The Daily Telegraph - Dictionary of Tommies' Songs and Slang, 1914–1918 by John Trophy and Eric Partridge is a fascinating piece of material. Okay, it wasn’t exactly in the format I was expecting but it was none the worse for that.

The book, I learn, was first published in 1930. It comes in three sections — an updated introduction, the introduction to the original, and the song themselves (subdivided into categories such as Chants and Songs Rarely, if ever, Sung on the March and including a glossary of soldiers’ slang).

It’s a browsable book, or it ought to be. The fact that much of it comprises a reproduction of the original makes it hard to navigate around but that isn’t really a problem. It just means you have to scroll through rather than jump about via links or the Go To function. It didn’t matter. It was a book I got lost in, and in the best possible way.

Both the original and the modern introduction are enlightening, but the real value comes from the words the soldiers themselves use — a combination of knowingness and naivety and a view of life from both male and female perspectives and most definitely one from the trenches rather than the ocean wave. (“Never trust a sailor/an inch above your knee” runs one song.)

I was left both informed and moved by this book, and it’s one I shall definitely keep going back to.

I loved the fact this was a book on the war for the common man, most Great War books focus on the poetry, the wonderful illustrations from the artists and that is absolutely beautiful but it’s important that it’s remembered from every walk of life, every experience and this book helps do that. I wasn’t keen on the censorship, I think books like this should be uncensored but it’s a great look at the working class experience via the language and songs.

I like the general theme of this book and what it aims to do. The First World War is mostly remembered in poems but those hardly capture the feelings of the common soldier. These songs, on the other hand, do, both the sadness, fear, and tiredness as well as the companionship and the sense of humor.
The songs making fun of the officers and the bawdier ones were my absolute favorites and I would love to hear them being sung in real life.
The slang part of the book is also interesting but because this has been published before, the publisher did not change the font and that makes it very hard and tiring to read, mostly when there is a lot of text in the same page.
I also did not like that some of the songs remained censored. I understand why it was done, but the people that were offended with words like that are mostly dead and the new generation does not care for curse words.
Thank you to NetGalley and Frontline Books for this ARC.

I am completely fascinated by how language changes over time. I also love studying history. This wonderfulbook provides a combination of the two. It is in ever sense a dictionary, alphabetized with slang and definitions of each word as well as a collection of songs from the British during World War I.

This period of war-time history was particularly brutal. In studying the war you will find the first use of chemical weapons, flame throwers, and many more horrible affects of war. As with any major period of history the culture is greatly impacted. One of the ways during this war was the rise of a slang particular to those in the war, known as Tommies. Some of this slang inevitably carried over to our own country.

This is a republication of a text from 1930 and revisits an era long forgotten. The political agenda of the war is long forgotten by many and when discussed the individuals are lost. This beautiful compilation is an effort to bring back the individual soldier, specifically of the lower class, who was at the mercy of the reigning powers. While others may debate the war's causes and consequences, these authors do a wonderful job of preserving the culture of the every-day soldier who lived, fought, and died at the whims of world leaders.

You will thoroughly enjoy reading through this title and getting a glimpse of the language of the day. You may recognize some slang, while much will undoubtedly be new to you. For instance, kahaki, is a term we use readily to describe the light brown colored pants and originates with the British Army. It was first used in the 1880s and is from a Hindi word which described a drab colored linin cloth. Beginning in the early 1900s the word began to be used for the material we know as kahki today.

Discover this and more as you enjoy this fabulous time machine of language!

As a writer this book is an invaluable resource to accurately portray that time as well as help understand other books I may read.

This is a book researched and first published nearly 50 years ago, by those who actually fought in the first world war, which ended, now, over 100 years ago.

The introductions have been revised, but nothing else in side has been. And how could it not be that way.

There is a section on the songs the soldiers sang, as well as a section on the slang. What is odd, is that some of the slang, and some of the songs, are gone from every day use. Others are still in use such as Booby trap, the song, often sung at summer camp or on long bus rides "We're here because we're here."

Others, such as Cockney rhyming slang, used, as is explained in the book, because it allowed you to discuss things that were not supposed to be discussed in polite society, or in front of officers. So saying "bottle and glass" was another way to say "ass".

It is more a reference, and a wealth of songs, sayings, and thoughts and feelings it contains. It may not have a lot of pictures, but it has a lot of information.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Anonymous songs sung by British soldiers during the Great War were compiled and edited by John Brophy (1899-1965) and Eric Partridge (1894-1979), two private soldiers who actively served in the war. This tome provides "...a record-by-record glimpse of the British soldiers' spirit and life in the years 1914-1918."" ...in the following pages...the voice of the underclass, of those thought of as occupying the lowest rungs of a nation in conflict, and therefore, almost by definition, without a name. These are the true forgotten voices of the First World War...the unsung, the uncelebrated...who made their own contribution to the literature of that conflict...

Soldier Songs

1- Songs Sung While Marching

"I took my girl
For a ramble, a ramble
Adown a shady lane.
She caught her foot
In a bramble, a bramble,
And arse over ballocks she came."

2-Songs Most Often Sung in Billets

"Glorious! Glorious!
One Bottle of beer among the four of us.
Thank Heaven there are no more of us,
Or one of us would have to go dry."

Soldiers' Slang

1-Anti-Frostbite (Whale Oil)- before going on patrol, each man was rubbed down with whale oil by a N.C.O.

2-Beef Hearts-Beans. With a rhyming pun on farts

3-Blanket Drill- the afternoon siesta

4-Body Snatchers-stretcher bearers

"Singing, with intervals of silence or of whistling or humming provided a distraction from the long, slow count of the heavy laden miles..." "The Daily Telegraph Dictionary of Tommies' Songs and Slang, 1914-1918" is comprised of songs that "were universally sung in British Expeditionary Forces at one time or another during 1914-1918." Editors Brophy and Partridge have presented an impressive collection of these songs. Included are songs of longing such as "Keep The Home Fires Burning", sarcastic ditties "On,Oh,Oh It's a Lovely War! and an end of conflict song "The Bells are Ringing For Me and My Girl". In this reader's opinion, World War I literature has been greatly enhanced by the feelings emoted by the common soldier, be they words of determination, jest, sarcasm, weariness or exasperation. An excellent literary read.

Thank you Pen & Sword, Frontline Books and Net Galley for the ARC. The opinions are my own.