Round about Bar-le-Duc

Day, Susanne R. (Susanne Rouviere), 1876？-1964Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 466K words
Chapters: 47

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.Round about Bar-le-Duc by Susanne R. DayAuthor: Day, Susanne R. (Susanne Rouviere), 1876?-1964,Language: English, Class: D501: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: World War I (1914-1918), Release Date: Sep 28, 2015

Editor's review

Written by Susanna R. Day in the early twentieth century, this work of reportage centers on the town of Bar-le-Duc in the French department of the Meuse and its surrounding area, and belongs to the historical literature of the First World War. Writing from firsthand experience, the author records life behind the lines in wartime, local scenery and customs, and the changes in people and events, in a texture that blends travelogue with memoir. Its value lies not in grand narrative but in the micro-level snapshot it offers of French provincial society in wartime: the state of supplies, interaction between soldiers and civilians, and how everyday order persisted under the shadow of war. For readers studying the social history of the Western Front rear or interested in French local history, it is a reference-worthy primary text. It is best read as a testimony of its era rather than as strict historiography, with attention to the author's personal standpoint and the limitations of the period. The electronic edition is provided free by Project Gutenberg, making it easy to search and excerpt, and suitable as supplementary material for specialized research or as further reading in wartime social history.

Who it's for

A good fit for

University students and scholars studying the social history of the Western Front rear in WWI
Readers interested in French local history and provincial life
Readers who enjoy wartime memoirs and firsthand reportage
Those who need original English documents from the WWI period for specialized coursework

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting systematic battle analysis and military strategy discussion
General readers who prefer reading in Chinese and do not wish to handle the English original
Beginners seeking a complete general framework of WWI history

Reading tips

Begin with the table of contents and preface to locate the period and geographical scope the author covers, then choose chapters of interest for close reading.
Read alongside a Western Front map and a local gazetteer of Bar-le-Duc to compensate for the text's sparse geographical information.
Take notes while reading on passages concerning supplies, soldier-civilian relations, and everyday order, to facilitate thematic notes on social history.
Compare it side by side with other rear-area memoirs from the same period, being careful to distinguish personal observation from historical fact.

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 rigorous work of historical research?

No. It is closer to a documentary memoir of the author's firsthand experiences, carrying a personal perspective and a literary touch. It should be read as a testimony of its era and as supplementary material rather than a systematic work of historiography, and its judgments should be cross-checked against other historical sources.

Can readers with average English proficiency read it?

The text is in English, strongly narrative but involving place names, military affairs, and local administrative vocabulary. Readers with university-level English reading ability can work through it with a dictionary; those with weaker proficiency are advised to read chapter summaries first, then closely read shorter, more narrative chapters.

Is it suitable for coursework on WWI social history?

It is suitable as micro-level case material, especially for discussing rear-area civilian life, soldier-civilian relations, and local order. Note, however, that a single memoir has limited representativeness; it is best used alongside other sources, and citations should specify the author's identity and writing context.

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About the author

Day, Susanne R. (Susanne Rouviere), 1876？-1964 Author · British · 1876–1964

Susanne R. Day (1876?–1964) was a British suffragist, writer and lecturer who actively promoted women's suffrage and social reform. Public information about her early life and education is limited. Only one of her works is currently held in this collection, Round about Bar-le-Duc. Judging from its title, the book takes the area around the French town of Bar-le-Duc as its subject and may combine travel observations with local detail, written in a careful style with a first-hand sense of place. Day was both a social activist and a writer, and her writing tends to reflect her concern with real life and everyday matters. Although few of her works survive, her practical involvement in the women's suffrage movement and this locally focused book together leave a glimpse of her era.