The Great War Or Elsie


Book Description

The Great War or Elsie describes the life of a young, inexperienced California nurse thrust into the violence of trench warfare in World War I. But, there is an element of freedom in wartorn Europe, compared with the stifling, controlled atmosphere at military bases in California and New Mexico, where she recently served. When she is able, Elsie casts aside military regimen, Allied propaganda and many restrictions on women to find opportunities to sightsee and enjoy herself in severely devastated France. After the Armistice, assignment to the American occupation of the Rhineland proves exciting and stimulating. There are encounters with imperious, even violent, Germans, exposure to the troops' recklessness and misbehavior by fellow nurses. Many want to return home, but Elsie does not. Elsie is sought after by soldiers far from the United States, the Army forbidding fraternization with German women. A courtship in a German castle forces a decision for Elsie that shapes her life thereafter.




Elsie and Mairi Go to War


Book Description

The extraordinary and moving story of two women whose courage and charisma made them the most famous women in the First World War.




Sisters of the Great War


Book Description

Inspired by real women, this powerful novel tells the story of two unconventional American sisters who volunteer at the front during World War I August 1914. While Europe enters a brutal conflict unlike any waged before, the Duncan household in Baltimore, Maryland, is the setting for a different struggle. Ruth and Elise Duncan long to escape the roles that society, and their controlling father, demand they play. Together, the sisters volunteer for the war effort—Ruth as a nurse, Elise as a driver. Stationed at a makeshift hospital in Ypres, Belgium, Ruth soon confronts war’s harshest lesson: not everyone can be saved. Rising above the appalling conditions, she seizes an opportunity to realize her dream to practice medicine as a doctor. Elise, an accomplished mechanic, finds purpose and an unexpected kinship within the all-female Ambulance Corps. Through bombings, heartache and loss, Ruth and Elise cherish an independence rarely granted to women, unaware that their greatest challenges are still to come. Illuminating the critical role women played in the Great War, this is a remarkable story of resilience, sacrifice and the bonds that can never be vanquished.




Elsie's War


Book Description

Presents the true story of a brave woman who risked everything to help Jewish people flee from the Gestapo during the Second World War.




The Great War Syndicate


Book Description




Elsie and Mairi Go to War


Book Description

The incredible story of two courageous and spirited women who were the only female participants to serve on the western front during World War I. When they met at a motorcycle club in 1912, Elsie Knocker was a thirty year-old motorcycling divorcee dressed in bottle-green Dunhill leathers, and Mairi Chisholm was a brilliant eighteen-year old mechanic, living at home borrowing tools from her brother. Little did they know, theirs was to become one of the most extraordinary stories of World War I. In 1914, they roared off to London 'to do their bit,' and within a month they were in the thick of things in Belgium driving ambulances to distant military hospitals. Frustrated by the number of men dying of shock in the back of their vehicles, they set up their own first-aid post on the front line in the village of Pervyse, near Ypres, risking their lives working under sniper fire and heavy bombardment for months at a time. As news of their courage and expertise spread, the 'Angels of Pervyse' became celebrities, visited by journalists and photographers as well as royals and VIPs. Glamorous and influential, they were having the time of their lives, and for four years Elsie and Mairi and stayed in Pervyse until they were nearly killed by arsenic gas in the spring of 1918. But returning home and adjusting to peacetime life—and the role of women in British society—was to prove more challenging than even the war itself.




The Two Elsies


Book Description




Elsie's Wartime Wish


Book Description

While WW2 rages, Elsie must battle for her family Elsie Weir is trying hard to keep her family together. Living in Kiltie Street tenement in Glasgow with her mother and little sister, Jessie, isn’t easy – not least because her mother spends most days in a drunken stupor. But life gets harder still when their mother dies suddenly, leaving Jessie and Elsie broken-hearted. When Elsie’s meagre wages won’t stretch to supporting them, they’re thrown out of their home. The future looks bleak, until their mother’s estranged family deigns to take them in. But their relief is short-lived as it becomes clear the Mearns family have taken in the orphan sisters only for appearances, treating them cruelly behind closed doors. When Elsie discovers the devastating secret her mother kept from them, it seems that they may have a lifeline – until that dream too, is cruelly dashed. Now, more than ever, the sisters only have each other. But can Elsie and Jessie find some hope in a life full of heartbreak? A heartwarming and compelling family saga that fans of Rosie Hendry and Annie Murray will love. Readers are loving Elsie's Wartime Wish: ‘Brilliant book – family saga at its best. I love the characters; you feel you are part of the story.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review ‘Fantastic characters, great setting, I was hooked and devoured this book in one sitting...was sad to finish it and keep thinking about the characters.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review ‘If you love wartime sagas this is definitely for you.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review ‘Heartwarming saga featuring friendships and heartache and happiness. Great characters and a good read.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review ‘Great wartime story.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review Praise for Carol MacLean: ‘A lovely, lovely story set in WW2. It gripped me from page one... I’d highly recommend it!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review ‘WOW. Loved this book. If you love family saga based in the war, you will love this.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review ‘A great WWII-era historical fiction saga... I truly enjoyed this one... Through this story of love, loss, uncertainty, and finding one’s place in life we also get a glimpse of history as well... Beautifully written.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review




An Engineer's Diary of the Great War


Book Description

Publisher Fact Sheet Private diaries of an engineer who fought in World War I. * Personal, honest, detailed, & accurate account of the wartime experiences. * Uses many photographs.




The Canadian Experience of the Great War


Book Description

Although the United States did not enter the First World War until April 1917, Canada enlisted the moment Great Britain engaged in the conflict in August 1914. The Canadian contribution was great, as more than 600,000 men and women served in the war effort--400,000 of them overseas--out of a population of 8 million. More than 150,000 were wounded and nearly 67,000 gave their lives. The war was a pivotal turning point in the history of the modern world, and its mindless slaughter shattered a generation and destroyed seemingly secure values. The literature that the First World War generated, and continues to generate so many years later, is enormous and addresses a multitude of cultural and social matters in the history of Canada and the war itself. Although many scholars have brilliantly analyzed the literature of the war, little has been done to catalog the writings of ordinary participants: men and women who served in the war and wrote about it but are not included among well-known poets, novelists, and memoirists. Indeed, we don't even know how many titles these people published, nor do we know how many more titles were added later by relatives who considered the recollections or collected letters worthy of publication. Brian Douglas Tennyson's The Canadian Experience of the Great War: A Guide to Memoirs is the first attempt to identify all of the published accounts of First World War experiences by Canadian veterans.




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