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The Journal of Military History 68.1 (2004) 267-268



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War Letters of Fallen Englishmen. Edited by Laurence Housman. Philadelphia, Pa.: Pine Street Books, 2002. ISBN 0-8122-1815-9. Pp. xxx, 318. $15.95.

The new edition of this work is really like reviewing two books, firstly the soldiers' letters from relatives, obviously given to Laurence Housman by persons in his social circle, and secondly the foreword by Jay Winter.

Reviewing this book made me ask the following: Why was the book published in the 1930s? The letters do demonstrate the idealistic, spiritual upbringing and outlook of the young officers. This is particularly poignant in the "last letters" and those written to mothers, the latter composed so as not to cause alarm and despondency. Other letters to brothers and friends embroider and embellish with considerable detail the conduct of the writer's war.

Why was it republished without some editing rather than a flowery introduction by Jay Winter?

In his foreword, Winter indicates that most of the ninety-five authors of the original letters went to public (private) schools and ancient English universities. He theorises that the majority of the prose and poetry of the World War emanated from the officer class, and appears to have concluded that the loss of these leaders led to the country declining in influence after the war. This theory has been refuted by many sources, such as Arthur Marwick's book, The Deluge, or Gerard DeGroot's Blighty.

From examination of many soldiers' letters home, they are either disguising war's true horrors or commenting on hearsay information. Troops serving in the front line are generally restricted to commenting on events occurring approximately six feet in all directions from their location.

That many of the contributions consist of only one letter does not enable the reader to form a meaningful interpretation of the individual's feelings and character. It is interesting to compare those entries consisting of several letters as to how the writer communicates differently between family and friends.

Housman was too old to serve in the war and I have a feeling that this book was to some extent a means by which he could experience and share life at the front through the writers of the letters.

From an historian's point of view I should have liked a little more background, if only cursory information, on where in the war area the letter writer died and where he is buried or identified on a memorial. This information [End Page 267] was not readily available at the time of the original publication but is now, thanks to the Internet, available on Web sites and data CDs.

For example: Page 70—L/Cpl Harold Chapin R.A.M.C., Army No 1802 (the only U.S. citizen contributor) K.I.A. 26.9.15 during the battle of Loos. Unit 1st/6th London Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, age 29. Son of Mrs Alice Chapin, husband of Calypso Valetta Chapin of 2/25 Pembridge Crescent, Notting Hill Gate, London. A dramatist and Actor. No known grave, entry on panel 136, Loos Memorial, France.

The original book is not listed among those attributed to Housman and is not in his usual range of published works. It is an interesting collection partly because all the male contributors died during the war, leaving the question unanswered as to the reason why. I do not think that either the original or the reprint contribute much to our understanding of the conduct of war but do give an insight into the social and class divisions existing in Great Britain in that period. (The war was responsible for breaking down although not entirely removing that division.)

It would be interesting to establish how many copies of the original were sold.



Paul Hanson
Western Front Association
Coventry, United Kingdom

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