Paths of Glory: Impressions of War Written at and Near the Front

Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury), 1876-1944Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.4
Word count
538K words
Chapters
54

Tags

English Originals Documentary LiteratureMilitary Historical ReappraisalMilitary StrategyHeroismHuman NatureCourage and CrueltyWar ReportingDocumentary NarrativeTurbulent Era

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Paths of Glory: Impressions of War Written at and Near the Front by Irvin S. CobbAuthor: Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury), 1876-1944,Language: English, Class: D501: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: World War I (1914-1918), Release Date: Jan 1, 2004

Editor's review

This book is Irvin S. Cobb's record of impressions written at and near the front lines of the First World War. It belongs to the genre of frontline observation and sketches rather than systematic military history. Its value lies in a reporter's immediacy in recording the war's impact on towns, roads, soldiers, and civilians in their daily lives, letting readers sense the atmosphere of the Western Front around 1914 from close detail. The prose carries the rhythm and emotional coloring of contemporary newspaper writing; readers may take it as war literature or as supplementary material for understanding early-war public perception and frontline reporting style. While reading, attend to the author's angle of observation and the period limitations in his language, and set it against more rigorous military histories. Suited to readers interested in First World War history, frontline reporting, and war literature; reading chapter by chapter in a quiet setting with notes yields better results.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the table of contents and preface first to understand when and where it was written, then read chapter by chapter.
  2. Mark the author's subjective judgments as you read and compare them with later military histories.
  3. Write two or three summary sentences after each chapter to trace the threads of frontline observations.
  4. Consult a general history of the First World War or maps alongside to check geographical and temporal context.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54

FAQ

Is this book a systematic military history of the First World War? No. It is closer to frontline impressions and sketches, based mainly on the author's observations at and near the front, emphasizing immediate experience and observation rather than a systematic account of complete campaigns. For a military-history framework, pair it with a general history.
How difficult is the English original? The text is in English and was written in an earlier era, with sentence patterns and vocabulary bearing the newspaper style of the time, but it is mainly narrative and descriptive rather than academically difficult. Readers with intermediate English can progress chapter by chapter, looking up unfamiliar place names as needed.
Do I need a map while reading? A map of the Western Front is recommended. The book involves place names and routes near the front; a map clarifies the author's position and range of observation and reduces obstacles caused by unfamiliar geography.
Is this book suitable as an introduction to war literature? It can serve as supplementary reading. It offers a reporter's immediate impressions in period-tinged language, but it is not fictional literature. To begin with war literature, start with classic novels or poetry, then use this book to supplement with nonfiction frontline observation.

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About the author

Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury), 1876-1944 Author

Irvin S. Cobb (1876–1944) was an American humorist and war correspondent. The library holds twenty-five of his works, which fall roughly into two groups. One is set in a fictional Kentucky town, including Old Judge Priest, Back Home and Fibble, D.D., where characters such as Judge Priest bring Southern local life and manners to the page in a humorous yet warm tone. The other consists of reports and sketches from the First World War, such as The Glory of the Coming, Paths of Glory and Europe Revised, marked by close observation and unhurried narration. His prose stands between the humorous sketch and news reportage, often using colloquial dialogue and exaggerated detail for effect. Public information is limited, so this note describes his writing only as reflected in the works held here.