Over There - War Scenes on the Western Front

Arnold Bennett

May 2015 · Read Books Ltd

About this ebook

This vintage book contains Arnold Bennett’s 1915 account of life on the French and Belgian fronts during the First World War. It is his personal account of a visit to several portions of the French and Belgian fronts during the war, wherein he describes the destruction and conditions of the troops. Bennett has the ability to describe the most horrible scenes in language that is truly poetic, and does so with an authenticity missing from much of the propaganda of the time. A fascinating read, this book is highly recommended for those with an interest in the First World War, and it is not to be missed by fans and collectors of Bennett’s work. Enoch Arnold Bennett (1867 –1931) was a popular English writer. He became famous as an author, but also worked as a journalist, propagandist, and film producer. Many antiquarian books such as this are increasingly hard to come by and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this book now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition. It comes complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.

About the author

Arnold Bennett was born on May 27, 1867 in Hanley, Staffordshire, England. He began his working career as a law clerk and later he left the legal field and became an editor for the magazine Woman. His first novel was "A Man from the North." He wrote several novels set in Hanley, the town where he was born. These are known as the Five Town novels. Other titles include "The Babylon Hotel," "The Truth about an Author," and "How to Live on 24 Hours a Day." Bennett won the 1923 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel "Riceyman Steps." "The Journal of Arnold Bennett" was published posthumously in three volumes. Bennett was also the author of "Hugo" which was made into a major motion picture in 2011 starring Jude law and Ben Kingsley, directed by Martin Scorsese. During WWI, Bennett was Director of Propaganda for France at the Ministry of Information. (At that time "propaganda" did not have the negative connotations it would have later in the twentieth century.) This appointment was based on the recommendation of Lord Beaverbrook, who also recommended him as Deputy Minister of that department at the end of the war. Bennett refused a knighthood in 1918. He died in London of typhoid fever on March 27, 1931.