France at War (Barnes & Noble Digital Library): On the Frontier of Civilization

By Rudyard Kipling

During World War I, acclaimed author Rudyard Kipling visited the Western Front as a reporter and wrote about his experiences in France at War. These thoughtful pieces are ideal for history buffs and all the more compelling because Kipling’s only son, John, was killed in the war at the Battle of Loos.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Release date: Mar 29, 2011
• ISBN: 9781411439771

Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling was born in India in 1865. After intermittently moving between India and England during his early life, he settled in the latter in 1889, published his novel The Light That Failed in 1891 and married Caroline (Carrie) Balestier the following year. They returned to her home in Brattleboro, Vermont, where Kipling wrote both The Jungle Book and its sequel, as well as Captains Courageous. He continued to write prolifically and was the first Englishman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907 but his later years were darkened by the death of his son John at the Battle of Loos in 1915. He died in 1936.

Reviews for France at War (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

[stbalbach_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

France at War (1915) is six pieces of journalism by Rudyard Kipling at the request of The Daily Telegraph. Kipling was given access to the front line to report on what it was like. It was the first in a number of "war pamphlets" by Kiping including The Army in Training and Sea Warfare. As a recent Nobel winner Kipling was probably the most well known English writer at the time. He doesn't say so in the book but he was often mobbed by troops to get a look at the famous man. Kipling was a supporter of the war, even a notorious Hun-hater which comes across in some of the stories as he describes captured Germans as all rapists and murders. For Kipling the "Frontier of Civilization" means Germany itself. As such this pamphlet is often grouped with other war propaganda. For the most part I didn't find the book very interesting. Probably two things stand out. First is biographical, Kipling says cheerily that everyone should fight the Germans even if it means loosing your son. This was around August 1915, but at the end of September Kipling's own son John was killed and his body never found, despite Kipling spending consider time and effort to find him. It was devastating to Kipling and he never fully recovered from the loss. Also the descriptions of the trenches in one of the last pieces which I found to be vivid and gave a sense of how vast the structures were.