The Project Gutenberg EBook of Now It Can Be Told, by Philip Gibbs

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Title: Now It Can Be Told

Author: Philip Gibbs

Posting Date: February 15, 2009 [EBook #3317]
Release Date: July, 2002

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOW IT CAN BE TOLD ***

Produced by Alan Earls

NOW IT CAN BE TOLD

by Philip Gibbs

CONTENTS

PREFACE

Part One OBSERVERS AND COMMANDERS

Part Two THE SCHOOL OF COURAGE

Part Three THE NATURE OF A BATTLE

Part Four A WINTER OF DISCONTENT

Part Five THE HEART OF A CITY

Part Six PSYCHOLOGY ON THE SOMME

Part Seven THE FIELDS OF ARMAGEDDON

Part Eight FOR WHAT MEN DIED

PREFACE

In this book I have written about some aspects of the war which, I
believe, the world must know and remember, not only as a memorial of
men's courage in tragic years, but as a warning of what will happen
again--surely--if a heritage of evil and of folly is not cut out of the
hearts of peoples. Here it is the reality of modern warfare not only as
it appears to British soldiers, of whom I can tell, but to soldiers on
all the fronts where conditions were the same.

What I have written here does not cancel, nor alter, nor deny anything
in my daily narratives of events on the western front as they are now
published in book form. They stand, I may claim sincerely and humbly,
as a truthful, accurate, and tragic record of the battles in France and
Belgium during the years of war, broadly pictured out as far as I could
see and know. My duty, then, was that of a chronicler, not arguing why
things should have happened so nor giving reasons why they should not
happen so, but describing faithfully many of the things I saw, and
narrating the facts as I found them, as far as the censorship would
allow. After early, hostile days it allowed nearly all but criticism,
protest, and of the figures of loss.

The purpose of this book is to get deeper into the truth of this war and
of all war--not by a more detailed narrative of events, but rather as
the truth was revealed to the minds of men, in many aspects, out
of thei