Everyman at War. Sixty Personal Narratives of the War

About this book

In 1929 editor C. B. Purdom of the British magazine 'Everyman' ... "invited readers to send him accounts of their actual (WW1) war experiences, in not more than three thousand words, offering a small prize for the best narrative received. In the course of a few weeks I received over three hundred narratives ... The writers had been asked to relate their experiences straight-forwardly and simply. "Good writing" was not expected. The result was that the bulk of the manuscripts were plain statements of fact recording experiences that were deeply felt." The editor arranged 60 of the accounts in order of events, as far as possible. The accounts give a vivid picture of the experience of the common solider in the Great War. - Summary by Ted Lienhart