Personal narratives of the First World War
A selection of titles available
RNIB Talking Books
Emden, Richard Van
Veterans: the last survivors of the Great War. 1998. Read by
multiple narrators, 8 hours 5 minutes. TB 12623.
Veterans of the First World War give personal testimony, providing
a final insight into the war which has shaped this century. The
stories, moving and heartbreaking, funny and perceptive, tell of
how a new volunteer army went to war in 1914 to fight at the
battles of Loos, the Somme and Passchendaele. TB 12623.
Graves, Robert
Goodbye to all that. 1990. Read by Sean Barratt, 11 hours 43
minutes. TB 9515.
This book has been described as one of the great autobiographies
of the 20th century. Robert Graves wrote "Goodbye To All That"
when about to leave England after much personal turmoil. In it the
intractable experience of the First World War is digested by
Graves' poetic imagination into literature. At the same time, it is
one of the most candid self portraits ever drawn, while containing
vivid portraits of his close friends. TB 9515.
Hetherington, Brid
Under the shadow : letters of love and war 1911-1917: the
poignant testimony and story of Captain Hugh Wallace Mann
7th & 5th Battalions; The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
and Jessie Reid. 1999. Read by Multiple narrators, 6 hours 41
minutes. TB 13494.
This work tells the true story of young minister Hugh Wallace Mann
and his one and only love Jessie, from the earliest days of their
friendship in 1911, to a military hospital bed on the Normandy
coast after the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917. Hugh evokes the
strenuous routine of army camps, the relative calm of billets, the
horror, brutality and excitement of trenches and battle, and in
writing, he immortalises his love for Jessie. TB 13494.
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Macdonald, Lyn
Somme. 1983. Read by John Richmond, 18 hours 38 minutes.
TB 5113.
A vernacular history of the Battle of the Somme, the baptism of fire
for those who had rushed to join the colours in 1914. The planning
was meticulous but one hundred and fifty thousand men were
killed and over three thousand more maimed and wounded. For
the soldier at the front survival came first, then the next meal and a
village girl. The free use of personal recollections makes this a
human chronicle of life in war as well as death. TB 5113.
Macdonald, Lyn
They called it Passchendaele: the story of the third battle of
Ypres and of the men who fought in it. 1983. 11 hours 6
minutes. TB 400927.
The full horror of World War I is summed up in the word
Passchendaele. The struggle to capture this obscure Flemish
village cost a quarter of a million casualties in one of the worst
campaigns in the annals of warfare. This is the story of
Passchendaele, told through the words of the men who fought
there. It sets out to capture their bravery and terror in the face of
battle, the details of their daily lives and the spirit of humour and
comradeship that kept them going. TB 400927.
Owen, Wilfred
Selected poems 1995. Read by John Cormack, 1 hour 36
minutes. TB 11491.
"Bloomsbury Poetry Classics" are selections from the work of
some of our greatest poets, aimed at the general reader. The
selections have been made by the poet, critic and biographer Ian
Hamilton. Wilfred Owen was sent to the front during the First World
War. He was encouraged in the belief that poets should tell the
truth about the conduct of the war. Owen won the Military Cross for
bravery and was killed a week before the Armistice, aged 24. TB
11491.
rnib.org.uk
Patch, Harry
The last fighting Tommy: the life of Harry Patch, the oldest
surviving veteran of the trenches. 2008. Read by Bill Wallis, 7
hours 58 minutes. TB 15886.
Fighting in the mud and trenches during the Battle of
Passchendaele, he saw a great many of his comrades die. In vivid
detail he describes daily life in the trenches, the terror of being
under intense artillery fire, and the fear of going over the top. The
Second World War saw Harry in action on the home front as a firefighter during the bombing of Bath. He also warmly describes his
friendship with American GIs preparing to go to France, and, years
later, his tears when he saw their graves. TB 15886.
Sassoon, Siegfried
The war poems. 1934. Read by John Westbrook, 3 hours. TB
4809.
The poet enlisted at the outbreak of the First World War and was
awarded the Military Cross for gallantry in action. His war poetry
depicts the horrors of the trenches, and illustrates his growing
bitterness towards hypocrisy and romanticism. TB 4809.
Vanier, Georges
The wartime letters and diaries, 1915-1919. 2000. Read by
William Mackenzie, 10 hours 30 minutes. TB 18547.
Vaughan, Edwin Campion
Some desperate glory: the diary of a young officer, 1917.
1981. Read by Patrick Romer, 9 hours 19 minutes. TB 4322.
Written by a young man who marched into battle with Palgrave in
his pocket, this is a moving account of life on the Western Front
during the first eight months of 1917. Of his group of ninety men,
only fifteen returned. TB 4322.
rnib.org.uk