worldhistory

Soldiers Don't Go Mad: A Story of Brotherhood, Poetry, and Mental Illness During the First World War | Charles Glass

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This book about the hospital Craiglockhart & two of its most famous patients, Siegfried Sassoon & Wilfred Owen, tracks the effects of industrial warfare on soldiers & the origins of PTSD. Shell shock was seen by many commanding officers not as an illness but cowardice& thus punished. It was thanks to physicians such as Dr Rivers who treated the men with compassion that some lucky few found healing. The strongest parts of the book are the poems

Anna40 written by Sassoon & Owens. I also enjoyed learning about the pacifist movement in the UK & how the war was perceived by those not involved in combat. Overall, the men who received treatment all had very privileged backgrounds, the poor private was sent right back to the front without any compassion or treatment … 2d

Suet624 Ugh. So sad. 2d

CarolynM Stacked🙂 1d

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Anna40 @suet624 yes, it is. I think many more than we think still believe PTSD in soldiers = coward or is something to be ashamed of 😢 1d

Anna40 @CarolynM it‘s not an easy read but it really pulled me in. I‘m interested in reading Sassoon‘s and Owens poetry collections. Very powerful poems 1d

CarolynM I‘ve got a particular interest in First World War literature with particular reference to Owen and Sassoon. Owen is a tragic figure and his poems are really moving. Sassoon was such oddbod, he is endlessly fascinating. Have you read his Sheraton trilogy? 1d

Anna40 @CarolynM I had never heard of either of them before reading this book. Would you recommend starting off with Sheraton trilogy? 1d

CarolynM It‘s fictionalised autobiography so it‘s a good way to get to know him. The first volume, Memoirs of a Fox Hunting Man is pre war, the other 2 during the war and cover the Craiglockart experience. Sassoon also features in Robert Graves‘s memoir Goodbye to All That. 1d

Anna40 @CarolynM thanks! Sounds great 💕 1d

CarolynM And for a fictional take on Owen and Sassoon at Craiglockart

Regeneration (Regeneration, #1)

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Purpleness

New Silk Roads: The Present and Future of the World | Peter Frankopan

Well, this was an interesting book to read this past week. It is outdated, though, this edition having been published in 2019. Despite that, some interesting big picture points to consider heading into the future.

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Purpleness

New Silk Roads: The Present and Future of the World | Peter Frankopan

#firstlinefridays

ShyBookOwl It kinda was! 5d

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Purpleness

New Silk Roads: The Present and Future of the World | Peter Frankopan

Argh! I bought this book ages ago, so I definitely don‘t have the receipt any more to return it. From page 5-36 it is all like this! 😱

RosePressedPages Oh noooo, that could give anyone a migraine trying to decipher that 🥲 1w

BarkingMadRead Oh nooooo!!! 1w

Darklunarose Oh no, that‘s truely not good at all. 1w

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rwmg Oh no 😡 1w

Megabooks That's terrible!! 1w

Librarybelle Oh my! 1w

AnnCrystal 🥺 terrible! 1w

Butterfinger How awful. Could you contact the publisher? Maybe Google the phone number. 1w

TheBookgeekFrau 😳 1w

milkchan That's terrible! Can't believe that passed quality control! 6d

Purpleness Update: my sister has the same book, but a usable edition, so I was able to read that part of her copy. 6d

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Purpleness

New Silk Roads: The Present and Future of the World | Peter Frankopan

Butterfinger Interesting. 1w

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Vivlio_Gnosi

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies | Jared Diamond

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A really fascinating look at the development of societies across the globe and why certain areas ended up with certain staples while other areas remained primitive for decades.
It is a bit dry and academic so if you can get past those elements then you will have a nice perspective of human development.

#nonfiction #history #pulitzer

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BC_Dittemore

Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age | Annalee Newitz

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This is another one I listened to then checked out from the library for pics. Sadly, there aren‘t any photos from Newitz‘s trips around the world to these lost cities, but there are some cool artist‘s renderings at the chapter openings.

Fascinating book though. Title delivers what it promises. Incidentally, I live about 4 hours from Cahokia. It‘s amazing that this lost city is essentially in my backyard and I had no idea. Hope to visit soon.

BC_Dittemore To elaborate: Cahokia is on the St.Louis, MO/Illinois border. I live near Kansas City, which is about a 3 hour drive to St. Louis. Recently the fam was in the area and saw the signs for the Cahokia mounds. We wanted to go, not sure what it was but knowing it was a Native landmark. Alas! We couldn‘t carve out the time. I wish we had. 1w

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Purpleness

A Place For Everything: The Curious History of Alphabetical Order | Judith Flanders