‘The War is not funny, Sir.’ – Colonel Howfield. ‘I’ve a feeling that may be the point.’ – General Mitford. Seema Syeda reviews Ian Hislop and Nick Newman’s hit sensation, The Wipers Times. Lovers of satire, puns, and slap-stick comedy will delight in this new gem of a play from writers Ian Hislop and Nick Newman, The Wipers […]
WWI
Passchendaele centenary commemorations
The UK Government is holding two commemorative events in Ypres, Belgium, to mark the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele (Third Battle of Ypres), fought during the First World War. Raging from 31 July to 10 November 1917, Passchendaele is widely remembered as one of the most hellish battles of the war. While it […]
Shifting Sands: Lawrence of Arabia and the Great Arab Revolt
Shifting Sands is an exhibition about T E Lawrence, probably known to most of us as ‘Lawrence of Arabia’. The title inevitably conjures up pictures of desert sands whipped up into fierce sandstorms by violent winds. There is, however, a subtler subtext, linked to Lawrence’s mindset, to the shifting sands of his personality. Both of […]
MUSEUM REVIEW: National WWI Museum and Memorial, Kansas City, USA
The name of this stunning museum is a bit of a misnomer for, if anything, it is not national but international in its scope – a fact that is certainly appropriate for the subject matter. Located on a beautiful slope in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, this amazing structure, with its 217 -tall memorial […]
BATTLE MAPS: The Brusilov Offensive,1916
The Russian Imperial Army has been portrayed as unfit to wage a modern war. It is best known for a catalogue of disasters at the hands of the Germans, notably at Tannenberg in 1914 and Gorlice-Tarnow in 1915, and then for its sudden collapse in the 1917 revolution. Yet General Alexsei Brusilov launched one of […]
All you need to know about… Erich Ludendorff
Neat ‘tache… who was he? Once called ‘the most powerful man in Germany’, Erich Ludendor ff was a prominent general in the German Army of the First World War. He was also a writer, military theorist, and ultra right-wing politician. He went to cadet school at an early age, and later attended the prestigious War Academy. He quickly rose through […]
BOOK REVIEW: Taylor Downing’s ‘Breakdown: the crisis of shell shock on the Somme, 1916’
How do you deal with someone suffering from mental illness if you do not believe that such a condition exists? If you feel that it is possible to ‘snap out of it’, use mind over matter, and exercise the stiff upper lip? This was the problem that confronted the British Army during the Great War, and became a particularly acute problem following the Battle […]
Remote survey of HMS Hampshire: new images released
A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) has surveyed the wreck of HMS Hampshire, sunk on 5 June 1916. The Devonshire-class armoured cruiser, which played a minor role in the Battle of Jutland, was transporting Lord Kitchener to Russia for a meeting with Tsar Nicholas II when it struck a German mine off Marwick Head in Orkney. The ship sank in just 20 minutes, resulting in Lord […]
BRIEFING ROOM: Mustafa Kemal
Mustafa Kemal was a Turkish nationalist leader and military commander. He founded the Republic of Turkey and was the country’s first president.
WAR CULTURE: Cyrus LeRoy Baldridge I Was There
American artist and illustrator Cyrus LeRoy Baldridge published I Was There in 1919. The book contains over 30 illustrations, sketches, and paintings made by Baldridge during his time on the Western Front. Baldridge studied at the University of Chicago before searching out adventure as a ranch hand in Texas and joining the National Guard. With the outbreak of the […]
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