Now It Can Be Told

By: Philip Gibbs

Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies

Sir Philip Gibbs served as one of five official British reporters during the First World War. In this book he relays the experiences of British soldiers and offers a detailed narrative of the events of World War I, while trying to draw broader conclusions about the nature of war and how it can be prevented in the future.

Public Domain (P)2018 Tantor

Pay Close Attention...

This is a great book, but it is easy to let your mind wander. The problem is when you do that you have no idea what you missed, and you missed some exceptional information. There is so much information the author is trying to convey and relate. The First World War was a great tragedy, one that the author, being he was a war correspondent, is continually trying to get to the point of it all. The problem is there is no way to do that. This is the human condition. And the other confusing thing is jumping around from philosophical points to actual happenings during the way. However, this book is very good, and these issues shouldn't deter one from reading it. The narrator does a fine job. No issues there.

An unusually worthwhile listen.

I have a reasonably good lay knowledge of the political & military history of WW1: the archduke, trench warfare, etc. But this firsthand account by a British war correspondent who experienced the whole thing from beginning to end provides a much more personal and up-close account. Very worthwhile, and wonderfully written and performed.

Haunting and tragic

This story gave me chills and saddened me to know how foolish people could be in the name of patriotism.

Powerful

First class history, told by a first-person witness of the trials and tribulations of soldiery in the First World War.

Beautifully Ctafted Work

A very sincere, emotionally impacting story of WW1 "Trench Warfare" as seen through the eyes of a British war correspondent, who, other than the combatant militias from all participants, is qualified to record the horror of war and the changing of lives directly affected.

I recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn more about life's transgressions and the full range of how civilization is both Beautiful and Horrible simultaneously...It's the choice of each as to how they perceive.

Ignore the poor reviews, great book

I delayed in purchasing this audiobook because of the bad reviews complaining about the narrator whispering or talking too quietly. I'm glad I didn't pay attention to these, as they should have turned up their hearing aids, or put the children to bed. I listened to this book with headphones next to a loud factory machine all day and I heard every word loud and clear.

This is an excellent collection of accounts by the author who visited the men fighting in the trenches daily during the duration of the war. Easy to follow, eloquently written, and disturbingly graphic. if you have any interest in WW1 or military history, this book is right in your zone, one I will soon add to my bookshelf. Don't let the deaf reviewers prevent you from getting this masterpiece.

Excellent War Correspondent Perspective

I loved getting insights from a war correspondent during WW1. It covered a range of subjects from censorship, soldier and command views from the allies, German perspectives, civilian accounts, etc.

Loud than Quiet

The narrator starts most sentences out really loud than finishes at a whisper . It was hard to hear and if you turned up the volume the start of each sentence was deafening.

The most humanizing view of an industrial war

I've been on a WWI kick for the last few weeks, listening to audiobooks and watching every documentary I can find. This is, by far, the best of the lot. The scope of the work captures the evolution of the war from a close-up perspective that's exceedingly rare in my limited experience. Most WWI narratives are either hopelessly removed from the people in the trenches (aside from the obligatory catalog of filth and misery there), or else only focus on a particular battle like the Somme.

This book is exactly what I've been looking for, with remarkable breadth threaded through with the sort of strong personal experience I came to expect from reading books like Band of Brothers or Slaughterhouse 5. It feels unique, even fresh, for the way it embodies dangers beyond trench foot and shell shock, though the latter appears and is met with all the understanding available at the time. (Be prepared for some quietly disappointing misogyny, thankfully brief and rare.)

In addition to the stirring yet frank writing, the narrator for this recording has a slew of accents he wields to great effect, bringing the subjects to life.

Excellent primary source of WWI

Well-written, detailed account of the futility of life in the trenches. Gibbs hones in on the militarism and nationalism that caused WWi. He blames it completely on Germany. Though he is contemptuous of Germany’s leaders, especially Ludendorff, he is sympathetic to the German soldiers. My big complaint is that he includes long passages in French with no translation. The narrator is wonderful most of the time, but he uses French and German accents that were hard for me to understand.