Tuesday 23 May 2017

Book Review: “1001 Fantastic First World War Facts” by Scott Addington, published by Scott on Amazon – www.scottaddington.com

I first heard about Scott Addington when we interviewed him about his book “Heroes of the Line” which is about Scott’s cycle pilgrimage along the Western Front from the coast to Switzerland.  (If you haven’t read that we strongly recommend you do…)

So I was very pleased to see that Scott has recently brought out another WW1 book - “1001 Fantastic First World War Facts”, which is so full of interesting facts it is hard to know which to pick for the purposes of the review. The book is divided into sections which are listed on page 11 – from Prelude to War to Remembrance and Aftermath. The facts are set out in short sentences, easy to read sentences and the book is a paperback and therefore easy to put in your pocket if you are visiting any of the graves and/or battlefields in the theatres of the war.

Scott starts by explaining how the First World War began – fact No. 14 tells us about the German Schlieffen Plan.  As my Grandfather was an Old Contemptible with the Royal Field Artillery, I was particularly interested in No. 401 on page 53, which explains that a Captain John Patrick Denny of the Royal Field Artillery formed the Old Contemptibles Association for Veterans of the British Expeditionary Force in 1925.   

On page 57, No. 445 explains Field Ambulances and Casualty Clearing Stations, while 454 reminds us that there were replica trenches dug in parks, etc. in various towns in Britain designed to show members of the public what the trench system was like.  Visitors were shown round for a small entrance fee which raised money for the wounded.

Fact 715 mentions American nurses and on page 85, Fact 753 tells us of the first use of planes for bombing.  No. 884 answers the question so many people ask as to why War Memorials say “1914 – 1919” and not “1914 – 1918”.

As an introduction to the history of the First World War this is an extremely handy and interesting book.

“1001 Fantastic First World War Facts” by Scott Addington, published by Scott on Amazon – www.scottaddington.com
Follow Scott on Twitter:  @scott_addington and on Facebook:  @ScottAddingtonHistory

A follow-up book is now available as a down-load from Scott’s website - 500 Fantastic First World War Facts and you can get to it via my website - www.scottaddington.com