England and the War

Walter Alexander RaleighProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.6

Word count: 218K words
Chapters: 22

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.England and the War by Sir Walter Alexander RaleighAuthor: Raleigh, Walter Alexander, Sir, 1861-1922,Language: English, Class: D501: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: World War I (1914-1918), Release Date: Nov 1, 2003

Editor's review

England and the War is a discursive text on the First World War by the British scholar Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh, released as a public-domain ebook by Project Gutenberg. Its value lies mainly in showing how British intellectuals observed and spoke about the war: it is neither frontline reporting nor a complete military history, but commentary and reflection shaped by the attitudes of its time. For readers studying wartime public opinion, British wartime thought, or public-domain historical documents, this small book can serve as primary material for understanding how people then talked about war, nation, and duty. Read it with attention to its date and the author's standpoint, and avoid taking its judgments as neutral historical fact; compare it with other military histories. As a public-domain electronic text without a modern editorial introduction, it is best read with questions in mind, as a voice from its historical context rather than an overview of the whole war.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers of intellectual history studying British public opinion and thought during World War I
University students who need public-domain historical documents for textual analysis
General history enthusiasts interested in British wartime rhetoric and national narratives
English learners who want to practice reading historical argumentation and can accept the prose style of the period

Not a good fit for

Readers hoping for a complete history of World War I or details of individual battles
Beginners who need modern scholarly annotations and critical introductions
Readers who prefer neutral, objective general histories and do not want to analyze the author's standpoint

Reading tips

Learn the basic timeline of World War I before reading the text, so as not to lose the historical context.
Mark passages that reveal the author's standpoint as you read, distinguishing factual statements from value judgments.
Read alongside other general histories of World War I or studies of British wartime society.
English learners can collect typical argumentative sentence patterns and practice writing historical commentary.

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.

FAQ

Is this book a complete history of World War I?

No. It is closer to Sir Walter Raleigh's discursive text on England and the war, carrying the perspective and standpoint of his time, rather than a complete military history unfolding battle by battle. For a systematic understanding of the war's course, you will need other general histories.

What background knowledge is needed to read it?

It helps to know the basic timeline of World War I, the main belligerents, and the British wartime social context. This makes it easier to understand issues such as wartime mobilization and national duty, and to discern the author's standpoint more clearly.

Is this public-domain electronic edition suitable for academic citation?

It can be used as a public-domain primary text, but it usually lacks modern editorial notes and version information. For academic citation, check the original page or paragraph numbers and supplement with other authoritative editions and secondary research; do not rely on the electronic text alone for isolated judgments.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Walter Alexander Raleigh Author · English · 1861–1922

Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh (1861–1922) was a British scholar, poet and writer. He taught English literature at the University of Liverpool and the University of Glasgow, became the first Professor of English Literature at Oxford in 1904, and was knighted in 1911. Six of his works are included here, spanning literary criticism, biography, military history and lectures. Milton and Robert Louis Stevenson show his combined interest in biography and criticism, while Style and Romance: Two Lectures reflect his sustained attention to literary form and aesthetic questions. The first volume of The War in the Air turns to military history, and England and the War collects related lectures. His writing is clear and carefully crafted, both scholarly and readable, and holds a place in early twentieth-century British criticism and biographical writing.