Dublin City Libraries will be closed from Saturday 4 May to Monday 6 May 2024 (inclusive). Our online services will continue as usual. We will reopen on Tuesday, 7 May.
As you’re probably aware, last year we entered what’s being called the decade of commemoration. It began with the centenary of the lockout, and continues now with the onset of World War One. This war was such a catalyst: The world was a completely different place at the end of those four years than it had been at the start of them; and the sheer bad luck of that generation, finding themselves plunged into a maelstrom, is heartbreaking. The centenary brings a surfeit of material, and with it a danger of overkill, but that will pass, and the commemorative material and research will be invaluable down the line. In the meantime, here is a sample of both fiction and non-fiction looking at the war from different viewpoints.ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONTThe German viewpoint. One of the earliest, and best, novels written about the war, and from the perspective of a German soldier, who has joined up straight out of school with his classmates: ‘We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces’. The regular German soldier suffered just as much at the hand of fate as their counterparts, dealing with mismanagement, poor equipment, hunger, rats, slaughter, and yearning for a normal life: on one of their regular forays to the front they pass a mass of new coffins, ready and waiting for them. Remarque also wrote a sequel called The Road Back, which continues the story of the surviving characters, and describes their rehabilitation into a corrupt and uncaring society.A COWARD IF I RETURN, A HERO IF I FALLThe Irish viewpoint. Up until very recently, Ireland denied its role in the war: the Easter Rising executions and subsequent rise in nationalism changed the public’s view of the Irish Fusiliers from heroes to traitors; and men and boys who had joined up for a variety of reasons – financial, a sense of duty, a belief that it would further Home Rule, or purely for adventure – returned to find themselves booed and shunned by society, unemployable, and erased from their family history. Now, with a century’s distance, this view is changing, and this book commemorates through diaries and interviews with family members the significant and substantial role of Irishmen. The book admirably refuses to glorify, just to acknowledge.DOROTHEA’S WARA nurse’s viewpoint. The diary of Dorothea Crewdson, a volunteer nurse in France from 1915 to 1919, preparing wounded soldiers to get back to England to convalesce. A typical nurse, she is practical and unfazed in the face of horrific injuries, shellshock, and bombs, and continues nursing the wounded well into 1919. Lots of interesting little details, including Fords, flappers (in 1916!), and how messenger dogs were showered with (harmless) bombs while being fed to accustom them to the noise. The diary includes Dorothea’s very vibrant little line sketches.A BRASS HAT IN NO-MAN’S-LANDThe old soldier’s viewpoint. The memoir of a Northern Irish Protestant with a military background, who joins the Royal Irish Fusiliers in Dublin. Crozier describes how the men thrown together from both sides of the Irish divide found it difficult to free themselves from their insular and parochial mindsets, and to work together as a team. This book makes uncomfortable reading: it’s pretty graphic and Crozier freely admits in his memoir that his job was to provide cannon fodder; that said, he states that it’s far better for humanity to eradicate war itself than to pretend it can be undertaken without brutality. The voice and tone are very much of their time, but then this is what helps us develop a deeper understanding of a world we find difficult to relate to.IRELAND’S MEMORIAL RECORDSThis CD-ROM, produced by Eneclann, contains the records of more than 49,000 Irishmen who died in this war. Easy to use, with clear instructions, it gives each individuals rank and company details, and date and location of death. This is just a small selection of material exploring the First World War. There are many others, both fiction and non-fiction: highly recommended is the Monica Roberts Collection of letters from soldiers, now available to view online at Digital Repository Ireland.
70 years ago today the Allied forces landed on the Normandy beaches, thus beginning the Allied invasion of German-occupied Western Europe (Operation Overlord). The Normandy landings on D-Day, codenamed Operation Neptune, involved the largest seaborne invasion in history. A myriad of books have been written about the war, the events of June and afterwards, and a myriad of documentaries and films have appeared on our TV screens ever since.Utah, Gold, Omaha, Juno, Sword - the names of the Normandy beaches where thousands of landing craft poured ashore. Over 160,000 soldiers crossed the English Channel on D-Day, and many soldiers lost their lives before they even left their landing point. Then too there was the airborne assault, with thousands of planes involved, soldiers landing behind enemy lines in order to secure bridges and other strategic points.There are many truths, and many myths, surrounding D-Day, and to help you get a clearer picture of what actually happened, and to help you understand the true nature and horror of war, we have compiled a list of books and films readily available in or via our branch libraries.One of the best known military history books has to be The Longest Day by Irish-born war correspondent Cornelius Ryan and first published in 1959. This remarkable history sometimes reads like a novel, but is based on the experiences of real people and entailed a huge amount of research. A 1962 film based on the book, and featuring many leading actors of the time, is also called The Longest Day. Unfortunately copies of the book are in short supply and we don't have the film version, but don't let that stop you requesting it and we will see what we can do.Right: Cover of first edition of The Longest Day.Other titles to seek out include:D-Day, the battle for Normandy by Antony BeevorD-Day by Martin GilbertD-day, piercing the Atlantic wall by Robert KershawTwo sides of the beach, the invasion and defence of Europe in 1944 by Edmund BlandfordThe D-Day companion, leading historians explore history's greatest amphibious assault, editor, Jane PenroseSix armies in Normandy, from D-Day to the liberation of Paris, June 6th-August 25th 1944 by John Keegan ...and DVDsThe World at War Box set (11 DVDs, 1343 mins) Episode 17: The development and execution of Operation OverlordBrothers in Arms - The Real Band of Brothers (1 DVD) Useful WebsitesThe Royal British Legion Facts & Figures of D-Day.The D-Day Museum and Overlord Embroidery (Portsmouth).Below: The front page of the Irish Press, 7th June, 1944.You can access the Irish Newspaper Archives online at any branch of Dublin City Public Libraries free of charge.
While Nordic authors and settings seem to dominate my crime reads, the list is not exclusively Northern European I am glad to say. I have even endeavoured to go beyond wider Europe, taking in the US of A, the Middle East, south-east Asia, and even Africa. And it is to Africa that I travel in this post, with two authors to mention, South Africa's Deon Meyer and Zimbabwe's Alexander McCall Smith.
101 things you thought you knew about the Titanic.
The book "101 things you thought you knew about the Titanic.... but didn't" is a fascinating study of some of the myths and half-truths that have arisen since that fateful morning of April 15th 1912. (Growing up in Cobh, I reckon I've heard 99 of them!) Author Tim Matlin dispels many of these popular legends using primary sources such as the US Inquiry and the British Inquiry, both of 1912. He also shows that many of these stories are indeed true. The myths are neatly separated into categories such as: The Ship, Omens, Passengers, Collision, S.O.S etc.Below are a few examples to whet your appetite:Titanic was genuinely believed to be unsinkable. This is true as she was designed to stay afloat with any of her two watertight compartments flooded. The glancing blow Titanic received from the iceberg was not foreseen, as it had never happened before according to maritime records.Titanic was filled to capacity on her maiden voyage. False; she was about half full carrying 1,308 passengers out of a total capacity of 2,603.If Titanic had struck the iceberg head-on, she would not have sunk. This is true according to evidence given by Edward Wilding, one of Titanic's designers. He cited the case of the Arizona, which 34 years previously hit an iceberg head-on and survived. Titanic's bows would have been crushed in for 80 or 100 feet but she would have remained afloat according to Wilding. Titanic broke in half as she sank. Yes. This was not discovered until 1985 when her wreck was found on the seabed. Her bow section lay 650 metres North of her stern section.More women were saved from the Titanic than men. False. 338 men were saved and 316 women. This is because only about 25% of the people (passengers and crew) were women.You can find more books on the Titanic in our catalogue.