Unknown Soldiers: The Story of the Missing of the First World War

When I agreed to review Neil Hanson's book, I expected something far, far different. Something perhaps more along the lines of an epistolary format or the utilization of a more conventional fictional format. What I got was a meticulously researched, well-written, captivating horrifying, narrative history that took me to the Somme in 1916. Hanson focused on three soldiers: A Briton, a German, and an American. "Their tracks, faint as smoke in the wind, intersect time and again, but they are united only in death, for each was killed on the Somme, within gunshot sound of each other." Hanson uses more than the diaries and letters to explain the cost of war from the soldier's point of view. He researched the heck out of this battle, topic, and time as evident by the 96 pages of footnotes. In an essence, Hanson is giving faces to the three million unaccounted-for soldiers from WWI. He also explains how the world remembers those unknown soldiers ever since. "The grieving families of such men were deprived even of the consolation of a funeral and a grave site, and for them, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier became the grave and the gravestone of their lost loved ones. In almost every combatant nation, an unknown solider was also buried at some national shrine and, just as in America, at once became the focus of a pilgrimage that continues to this day I admit that, as a predominately fiction reader, the quote marks around quoted passages versus dialogue sometimes tripped me, as did the switch in point of view with a sentence. I had to often re-read paragraphs, sometimes, chapters, to be sure of what was happening. But the structure works--well, very well. I came away from this book with a new respect for fighting men and women everywhere. I also came away with an intimate new knowledge of trench warfare that on one level I'm not sure that I wanted to know but on another level compelled me to keeping reading. I thought I kind of knew what WWI was like, but I had no idea. This book should be compulsory reading in every high school or college worldwide. Armchair Interviews says: An eye-opening story of the soldiers of World War I. Check his web site to see what else he has written.

This excellent book tells the story of the creation of the idea of commemorating the "unknown soldier" against the backdrop of the personal stories of three of the tens of thousands of missing and presumed dead soldiers (1 British, 1 German and 1 American). The tales of the three young men killed in their prime are told with a good blend of humanity and history. The impact upon their families (especially in the case of the American airman) is addressed as well. This is one of the best books on the First World War, capturing some of the history of the war, its beginning and course and much of the human toll the war took in the numbers of killed, maimed and otherwise traumatized by the mechanized killing over four long years.

Perhaps I am the last to know why, but for some reason, of late, there have been a half score of new tomes introduced regarding the Somme or some other closely related aspect of the Great War. UNKNOWN SOLDIERS: THE STORY OF THE MISSING OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR by Neil Hanson is the second of said recent releases that I have enjoyed. As with the other recent book I have read on the subject, simply titled The Somme: Heroism and Horror in the First World War, by Martin Gilbert, Hanson seems to have taken a unique new approach to the chronicles of the Great War by providing the reader with a detailed, constricted first person account, not of the politics, leadership, logistics and statistics of the war, but rather from the viewpoint of those who actually fought in the trenches. Hanson does leave himself a narrow margin for editorializing, but it is minimal and in no way detracts from this extraordinary book. This book chronicles the lives of three soldiers, one British, one German, and an American airman. Remembering that the early 20th century was a time of enlightenment when, for the first time in history, even the common soldier possessed not only the desire, but the ability to record his experiences in written word, Hanson takes much of his content directly from the letters of these men to their families and friends back home. These first hand accounts of war are largely void of politics and strategies. Such intricacies are omitted to lay way for accounts of struggle for basic survival in what was arguably the most horrific measure of battle humanity has ever endured. This is a rather difficult book to read, not because it is poorly written; quite the reverse is true. This book is difficult because, of all the books I have read on war, and there have been many, this book is without equal as the most graphically descriptive. I spent much of my adult life as a soldier and have seen first hand, the horrors of war, but my own accounts seem almost trivial compared to what the men of the Somme endured. I stress this here because I want readers to understand, this book holds nothing back. This is not intended for the faint of heart or for young readers. The German soldier chronicled here, Paul Hub, survived the Somme and we then follow him briefly to his promotion to 2nd Lt., and on to the second battle of Verdun. This is about the time the American Airman, George Seibold, is introduced. Seibold was about as close to American nobility as one could get. He wed his wife only hours before going off to battle the Hun. Hanson dedicated the final one third of the book to the enduring effects of the war. He painstakingly details the efforts to recognize the many thousands of unidentified soldiers strewn about the hillsides of Flanders and northern France. Descriptive detail is given to the final memorials for the unknown soldiers at the Cenotaph, the Arc de Triomphe, and America's own Tomb of the Unknowns, as well as scores of other memorials recognizing

Mr Hanson has done a superb job of reseach and writting in this powerful book on the hundreds of thousands of men with 'no known grave'. A haunting and grim tour of the trenches told in the words of three men, one a Briton, a German and an American flier - all victims of the war and none found a known grave. The letters that were incorporated into the text and the writer's gripping style makes this a hard book to put down as it features many little known facts of the 'missing', their families and their personal connections. A must read for any and all World War One buffs and for anyone interested in this aspect of major conflicts. Excellent.

I have tried over the years, with varying rates of success, to read a history of WWI. Finally I have found a readable book on the subject. Mr. Hanson's use of diaries and letters from American, British and German soldiers paints the most vivid picture of life in the trenches. War is hell, but WWI took it to another level entirely. For the men on the lines on the Western Front life was a nightmare to the 100th power. This is the poignant story of the 3,000,000 missing of the Great War. It is almost 100 years on since the guns fell silent, but I hope the their sounds continue to echo across time to remind people that war isn't always about surgical strikes with bombs and remote controlled drones. There are real people fighting and dying. Flesh and blood. Unknown Soldiers reminds us of that and forces us to remember.