As editor-in-chief of these volumes, I desire further to give full recognition to my associates: Mr. M. M. Lourens, of the University of Leyden; Mr. Egbert Gilliss Handy, founder of The Search-Light Library; Mr. Walter R. Bickford, former managing editor of The Journal of American History; and the staff of investigators at The Search-Light Library who made the extensive researches and comprehensive bibliographies—covering the whole range of literature on The Great War—required as a basis for the production of these books.
Francis Trevelyan Miller.
CONTENTS
The Board of Editors in accordance with the plan outlined in "Introductory" for collecting the "Best Stories of the War," has selected this group of stories for VOLUME I from the most authentic sources in Europe and America. This volume includes 170 episodes and tales of adventure told by twenty-six story-tellers—Soldiers, Staff Observers, Officers, Despatch Riders, Cavalrymen, Aviators, Nurses, Prisoners, Raiders, Secret Service Men and American soldiers. Full credit is given in every instance to the original sources.
VOLUME I—TWENTY-SIX STORY-TELLERS—170 EPISODES
| STORIES OF THE THREE MEN WHO CAUSED THE WORLD WAR | [1] |
| "HOW I MET THE KAISER, CROWN PRINCE AND ARCHDUKE" | |
| Told by Hall Caine | |
| (Permission of J. B. Lippincott Company) | |
| MY VISIT TO KING ALBERT—THE KING WHOSE THRONE IS | |
| THE HEARTS OF HIS PEOPLE | [8] |
| "I AM BOUND ON A MISSION FROM THE PRESIDENT OF FRANCE" | |
| Told by Pierre Loti | |
| (Permission of J. B. Lippincott Company) | |
| "VIVE LA FRANCE"—HOW THEY DIE FOR THEIR COUNTRY | [23] |
| LAST MESSAGES OF FRENCH SOLDIERS | |
| Told by Rene Bazin | |
| (Permission of Current History) | |
| FOR GOD AND ITALY—BREATHING DEATH WITH THE ITALIANS | [29] |
| "WHERE MINUTES ARE ETERNAL" | |
| Told by Gabriele D'Annunzio | |
| (Permission of London Telegraph) | |
| THE BLOOD OF THE RUSSIANS IN FIGHT FOR LIBERTY | [36] |
| "THE DESERTED BATTLEFIELDS I HAVE SEEN" | |
| Told by Count Ilya Tolstoy | |
| (Permission of Current History) | |
| MY EXPERIENCES IN THE WAR HOSPITALS OF RUMANIA | [44] |
| THE HORRORS OF THE LITTLE BALKAN KINGDOM | |
| Told by Queen Marie of Rumania | |
| (Permission of Philadelphia Public Ledger) | |
| "WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST"—VISITS TO | |
| THE GENERAL STAFF | [49] |
| Told by Sven Hedin | |
| (Permission of John Lane Company) | |
| "THE FIRST HUNDRED THOUSAND"—WITH KITCHENER'S | |
| ARMY IN FRANCE | [73] |
| STORIES STRAIGHT FROM THE TRENCHES | |
| Told by Captain Ian Hay Beith | |
| (Permission of Houghton, Mifflin and Company) | |
| SOME EXPERIENCES IN HUNGARY | [97] |
| IN THE PALACE OF PRINCE AND PRINCESS K—— | |
| Told by Mina Macdonald | |
| (Permission of Longmans, Green and Company) | |
| "FORCED TO FIGHT"—THE TALE OF A SCHLESWIG DANE | [117] |
| "WHAT MY EYES WITNESSED IN EAST PRUSSIA" | |
| Told by Eric Erichsen | |
| (Permission of Robert M. McBride and Company) | |
| "ADVENTURES OF A DESPATCH RIDER" | [133] |
| AN OXFORD MAN WITH THE MOTORCYCLISTS | |
| Told by Capt. W. H. L. Watson | |
| (Permission of Dodd, Mead and Company) | |
| WITH A B.-P. SCOUT IN GALLIPOLI—ON THE TURKISH FRONTIER | [155] |
| A RECORD OF THE BELTON BULLDOGS | |
| Told by Edmund Yerbury Priestman | |
| (Permission of E. P. Dutton and Company) | |
| "IN THE FIELD"—THE STORIES OF THE FRENCH CHASSEURS | [165] |
| IMPRESSIONS OF AN OFFICER OF LIGHT CAVALRY | |
| Told by Lieut. Marcel Dupont | |
| (Permission of J. B. Lippincott Company) | |
| "FIELD HOSPITAL AND FLYING COLUMN"—IN RUSSIA | [181] |
| JOURNAL OF AN ENGLISH NURSING SISTER | |
| Told by Violetta Thurston | |
| (Permission of G. P. Putnam's Sons) | |
| AN UNCENSORED DIARY—FROM THE CENTRAL EMPIRES | [192] |
| AT THE AMERICAN EMBASSY IN COPENHAGEN | |
| Told by Ernesta Drinker Bullitt | |
| (Permission of Doubleday, Page and Company) | |
| "A STUDENT IN ARMS"—IN THE RANKS WITH KITCHENER'S ARMY | [209] |
| RESURRECTION OF THE SOUL ON THE BATTLEFIELD | |
| Told by Donald Hankey | |
| (Permission of E. P. Dutton and Company) | |
| "THE RED HORIZON"—STORIES OF THE LONDON IRISH | [217] |
| THE MAN WITH THE ROSARY | |
| Told by Patrick MacGill | |
| (Permission of George H. Doran Company) | |
| MY TRIP TO VERDUN—GENERAL PETAIN FACE TO FACE | [225] |
| FROM GRAVES OF THE MARNE TO HILLS OF THE MEUSE | |
| Told by Frank H. Simonds | |
| (Permission of American Review of Reviews) | |
| UNDER THE STARS AND STRIPES—WITH AMERICAN ARMY | |
| IN FRANCE | [246] |
| STORIES OF AMERICAN TROOPS ON ROAD TO FRONT | |
| Told by Lincoln Eyre, with Pershing's Army | |
| (Permission of New York World) | |
| WITH THE SERBIAN STOICS IN EXILE—UNDER THE GERMAN YOKE | [257] |
| EXPERIENCES IN THE FLIGHT TO ALBANIA | |
| Told by Gordon Gordon-Smith | |
| (Permission of New York Tribune) | |
| TALES OF THE TANKS—WITH THE ARMORED MONSTERS IN BATTLE | [274] |
| ADVENTURES AS ROMANTIC AS MEDIAEVAL LEGENDS | |
| Told by the Men in the Tanks | |
| "MY ESCAPE FROM THE TURKS DISGUISED AS A WOMAN" | [288] |
| THE STORY OF A WONDERFUL FEAT | |
| Told by Private Miron D. Arber | |
| (Permission of Wide World Magazine) | |
| TALES OF GERMAN AIR RAIDERS OVER LONDON AND PARIS | [306] |
| "HOW WE DROP BOMBS ON THE ENEMIES' CITIES" | |
| Told by the Air Raiders Themselves | |
| (Permission of New York American) | |
| TALES FROM SIBERIA—WHEN THE PRISON DOORS OPENED | [316] |
| JOURNEY HOME OF A HUNDRED THOUSAND EXILES | |
| Told by (name withheld), an Eye-Witness | |
| (Permission of New York Evening World, Los Angeles Times, and Literary Digest) | |
| SURVIVORS' STORIES OF SINKING OF THE "LUSITANIA" | [325] |
| "HOW WE SAW OUR SHIP GO DOWN—TORPEDOED BY A | |
| GERMAN SUBMARINE" | |
| Told by Passengers of the Ill-Fated "Lusitania" | |
| WITH THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS ON THE FIELDS OF FRANCE | [340] |
| PERSONAL EXPERIENCES DIRECT FROM THE FRONT | |
| (Permission of New York Sun) |