The First World War caused suffering on a scale that had not been seen before.

Advancements in technological and industrial sophistication wreaked unexpected devastation on armies using outmoded tactics from an earlier time.

“In Flanders Fields” is a war poem written by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae that immortalized the poppy as a symbol of Remembrance.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

Samuel Barber’s haunting Adagio for Strings brings home the immense sadness of a world at war.

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The Guns of August: The Outbreak of World War I; Barbara W. Tuchman’s Great War Series (Modern Library 100 Best Nonfiction Books)
In this landmark, Pulitzer Prize–winning account, renowned historian Barbara W. Tuchman re-creates the first month of World War I: thirty days in the summer of 1914 that determined the course of the conflict, the century, and ultimately our present world.

“A fine demonstration that with sufficient art rather specialized history can be raised to the level of literature.”—The New York Times.

“[The Guns of August] has a vitality that transcends its narrative virtues, which are considerable, and its feel for characterizations, which is excellent.”—The Wall Street Journal.

“More dramatic than fiction . . . a magnificent narrative—beautifully organized, elegantly phrased, skillfully paced and sustained.”—Chicago Tribune.

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