[jobim]

Guns of August by the great Barbara Tuchmann is masterful. And about as gloomy a view of mankind as possible, chronicling the unfolding events that would plunge Europe and the world into an absolutely senseless, pointless, brutal, inhuman war.

But some great music came as a result from Ravel and Vaughan Williams.

[tumblindice]

All sides marched off thinking the war would be glorious and last a few weeks.
At the the battle of the Somme there were over one million casualties.
British casualties on the first day were the worst in the history of the British army, with 57,470 British casualties, 19,240 of whom were killed.
I read somewhere that German machine-gunners actually stood up at one point and waved the British back, trying to get them to stop advancing and being mowed down like stalks of wheat.