Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour

Armistice Day, 1918 World War I and Its Violent Climax

By: Joseph E. Persico

Narrated by: Jonathan Marosz

November 11, 1918. The final hours pulsate with tension as every man in the trenches hopes to escape the melancholy distinction of being the last to die in World War I. The Allied generals knew the fighting would end precisely at 11 a.m., yet in the final hours they flung men against an already beaten Germany. The result? Eleven thousand casualties suffered - more than during the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

Why? Allied commanders wanted to punish the enemy to the very last moment and career officers saw a fast-fading chance for glory and promotion. Joseph E. Persico puts the listener in the trenches with the forgotten and the famous - among the latter, Corporal Adolf Hitler, Captain Harry Truman, and Colonels Douglas MacArthur and George Patton. Mainly, he follows ordinary soldiers’ lives, illuminating their fate as the end approaches.

Persico sets the last day of the war in historic context with a gripping reprise of all that led up to it, from the 1914 assassination of the Austrian archduke, Franz Ferdinand, which ignited the war, to the raw racism black doughboys endured except when ordered to advance and die in the war’s last hour. Persico recounts the war’s bloody climax in a cinematic style that evokes All Quiet on the Western Front, Grand Illusion, and Paths of Glory.

The pointless fighting on the last day of the war is the perfect metaphor for the four years that preceded it, years of senseless slaughter for hollow purposes. This book is sure to become the definitive history of the end of a conflict Winston Churchill called “the hardest, cruelest, and least-rewarded of all the wars that have been fought.”

©2004 Joseph E. Persico (P)2004 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"Effectively marshaling his source material, Persico powerfully reconstructs Armistice Day as an emblem of the war." (Booklist)

Probably a better read than listen

The cinematic style of the narrative, cutting between multiple storylines, didn't really lend itself to an audiobook. Without some sort of strong cue (page breaks, long pauses, etc.) it becomes a little disorienting. But the material is excellent and it's definitely worth the listen.

If You Want Understand WWI

Where does Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Excellent and well written

What does Jonathan Marosz bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Individual experiences and the horror of WWI

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It is very thought-provoking parts of it are difficult to listen to.

Any additional comments?

This is an excellent book for those who want to understand the events be

Up close and personal

I enjoyed this book especially the author's strategy to start each chapter from the last day of the war. It is indeed horrifying to learn of the thousands of soldiers on all sides that lost their lives on 11-11-18. I do agree with other reviewers that there is some repetition and the first couple of chapters are a summary of how the war started -- if you know WWI then that aspect might not help - but if you don't - the detail is a chilling reminder of what went on for the day-to-day soldier, the senseless major battles and in some sense why there was a WWII.

Beauty amidst savagery

Mr Persico tells the story of the Great War (as WWI was called until Sep 1, 1939). He begins with the last day of the war and then takes us back to the war's start in 1914; each chapter begins with Nov 11, 1918 and we are horrified to learn that even though the armistice has been set, Allied commanders are bent on carrying out offensives in which thousands more die on that last day. He provides a structure for the book by telling us of the military strategy used by both sides (largely throwing wave upon wave of men over the tops of the trenches into the thresher of machine guns), the military commanders and political personalities. But Persico's gift is in telling the story of the trenches from interviews and diaries of the men. He tells of the first use of precision artillery that killed so many and made more crazy from the sound and earthquake tremors of hours long barrages.
There is such beauty to this story-in spite of the horrible loss of life and injury.

Opt for the Abridged Version

A personalized account of life on the front and battles in World War I, told largely from the documented record of those who were there.

While very insightful, the unabridged version finds itself repetitive and at times tedious. I would therefore recommend the ABRIDGED version instead.

All quiet on the western front, not really:(

Having heard lot's of horrendous stories from my grandparents (who's parents fought in WW1) this book is shockingly true and verifyable.

When visiting the US memorial in Oudenaerde, Belgium I was really surprised to read on it that US divisions were put in the line for a big offensive on 10th November 1918. The day before the end of the war?? I bought this book from Audible a few days after my visit as it explained the last idiotic push which was priced at more casualties than D-day.

The author does a good job at describing the atrocities on a personal level, the book is fairly general in the outline as it tries to cover the entire war from a British/US/German perspective. It doesn't cover the East in detail or the fighting in the colonies/submarines of the time.

The going back and forth timewise from 11-11-1918 to earlier in the war and back again is a novel concept but I found it a bit confusing at times. (Especially this being an audiobook).

Finally the Narration is very well but this is not a book that will cheer you up, the voice of the narrator is appropriately mm.. grimmish if that is the correct english word.

Somewhat jumbled

I wanted to love it. I didn't like the way it was arranged. the title implied that the greater War would have been talked about to a certain degree. And I am pleased that it talked more about the last day of the war and some what of the aftermath. But going back and forth between certain days of the war and the last made it hard to know where was where.

Poor narration

What did you love best about Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour?

This is an excellent history of WWI.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator has a nice voice, but is a poor reader. He sounds as if he is not following the story at times, adding unnatural inflections and pronouncing words in odd ways, which detracts from the narrative.

So Much For the Glory of War

Captures the horrors of WW I and the absurdity of the death of those who lost their lives after the armistice was signed, but before the war was "officially" ended at 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918. Excellent narration.
This book should be mandatory reading for any politician who wants to start a war, regardless of how "noble" the cause.

Not for History Buffs

This is a good book for anyone not familiar with the war. However, for those that know the war well, the book is repetitive and does not offer new or interesting insights.