The First Hundred Thousand (eBook, ePUB) - Hay, Ian
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The First Hundred Thousand tells the story in novel form of an infantry unit of Kitchener's volunteer army from its formation in August 1914 to its recovery after its first great battle - Loos in September 1915. Told by Ian Hay Beith in a style of humour that rings strange to the modern civilian ear, it is perfectly in tune with that mood that British soldiers from Hastings to Basra have relied upon for support when only humour is left to counter the absurdities of military service. It could be the Catch-22 of World War 1.The unit, in fact the 10th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, formed…mehr

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Produktbeschreibung
The First Hundred Thousand tells the story in novel form of an infantry unit of Kitchener's volunteer army from its formation in August 1914 to its recovery after its first great battle - Loos in September 1915. Told by Ian Hay Beith in a style of humour that rings strange to the modern civilian ear, it is perfectly in tune with that mood that British soldiers from Hastings to Basra have relied upon for support when only humour is left to counter the absurdities of military service. It could be the Catch-22 of World War 1.The unit, in fact the 10th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, formed part of the 9th (Scottish) Division which proved itself to be one of the toughest and most reliable Divisions in the Army on the Western Front. The author not only captures the mood of the times but also the character of the unit and of its officers and men. It is easily recognisable by anyone who has served in a Scottish Regiment of the British Army. The book stands with other prose descriptions of the conflict, in contrast to much of the poetry, as a tribute to the cause, the fight to prevent German hegemony in Europe, and the men that served Britain in arguably her darkest hour. Well worth reading for a flavour of how the war was perceived at the time by some of the less sensitive souls caught up in it.
Autorenporträt
Major General John Hay Beith, CBE MC, was a British schoolteacher and soldier, but he is best known as a novelist, playwright, essayist, and historian who worked under the pen name Ian Hay. After studying Classics at Cambridge University, Beith became a schoolteacher. His novel Pip was published in 1907, and its popularity, together with the success of numerous other novels, enabled him to retire from teaching in 1912 to pursue a full-time writing career. During World War I, Beith was a French army officer. His humorous description of army life, The First Hundred Thousand, released in 1915, was a best-seller. As a result of this, he was assigned to work in the information section of the British War Mission in Washington, DC. After the war, Beith's books did not gain the popularity of his earlier work, but he established a successful career as a dramatist, producing light comedies in cooperation with other authors such as P. G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton. During WWII, Beith was the War Office's Director of Public Relations, retiring in 1941 just before his 65th birthday.