid mud, terror and desperate privation, yet it is also a story of immense courage, comradeship, songs, high spirits and bawdy humour. They Called It Passchendaele portrays the human realities behind one of the most disastrous events in the history of warfare.

Lyn Macdonald

Lyn Macdonald writes splendidly and touchingly

It is rare to find a history of the First World War which manages to convey the front-line soldiers' experiences and to describe what it was that enabled those who survived to get through it. Lyn Macdonald has done just that

Her basic inspiration is compassion, her technique is scrupulously painstaking. And her application in finding, interviewing and editing innumerable contributions can only be admired

The Story of the Third Battle of Ypres 1917

The Third Battle of Ypres, ending in a desperate struggle for the ridge and little village of Passchendaele, was one of the most appalling campaigns in the history of warfare. A million Tommies, Canadians and Anzacs assembled at the Ypres Salient in summer of 1917, mostly raw young troops keen to do their bit for King and Country. This book tells their tale of mounting disillusion amid mud, terror and increasingly desperate attacks, yet it is also a story of immense courage, comradeship, high spirits and hope. 
 
 In Passchendaele, Lyn Macdonald lets over 600 soldiers speak for themselves. In doing so, she portrays events from the only point of view that really matters.

Lyn Macdonald

Praise for Passchendaele

Lyn Macdonald writes splendidly and touchingly

It is rare to find a history of the First World War which manages to convey the front-line soldiers' experiences and to describe what it was that enabled those who survived to get through it. Lyn Macdonald has done ...

Her basic inspiration is compassion, her technique is scrupulously painstaking. And her application in finding, interviewing and editing innumerable contributions can only be admired

Lyn Macdonald writes splendidly and touchingly

It is rare to find a history of the First World War which manages to convey the front-line soldiers' experiences and to describe what it was that enabled those who survived to get through it. Lyn Macdonald has done ...

Her basic inspiration is compassion, her technique is scrupulously painstaking. And her application in finding, interviewing and editing innumerable contributions can only be admired

Lyn Macdonald writes splendidly and touchingly

It is rare to find a history of the First World War which manages to convey the front-line soldiers' experiences and to describe what it was that enabled those who survived to get through it. Lyn Macdonald has done ...

Her basic inspiration is compassion, her technique is scrupulously painstaking. And her application in finding, interviewing and editing innumerable contributions can only be admired

Books by Lyn Macdonald

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