The Old Front Line

Masefield, John, 1878-1967Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.9

Word count: 118K words
Chapters: 12

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.The Old Front Line by John MasefieldAuthor: Masefield, John, 1878-1967,Language: English, Class: D501: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: World War I (1914-1918), Release Date: Feb 18, 2007

Editor's review

The Old Front Line is John Masefield's first-hand account of the Western Front in the First World War. Masefield had encountered the front as a journalist and observer, and the book does not excel in chronological battle narrative or strategic analysis; instead it focuses on the spatial experience of trenches, shell craters, ruins and soldiers' daily life, written with the rhythm and visual sense of a poet. For today's readers its value lies more in immediacy and literary quality: it shows how people of the time saw and endured the war rather than providing complete military history. It is best read as a text of war literature and historical sensibility, ideally alongside maps or background works on the war. The English original is not long and works well as supplementary reading on the First World War.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General history readers interested in the Western Front of the First World War
Readers who want to experience the war front from a literary angle
Readers with good English who are willing to read the original
Students and enthusiasts studying war writing or Masefield's work

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking systematic military history, battle data and strategic analysis
Readers not yet proficient in English who need a Chinese translation
Readers who prefer complete plotted narrative or fiction

Reading tips

Learn the basic background of trench warfare on the Western Front, 1914–1918, before entering the text.
Consult maps or battlefield photographs while reading to build a sense of space.
Read the descriptions as literary testimony rather than demanding complete historical detail.
Unfamiliar place names or military terms can be passed over at first to keep the reading rhythm.

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 a complete history of the First World War?

No. It is closer to observation and literary description of the battlefield, focusing on trenches, ruins and the environment soldiers inhabited rather than tracing battles, troop numbers and strategic decisions in chronological order. A separate military history is needed for a systematic understanding of the war.

What level of English is needed to read this book?

The original is in English with a literary quality; sentence patterns and vocabulary are not extremely simple. Readers with fairly fluent English who can accept descriptive prose will be most comfortable; if it proves difficult, read relevant Chinese military history or war literature first as preparation.

Why is it considered to have literary value?

Masefield was himself a poet, and his observation of the battlefield carries clear imagery and rhythm; it does not merely record facts but conveys a way of seeing the war. This gives the text a double character as historical testimony and literary expression.

Comments

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About the author

Masefield, John, 1878-1967 Author

John Masefield (1878–1967) was a British poet and writer, and this library holds fourteen of his works. His range is broad: poems set against the sea and the countryside, such as Salt-Water Ballads, Dauber and Reynard the Fox; adventure stories for young readers like Jim Davis and Martin Hyde, the Duke's Messenger; documentary works drawn from his wartime experience, including Gallipoli and The Old Front Line; and narratives of voyaging and exploration such as On the Spanish Main. His verse is brisk in rhythm and vivid in imagery, often centred on ordinary sailors and country people, with a strong narrative drive; his prose and fiction prize plot momentum and scene-setting, making them highly readable. The library files his work under inspirational coming-of-age writing, reflecting Chinese readers' interest in his themes of adventure and growth. Public information is limited, so this sketch rests on the works held here.