Here is one for the way people deal with too much death. The way they just become desensitized to the horror and get on with living. Often we just get the victor's account of an event in our history books, so it was so refreshing to be able to read an everyday person's instead. Overall good, a bit unbalanced in the timeline, about a third of the book was 1914-1950, almost nothing from 1950-1980, I would expect less from ancient and ramping up to printing, as was the case, but it felt like the editor was very focused on early to mid 20th C. A suffragette (the Lady Constance Lytton, disguised as a lower-class woman) is force-fed during a hunger strike in Walton Gaol in 1910: Laying in her own vomit afterwards, exhausted and “quite helpless”, Lytton writes, “Before long I heard the sounds of the forced feeding in the next cell to mine. It was almost more than I could bear, it was Elaine Howey, I was sure. When the ghastly process was all over and all quiet, I tapped on the wall and called out at the top of my voice, which wasn't much just then, 'No surrender,' and there came the answer past any doubt in Elaine's voice, 'No surrender.'" I absolutely loved this book. The variety of events covered in these accounts, and the "real" feeling that they had to them kept me engaged throughout the entire book. The majority of events did cover major battles, military engagements, and lives of soldiers, but even among those, the vast differences in wars across generations and countries was fascinating to read.

The Faber Book of Reportage – Griffin Books The Faber Book of Reportage – Griffin Books

Ever wondered what it was like to have a few lagers with Attila the Hun? Well, the answer's inside...

And there were so many fascinating literary references, as with the open-air cremation of Percy Shelley, written by Edward John Trelawny in 1822: “The only portions that were not consumed were some fragments of bones, the jaw, and the skull, but what surprised us all, was that the heart remained entire. In snatching this relic from the fiery furnace, my hand was severely burnt; and had anyone seen me do the act I should have been put into quarantine.” What is it with the British and some of their euphemisms for being dead? Anyone for "'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!” And here’s one from the book. Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand, 1791, on fleeing the French Revolution and coming to the United States. It's quite a hefty book and well, not literally everything interested me (descriptions of battles, no matter who's doing the describing, tend to bore me to tears, so i skipped those), but it was still an otherwise quite engrossing volume.

Faber Book of Reportage | Stanfords Faber Book of Reportage | Stanfords

A piece from Robert Graves, from 1915, described the incredible courage of a “tender-hearted lance-corporal named Baxter”, who walked out on his own into No-Man’s Land on the Western Front, waving a handkerchief, to go to a wounded soldier trapped close to the German lines. Initially the Germans fired at him but eventually they let him come on. Graves recommended Baxter for the Victoria Cross, but “the authorities thought it worth no more than a Distinguished Conduct Medal.” The Faber Book of Reportage is John Carey's remarkable collection of eyewitness accounts that draws on the voices and emotions of the people who experienced some of history's most memorable events. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2022-01-29 16:16:26 Associated-names Carey, John, 1934- Autocrop_version 0.0.5_books-20210916-0.1 Boxid IA40333316 Camera Sony Alpha-A6300 (Control) Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier Tsar Nicholas II and the Russian Imperial family shot 1918 - not sure why they had to shoot the doctor, the maid and 2 waiters also? A true five-star masterpiece that collects hundreds of eyewitness accounts of important historical events from the age of antiquity to the overthrow of Marcos. A perfect book for anyone interested in history and the humanities. Carl Sagan’s quote “Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors” is absolutely true in this case. There really should be many more volumes to this collection.This book is a collection of primary sources for more than 24 centuries of historical events. It is very good, but definitely uneven, and that's why it doesn't get a higher rating. I think anyone who is serious about studying history or more important BEING an historian needs to read this. Reading primary sources like this is good training—it allows one to see things through different perspectives and worldviews.

The Faber Book of Reportage: (Main) by John Carey | WHSmith The Faber Book of Reportage: (Main) by John Carey | WHSmith

Lighter events included a description of the “frost fairs” held on the frozen River Thames during the 17th century, and an account of near-farcical events during the funeral of King George II in 1760, an interesting contrast to the precision of the military manoeuvres during the recent funeral of Elizabeth II.I was surprised how many were by or about subjects of England, but that says something about the prominence of that country in world history. I love the irony of Chateaubriand's observation here. The United States would live with this contradiction for 73 more years. There is a description of the various regional methods that Hindu women employed for suttee, written in 1650 by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier: “This miserable condition causes her to detest life, and prefer to ascend a funeral pile to be consumed with her deceased husband, rather than be regarded by all the world for the remainder of her days with opprobrium and infamy.” Stunning . . . There are descriptions in this book so fresh that they sear themselves into the imagination.' I had been about ten days at the front when it happened. The whole experience of being hit by a bullet is very interesting and I think it is worth describing in detail.