Passchendaele

Requiem for Doomed Youth

By: Paul Ham

Narrated by: Robert Meldrum

Length: 17 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's Summary

From Paul Ham, winner of the NSW Premier's Prize for Australian History, comes the story of ordinary men in the grip of a political and military power struggle that determined their fate and has foreshadowed the destiny of the world for a century.

Passchendaele epitomises everything that was most terrible about the Western Front. The photographs never sleep of this four-month battle, fought from July to November 1917, the worst year of the war: blackened tree stumps rising out of a field of mud, corpses of men and horses drowned in shell holes, terrified soldiers huddled in trenches awaiting the whistle.

The intervening century, the most violent in human history, has not disarmed these pictures of their power to shock. At the very least they ask us, on the 100th anniversary of the battle, to see and to try to understand what happened here. Yes, we commemorate the event. Yes, we adorn our breasts with poppies. But have we seen? Have we understood? Have we dared to reason why? What happened at Passchendaele was the expression of the 'wearing-down war', the war of pure attrition at its most spectacular and ferocious.

Paul Ham's Passchendaele: Requiem for Doomed Youth shows how ordinary men on both sides endured this constant state of siege, with a very real awareness that they were being gradually, deliberately, wiped out. Yet the men never broke: they went over the top, when ordered, again and again and again. And if they fell dead or wounded, they were casualties in the 'normal wastage', as the commanders described them, of attritional war. Only the soldier's friends at the front knew him as a man, with thoughts and feelings. His family back home knew him as a son, husband or brother, before he had enlisted. By the end of 1917 he was a different creature: his experiences on the Western Front were simply beyond their powers of comprehension.

The audiobook tells the story of ordinary men in the grip of a political and military power struggle that determined their fate and has foreshadowed the destiny of the world for a century. Passchendaele lays down a powerful challenge to the idea of war as an inevitable expression of the human will, and examines the culpability of governments and military commanders in a catastrophe that destroyed the best part of a generation.

©2016 Paul Ham, Produced by arrangement with Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd (P)2016 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic Reviews

"Provocative and challenging.... A voice that is both vigorous and passionate." ( The Times)

Very compelling - good story, good narration

Like many I am sure, I have read + listened to a lot of World War ! and World War 2 books. Not sure why I chose this book ( somewhat on impulse) as, of late, I have "moved" out of these two eras in search of other histories - Napoleon, Rome, American Civil War etc. But I ended up being enthralled ( engaged) with "Passchendaele". Mr Ham is an excellent story teller, both about the leaders ( Lloyd -George, Haig) and the war as experienced by "ordinary soldiers". His writing is clear, precise, opinionated ( in a good way) and ( at times) moving.

As a Canadian, I am embarrassed to say I knew little about Passchendaele ( this, along with Vimy Ridge, is considered a battle in which the Canadians stood out ( and stood apart from the British for a change) and Mr Ham does a good job in outlining their role. Although notionally told from an "Aussie" viewpoint, "Passchendaele" is really about this one senseless battle in the context of the whole war ( the latter which he explains in background as we proceed)

Mr Meldrums narration added to my enjoyment.

An excellent book

Passchendaele

Five stars are not enough, wish now I could visit these hallowed grounds to pay my respects in person.

Great insight

I just got done reading "a world undone" and wanted to learn more a out passschendaele. this book was an incredible dive into an unbelievable massacre and I would suggest it to anyone

Landmark work

Excellent analysis of the Third Battle of Ypres. Many survivor stories, graphic descriptions of battlefield, and a fair review of the battles necessity, purpose, and justification. Highly recommend

Excellent

There was a lot more going on during that battle than I had learned before.

Pathos & objectivity?

It is difficult to find a history of The Great War that is objective. I have read and listened to a plethora of work on The Great War, most of them being good histories, however being typical in that they perpetuate myths and legends, over exaggerate certain events without much insight (in order to create a misrepresentation of the truth) and that overall take a biased approach to the war that has been difficult for historians to avoid since allied propaganda (following the great war) and the subsequent atrocities carried out by Germany in the second war. Paul Ham's account of Passchendaele takes a rare objective look into the events surrounding the battle and the war in general. The story of the troops who fought (on both sides) is recounted beautifully and with an absence of bias that is hard to come by. He also dispels many myths and distortions of truth that were created by the Entente during the war for the purpose of propaganda. "Ring of Steel" by Alexander Watson is another great work that I would recommend to someone looking for another angle on the war, as well as a more objective one. I would highly recommend this audiobook as it is well written, full of important details, and narrated well.

Unbelievably Detailed

"Passchendaele: Requiem For Doomed Youth" truly sums up everything it is in the title. Paul Ham did an unbelievable job in his research and narrative. What happened during the war was truly beyond awful, so awful the reader can't even comprehend it. From the debacles and mismanagement by Prime Ministers, generals, and others, who should have worked to stop the unparalleled carnage, to the bravery of the men who fought knowing they would likely die, the book leaves nothing out. And after all the battles before, Passchendaele (Third battle of the Ypres) in 1917 was a scene of the most senseless slaughter. This narrative moves the reader in ways that few other books can.

Robert Meldrum's narration is perfect for this most real horror story. There is a reason why they say WWI propagated the horror culture. What a wonderful work.

an excellent read

An excellent read and very informative about a battle that doesnt quite get the press it deserves. 3rd Ypre is as important as Verdun and The Somme.

Wow just wow.

an amazing book well told about the horrors of the great war and the human sacrifice that happened during this battle.

story quite touching and horrifying

the lessons of war are constantly forgotten. this book examines the cost of wars of attrition and the particular horror of trench warfare. The narration is wonderful and the tone is heartfelt.

incredibly moving

I'm not a stranger to history books or ww1, but this book as a perfect balance of narrative and fact. it puts forward an unbiased view of the most terrible parts of human history.

Brilliant

Would you listen to Passchendaele again? Why?

A wonderful narration. A vivid account of Passhendaele in it's narrow and broad scoop

What other book might you compare Passchendaele to, and why?

The Second World War by Anthony Beevor

Have you listened to any of Robert Meldrum’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No I haven't

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Definitely

Any additional comments?

Accessible to all!

Hear the real tale

This is an amazing telling of the travesty if Passchendaele and WW1 in general. Although at times it can be hard to stick with the story, loads and loads of numbers and statistics, it is well worth sticking with it. The story of Passchendaele is well known to many, but the full details and facts are known by few. At times I was reduced to tears at the sheer waste of life and the total lack of humanity by politicians and military leaders on both sides. I would recommend this book to anyone, it totally changed my view of the "Great" war. Passchendaele was 100 years ago, please read or listen to this book.

Breathtaking

Written with a compassion for the victims of Passchendaele an all sides that does justice to their names. Moved me to tears and enraged me at times. Highly recommended

Exciting all the way through

What a great book on one of the most meaningless battles in World War 1. I can’t even imagine the horrors the soldiers went through.

If you think you understand Flanders, read this.

It's a long book, with many chapters devoted to the build up to 3rd Ypres in 1917 it seemed to take a long time to get to 'the good bit'. Only after going through the chapters time lining the battles did I then comprehend the significance of the context which the first half of the book attempts to set.

I thought I understood the First World War, this book gave many new insights and accurately describes why it is misunderstood today.

Probably unintentional by the author, but this book highlighted something from over a century ago with relevance today. A conservative party in government, eager to prevent a split and loss of power rallying to a cause to maintain the position of the elite class. Pursuing a manufactured confrontation with a faction across the English Channel, a timely distraction of the public from domestic issues, ignorant or worse accepting the disaster about to happen. I wonder what the 'massed multitude of silent witnesses to the desolation of war' would think of that.

Excellent history book

This is an excellent book with great narration. It brings home the terror and misery of war.

Gripping

Undoubtedly one of the best books on WW1 I have encountered and I have read many. The narrative is comprehensive but easy to listen to. The performance of the reader is outstanding.

Impassioned Critique of the Generals

From an antipodean perspective, Ham relates the horror and sheer incompetence of the top brass, especially Hague.He is no less critical of Lloyd George for allowing the slaughter to continue.

He conveys the sheer scale of the battle but also manages to use ordinary soldiers 'accounts to enable the listener to empathise with the individuals who were so needlessly killed in a strategically useless battle

Well intentioned but flawed historical account

It's a heart felt book on a subject that clearly hits home with the author. That said it's also biased in the extreme in favour of the heroic and badly used dominion troops and the excellence of the German army against the corruption and incompetence of the British. that's not too say that many of his points aren't true and in way does that diminish the effort, bravery and sacrifice of those troops but it does so at the expense of rubbishing Britain's efforts and sacrifices . He comes across like he has a vendetta against the British and therefore he's a bad historian.