German Students' War Letters

Originally appearing at the same time as the pacifist novel All Quiet on the Western Front, this powerful collection provides a glimpse into the hearts and minds of an enemy that had been thoroughly demonized by the Allied press. Composed by German students who had left their university studies in order to participate in World War I, these letters reveal the struggles and hardships that all soldiers face.

The stark brutality and surrealism of war are revealed as young men from Germany describe their bitter combat and occasional camaraderie with soldiers from many nations, including France, Great Britain, and Russia. Like its companion volume, War Letters of Fallen Englishmen, these letters were carefully selected for their depth of perception, the intensity of their descriptions, and their messages to future generations. Should these letters help towards the establishment of justice and better understanding between nations, the editor reflects in his introduction, their deaths will not have been in vain. This edition contains a new foreword by the distinguished World War I historian Jay Winter.

Author: Philipp Witkop
Publisher: Pine Street Books
Published: 09/03/2002
Pages: 408
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.91lbs
Size: 7.46h x 5.64w x 1.18d
ISBN: 9780812218169

Review Citation(s):
Univ PR Books for Public Libry 01/01/2003 pg. 94 - Strongly Recommended

About the Author
Philipp Witkop (1880-1942) was a German writer and literary critic whose books include Die Neuere Deutsche Lyrik (1910) and Goethe: Leben und Werk (1931). Jay Winter, Professor of History at Yale University, is the author of many books, including Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning: The Great War in European Cultural History. He was cowriter and chief historian for the PBS series The Great War and the Shaping of the Twentieth Century, which won an Emmy award in 1997.