Empires, Soldiers, and Citizens - 2nd Edition by Marilyn Shevin-Coetzee & Frans Coetzee (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

• Combines documents and themes that have proven successful in the first edition with new sources and topics that are currently at the forefront of historical debate and research
• Now features 59 new documents which illustrate the imperial dimensions of the conflict and broaden the coverage of 'war culture' and developments in Eastern Europe
• Documents have been included which pay particular attention to the experiences and perspectives of ordinary people, whose voices are often underrepresented in broad accounts
• The bibliography has been expanded and completely updated, complemented by a new series of maps and illustrations

From the Back Cover

Empires, Soldiers, and Citizens: A World War I Sourcebook offers a vivid and diverse collection of original sources which explore the social, cultural, and military dimensions of the Great War of 1914-1918. The documents bring to life the experience of the conflict for those on different sides of the battle lines and in various walks of life.

Eyewitness perspectives - ranging from Turkish defenders at Gallipoli to English female munitions workers to Indian troops in France to a Russian woman in uniform - offer a compelling look at the many sides of a total war that not only claimed more than nine million lives, but also produced many of the defining features of the past century.

This second edition has been systematically updated throughout, retaining the most popular sources and adding new material to reflect the very latest historical thinking. Coverage has been expanded to address the imperial dimensions of the conflict, including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and broader currents in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Further documents have also been included which pay particular attention to the experiences and perspectives of ordinary people, whose voices are often under-represented in broad accounts of this terrible conflict.

Review Quotes

"This accessible addition to source material on WW I should facilitate a focused yet general understanding of the war's incredible scope without overwhelming readers with the detailed minutiae often found in primary source material. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-and upper-level undergraduates; general readers." (Choice, 1 September 2013)

About the Author

Marilyn Shevin-Coetzee and Frans Coetzee are independent scholars; they have previously taught at Yale and George Washington Universities.

Marilyn is the author of The German Army League: Popular Nationalism in Wilhelmine Germany (1990) and Frans the author of For Party or Country: Nationalism and the Dilemmas of Popular Conservatism in Edwardian England (1990). Together, they have co-edited Authority, Identity and the Social History of the Great War (1995); World War I and European Society: A Sourcebook (1995); World War I: A History in Documents, Second Edition (2011); and The World in Flames: A World War II Sourcebook (2011).