Isn't All This Bloody?

Scottish Writing from the First World War

Trevor Royle

• Publisher: Birlinn
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9781780272245
• eBook ISBN:
  9780857908360
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Collections
• Index: Literature

As in the rest of Britain, the outbreak of hostilities in 1914 was met in Scotland with excitement and relief. In the field of literature too, the initial response was positive. Kailyard fiction and the Celtic Twilight were left behind as artless verses, patriotic articles and short stories flooded into print. But as the war progressed things changed and a more complex picture emerged - the patriotism and braggadocio was counterpointed by writers who saw the futility and horror of war. In this book, acclaimed military historian Trevor Royle introduces a huge range of literary material - including poetry, prose, fiction, non-fiction, letters and articles - by Scottish writers.The result is a fascinating picture which shows how war affected not only those who fought at the front, but also those at home, and how it led to profound changes - not least in the forging of the Scottish literary Renaissance and the rise of nationalism.Writers include; John Buchan, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Douglas Haig, Ian Hay, Harry Lauder, Hugh MacDiarmaid, Naomi Mitchison, Neil Munro, John Reith, Saki (H.H. Munro)

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• The Alarm
• The Three Musketeers
• The King of Ypres
• From Mr Standfast
• War in the Air
• The Cameron Highlanders at the Battle at Loos, Hill 70, Fosse 8 and the Quarries
• Trench Fighting on the Western Front
• The Narrative of Lieutenant von Belke of the German Navy
• Torpedoed
• Armistice – The Last Eleven Days
• Shot at Dawn
• The Battle of the Somme
• Somewhere in France
• The Straits
• And Some Fell by the Wayside
• The Retreat from Le Cateau
• Some Fight, Jock!
• Death of a Son
• The Scottish Soldier
• 85831 Pte Linklater, The Black Watch
• Casualties
• Letters from Salonika
• The Dark Night of the Suvla Landing
• The Clyde Unrest
• Rent Victories
• Bad News from France
• Rumours of War
• Marching off to War
• The Pity of War
• Birds on the Western Front
• Letters from an Infantry Officer
• The Cordite Makers
• Sunk
• Biographical Notes
• Further Reading