Charles Repington was Britain's most influential military correspondent during the first two decades of the twentieth century. From 1914 to 1918, Repington's commentary in The Times, 'The War Day by Day', was read and discussed by opinion-shapers and decision-makers worldwide who sought to better understand the momentous events happening around them, and his subsequently published diaries offered a compelling portrait of England's governing class at war. This is the first major study of Repington's life and career from the Boer War to the end of the Great War. A. J. A. Morris presents unique insights into the conduct of the First World War and into leading figures in the British high command: French, Haig, Robertson, Wilson. The book offers modern readers a rewardingly fresh understanding of the conflict, and will appeal to scholars of the First World War and British political and military history of the period.
‘This is a wonderfully well-informed account of Charles à Court Repington, the most important British military journalist of the early twentieth century and an unmatched observer of wartime military life and high politics. A. J. A. Morris’s treatment of Repington is very good indeed, and adds a finely nuanced perspective to our understanding of the British experience of 1914–18, in particular the extraordinary military and political intrigues of those years.’
Keith Jeffery - Queen's University Belfast
‘If the name of Colonel Repington figures at all in recent histories of the First World War … it is as a journalistic gadfly whose attempts to influence British strategic policy were as irresponsible as they were ill-informed. This image Professor Morris has now finally laid to rest in this carefully documented and detailed study of Repington’s entire career … From it, Repington emerges as one of the leading military thinkers of his generation who was immensely influential in the reforms of the British Army before the war as well as one of the best-informed and most sought-after observers of its conduct. His political, social and journalistic as well as military connections make his diaries a fascinating record of Edwardian society in its decline. It is a book that adds greatly to our understanding of the way in which Britain was governed during one of the greatest crises in our history.’
Michael Howard - University of Oxford
A short, select list of books, suggested for further reading and arranged by subject. Many contain bibliographies. Unless otherwise indicated, the place of publication is London, and works by Repington are listed in date order.
Finally, a short, extremely useful and convenient work of reference for the 1914–18 war together with a concise guide to further reading:
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