An anthology of Great War short stories by British writers, both famous and lesser-known authors, men and women, during the war and after its end. These stories are able to illustrate the impact of the Great War on British society and culture and the many modes in which short fiction contributed to the war's literature. The selection covers different periods: the war years themselves, the famous boom years of the late 1920s to the more recent past in which the First World War has received new cultural interest.

A fascinating collection of the finest stories that emerged from World War I. World War I, also known as “the Great War” and “the War to End All Wars,” devastated much of Europe from 1914 to 1918. While the war dramatically changed the world’s political landscape for generations to come, it also brought forth a wide range of powerful and memorable works of literature. This collection includes pieces such as Edith Wharton’s “Coming Home,” Ernest Hemingway’s “In Another Country,” and W. Somerset Maugham’s “The Traitor.” Fourteen classic stories from World War I will give readers a deeper understanding of the lives of the people involved in the conflict.

A collection of the greatest stories ever written about World War II. World War II brought grief and destruction, but it also inspired some of the most impassioned literature in history. Classic Stories of World War II includes excerpts from novels such as James Jones’s From Here to Eternity and Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, as well as real-life accounts of the Battle of Britain by Guy Gibson and the exploits of the French Resistance by Nancy Wake. More than a dozen riveting stories of the war from esteemed authors are featured, providing the reader with a rich variety of perspectives that will bring a new understanding of this global conflict.

A NYRB Classics Original Winner of the Scott Moncrieff Prize for Translation A young soldier learns the true meaning of fear amidst the carnage of World War I in this literary masterpiece and “one of the most effective indictments of war ever written” (Wall Street Journal) 1915: Jean Dartemont heads off to the Great War, an eager conscript. The only thing he fears is missing the action. Soon, however, the vaunted “war to end all wars” seems like a war that will never end—whether mired in the trenches or going over the top, Jean finds himself caught in the midst of an unimaginable, unceasing slaughter. After he is wounded, he returns from the front to discover a world where no one knows or wants to know any of this. Both the public and the authorities go on talking about heroes—and sending more men to their graves. But Jean refuses to keep silent. He will speak the forbidden word. He will tell them about fear. John Berger has called Fear “a book of the utmost urgency and relevance.” A literary masterpiece, it is also an essential and unforgettable reckoning with the terrible war that gave birth to a century of war.

A rediscovered World War I masterpiece—one of the few memoirs about the Italian front—for fans of military history and All Quiet on the Western Front An infantryman’s “harrowing, moving, [and] occasionally comic” account of trench warfare on the alpine front seen in A Farewell to Arms (Times Literary Supplement). Taking its place alongside works by Ernst JŸnger, Robert Graves, and Erich Maria Remarque, Emilio Lussu’s memoir as an infantryman is one of the most affecting accounts to come out of the First World War. A classic in Italy but virtually unknown in the English-speaking world, it reveals in spare and detached prose the almost farcical side of the war as seen by a Sardinian officer fighting the Austrian army on the Asiago plateau in northeastern Italy—the alpine front so poignantly evoked by Ernest Hemingway in A Farewell to Arms. For Lussu, June 1916 to July 1917 was a year of continuous assaults on impregnable trenches, absurd missions concocted by commanders full of patriotic rhetoric and vanity but lacking in tactical skill, and episodes often tragic and sometimes grotesque, where the incompetence of his own side was as dangerous as the attacks waged by the enemy. A rare firsthand account of the Italian front, Lussu’s memoir succeeds in staging a fierce indictment of the futility of war in a dry, often ironic style that sets his tale wholly apart from the Western Front of Remarque and adds an astonishingly modern voice to the literature of the Great War.

Published to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of The Great War, Classic Stories of World War I is a compilation of fiction and non-fiction excerpts from the works of world-class authors - such as Joseph Conrad and W. Somerset Maugham - who lived through the conflict. From the home front to the western front, on land or at sea, this collection is a unique insight into the 'war to end war.' Contents: JOSEPH CONRAD, The Tale W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM, The Traitor (from Ashenden) ERNEST HEMINGWAY, In Another Country (from Men Without Women) EDITH WHARTON, Coming Home STACY AUMONIER, Them Others JOHN W. THOMASON, JR, War Dog GEORGES DUHAMEL, Réchoussat's Christmas (from Civilisation) H. M. THOMLINSON, Armistice (from Waiting for Daylight) C. E. MONTAGUE, Honours Easy (from Fiery Particles) RICHARD ALDINGTON, Introduction to the Trenches (from Death of a Hero) JOHN GALSWORTHY, Defeat (from Six Short Plays) PAUL ALVERDES, The Man in the Next Bed (from The Next Man) LEO V. JACKS, One Hundred Per Cent KARL WILKE, Marie-Luise H. M. TOMLINSON, A Raid Night (from Waiting for Daylight) JAMES WARNER BELLAH, Fear JAMES B. WHARTON, Among the Trumpets W. TOWNEND, No Quarter W. F. MORRIS, Souvenirs ARED WHITE, The Watch on the Rhine

The thrilling story of the First World War. Classics Illustrated traces the history of this conflict from the assassination that started it to its end.