History of the Great War
Encyclopedia
The History of the Great War is a series of 28 volumes covering the military operations of the British Army
during the First World War
. The full title is the History of the Great War Based on Official Documents but the series is usually referred to as the British Official History. It was produced by the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence
under the control of official historian Brigadier-General Sir James Edmonds
. The first volume was published in 1923 and the final volume was published in 1949.
The History of the Great War was written as a technical history for military staff, rather than as a popular history for consumption by the general public. British historian John Keegan
, critical of the dry, featureless prose, said "the compilers... have achieved the remarkable feat of writing an exhaustive account of one of the world's greatest tragedies without the display of any emotion at all.". In 2003 Andrew Green concluded 'By almost evey standard by which the Official Military Histories of the Great War might be judged, one must conclude that the works were of substantial historical, military and literary value.... Even those who have accused Edmonds of bias have had to acknowledge that his assessments and conclusions are correct.' (Writing the Great War, p. 207, Andrew Green).
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
during the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The full title is the History of the Great War Based on Official Documents but the series is usually referred to as the British Official History. It was produced by the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence
Committee of Imperial Defence
The Committee of Imperial Defence was an important ad hoc part of the government of the United Kingdom and the British Empire from just after the Second Boer War until the start of World War II...
under the control of official historian Brigadier-General Sir James Edmonds
James Edward Edmonds
Brigadier General James Edward Edmonds CB, CMG was a British First World War officer of the Royal Engineers who in the role of British official historian was responsible for the post-war compilation of the 28-volume History of the Great War...
. The first volume was published in 1923 and the final volume was published in 1949.
The History of the Great War was written as a technical history for military staff, rather than as a popular history for consumption by the general public. British historian John Keegan
John Keegan
Sir John Keegan OBE FRSL is a British military historian, lecturer, writer and journalist. He has published many works on the nature of combat between the 14th and 21st centuries concerning land, air, maritime, and intelligence warfare, as well as the psychology of battle.-Life and career:John...
, critical of the dry, featureless prose, said "the compilers... have achieved the remarkable feat of writing an exhaustive account of one of the world's greatest tragedies without the display of any emotion at all.". In 2003 Andrew Green concluded 'By almost evey standard by which the Official Military Histories of the Great War might be judged, one must conclude that the works were of substantial historical, military and literary value.... Even those who have accused Edmonds of bias have had to acknowledge that his assessments and conclusions are correct.' (Writing the Great War, p. 207, Andrew Green).
Volumes
- Military Operations: France and Belgium, 1914
- Volume I: Mons, the Retreat to the Seine, the Marne and the Aisne, August - October 1914, Brigadier-General Sir James E. EdmondsJames Edward EdmondsBrigadier General James Edward Edmonds CB, CMG was a British First World War officer of the Royal Engineers who in the role of British official historian was responsible for the post-war compilation of the 28-volume History of the Great War...
, 1922 archive.org - Volume II: Antwerp, La Bassé, Armentières, Messines and Ypres, October - November 1914, Brigadier-General Sir James E. EdmondsJames Edward EdmondsBrigadier General James Edward Edmonds CB, CMG was a British First World War officer of the Royal Engineers who in the role of British official historian was responsible for the post-war compilation of the 28-volume History of the Great War...
, 1925 archive.org
- Volume I: Mons, the Retreat to the Seine, the Marne and the Aisne, August - October 1914, Brigadier-General Sir James E. Edmonds
- Military Operations: France and Belgium, 1915
- Volume I: Winter 1914-15: Battle of Neuve Chapelle: Battles of Ypres, Brigadier-General Sir James E. EdmondsJames Edward EdmondsBrigadier General James Edward Edmonds CB, CMG was a British First World War officer of the Royal Engineers who in the role of British official historian was responsible for the post-war compilation of the 28-volume History of the Great War...
and Captain G.C. Wynne, 1927 - Volume II: Battles of Aubers Ridge, Festubert, and Loos, Brigadier-General Sir James E. EdmondsJames Edward EdmondsBrigadier General James Edward Edmonds CB, CMG was a British First World War officer of the Royal Engineers who in the role of British official historian was responsible for the post-war compilation of the 28-volume History of the Great War...
, 1928
- Volume I: Winter 1914-15: Battle of Neuve Chapelle: Battles of Ypres, Brigadier-General Sir James E. Edmonds
- Military Operations: France and Belgium, 1916
- Volume I: Sir Douglas Haig's Command to the 1st July: Battle of the Somme, Brigadier-General Sir James E. EdmondsJames Edward EdmondsBrigadier General James Edward Edmonds CB, CMG was a British First World War officer of the Royal Engineers who in the role of British official historian was responsible for the post-war compilation of the 28-volume History of the Great War...
, 1932 - Volume II: 2 July 1916 to the end of the Battles of the Somme, Captain Wilfrid Miles, 1938
- Volume I: Sir Douglas Haig's Command to the 1st July: Battle of the Somme, Brigadier-General Sir James E. Edmonds
- Military Operations: France and Belgium, 1917
- Volume I: The German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line and the Battles of Arras, Captain Cyril Falls, 1940
- Volume II: Messines and third Ypres (Passchendaele), Brigadier-General Sir James E. EdmondsJames Edward EdmondsBrigadier General James Edward Edmonds CB, CMG was a British First World War officer of the Royal Engineers who in the role of British official historian was responsible for the post-war compilation of the 28-volume History of the Great War...
, 1948 - Volume III: The Battle of Cambrai, Captain Wilfrid Miles, 1948
- Military Operations: France and Belgium, 1918
- Volume I: The German March Offensive and its Preliminaries, Brigadier-General Sir James E. EdmondsJames Edward EdmondsBrigadier General James Edward Edmonds CB, CMG was a British First World War officer of the Royal Engineers who in the role of British official historian was responsible for the post-war compilation of the 28-volume History of the Great War...
, 1935 - Volume II: March-April: Continuation of the German Offensives, Brigadier-General Sir James E. EdmondsJames Edward EdmondsBrigadier General James Edward Edmonds CB, CMG was a British First World War officer of the Royal Engineers who in the role of British official historian was responsible for the post-war compilation of the 28-volume History of the Great War...
, 1937 - Volume III: May-July: The German Diversion Offensives and the First Allied Counter-Offensive, Brigadier-General Sir James E. EdmondsJames Edward EdmondsBrigadier General James Edward Edmonds CB, CMG was a British First World War officer of the Royal Engineers who in the role of British official historian was responsible for the post-war compilation of the 28-volume History of the Great War...
, 1939 - Volume IV: 8 August-26 September: The Franco-British Offensive, Brigadier-General Sir James E. EdmondsJames Edward EdmondsBrigadier General James Edward Edmonds CB, CMG was a British First World War officer of the Royal Engineers who in the role of British official historian was responsible for the post-war compilation of the 28-volume History of the Great War...
, 1947 - Volume V: 26 September-11 November: The Advance to Victory, Brigadier-General Sir James E. EdmondsJames Edward EdmondsBrigadier General James Edward Edmonds CB, CMG was a British First World War officer of the Royal Engineers who in the role of British official historian was responsible for the post-war compilation of the 28-volume History of the Great War...
and Lieutenant-Colonel R. Maxwell-Hyslop, 1947
- Volume I: The German March Offensive and its Preliminaries, Brigadier-General Sir James E. Edmonds
- Military Operations: Gallipoli
- Volume I, Brigadier-General C.F. Aspinall-Oglander, 1929
- Volume II, Brigadier-General C.F. Aspinall-Oglander, 1932
- Military Operations: Italy, 1915-1919, Brigadier-General Sir James E. EdmondsJames Edward EdmondsBrigadier General James Edward Edmonds CB, CMG was a British First World War officer of the Royal Engineers who in the role of British official historian was responsible for the post-war compilation of the 28-volume History of the Great War...
and H.R. Davies, 1949 - Military Operations: East Africa, 1914-1916
- Volume I, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Nordern, 1941
- Volume II, unpublished
- Military Operations: Togoland and the Cameroons, 1914-1916, Brigadier-General F.J. Moberly, 1931
- Military Operations: Macedonia
- Volume I: From the Outbreak of War to the Spring of 1917, Captain Cyril FallsCyril FallsCyril Bentham Falls CBE was a military historian noted for his work on the First World War. He was born in Dublin and died in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey....
, 1933 - Volume II: From the Spring of 1917 to the End of the War, Captain Cyril Falls, 1935
- Volume I: From the Outbreak of War to the Spring of 1917, Captain Cyril Falls
- Military Operations: Egypt and Palestine
- Volume I, Captain Cyril Falls, 1928
- Volume II, Captain Cyril Falls
- Military Operations: Mesopotamia
- Volume I: Outbreak of Hostilities, Campaign in Lower Mesopotamia, Brigadier-General F.J. Moberly, 1923
- Volume II: April 1916: The Attempt on Baghdad, the Battle of Ctesiphon, the Siege and the Fall of Kut-al-Amara, Brigadier-General F.J. Moberly,1924
- Volume III: April 1917: The Capture and Consolidation of Baghdad, Brigadier-General F.J. Moberly, 1926
- Volume IV: The Campaign in Upper Mesopotamia to the Armistice, Brigadier-General F.J. Moberly, 1927
See also
- British Official History of Naval Operations in the Great War, 5 volumes by Sir Julian S. CorbettJulian CorbettSir Julian Stafford Corbett was a prominent British naval historian and geostrategist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, whose works helped shape the Royal Navy's reforms of that era...
and Henry NewboltHenry NewboltSir Henry John Newbolt, CH was an English poet. He is best remembered for Vitaï Lampada, a lyrical piece used for propaganda purposes during the First World War.-Background:... - War in the Air, 6 volumes plus appendices by Walter Raleigh and H.A. Jones
- Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 is a 12-volume series covering Australian involvement in the First World War. The series was edited by C.E.W. Bean, who also wrote six of the volumes, and was published between 1920 and 1942...
, 12 volume Australian official history edited by C.E.W. Bean.