History of the Great War

The History of the Great War is a series of 28 volumes covering the military operations of the British Army during the First World War. The full title is the History of the Great War Based on Official Documents but the series is usually referred to as the British Official History. It was produced by the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence under the control of official historian Brigadier-General Sir James Edmonds. The first volume was published in 1923 and the final volume was published in 1949.

The History of the Great War was written as a technical history for military staff, rather than as a popular history for consumption by the general public. British historian John Keegan, critical of the dry, featureless prose, said "the compilers... have achieved the remarkable feat of writing an exhaustive account of one of the world's greatest tragedies without the display of any emotion at all.". In 2003 Andrew Green concluded 'By almost every standard by which the Official Military Histories of the Great War might be judged, one must conclude that the works were of substantial historical, military and literary value.... Even those who have accused Edmonds of bias have had to acknowledge that his assessments and conclusions are correct.' [1]

Volumes

See also

  1. ^ Green, A. Writing the Great War, p. 207.