Column by Chris Skaugset

For The Daily News

In honor of Veteran’s Day, I will devote this column to books about World War I, originally known as the Great War and also, rather optimistically and unfortunately incorrectly, known as The War to End All Wars.

The holiday was originally known as Armistice Day, recognizing Germany’s signing of the armistice that ended the war on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. As time passed and the number of wars increased, our country changed the holiday to Veteran’s Day as an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the men and women who have served this country in the armed forces.

The First World War ran from 1914 to 1918 and can easily be described as one of the most brutal in the history of mankind. It was definitely the event that brought much of the world out of the 19th century and into the 20th. Below are a number of books that you can read to learn more about this critical time in our history. So, celebrate the holiday and check out one or more of these titles at your library.

• “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Remarque. This is the classic novel that showed the brutal and often pointless reality of the war that devastated a generation.

• “Remains of Company D” by James Nelson. Nelson has written a new, intimate history about the members of Company D from their enlistment through the war. The author is the grandson of one the company members.

• “King, Kaiser and Tsar” by Catrine Clay. Clay has written an interesting look at the causes of the war through the three leaders who led their nations into it.

• “To Conquer Hell” by Edward Lengel. The author has written perhaps the first full history of the final battle of the war at Meuse-Argonne that directly led to the armistice — but at an enormous cost.

• “World War I: The African Front” by Edward Paice. This is an excellent and very detailed, perhaps definitive history of the often- forgotten African campaigns.

• “The Somme” by Peter Hart. Hart has written an exceptional book about this monumental battle of the war.

• “The First World War” by John Keegan. Keegan has written an excellent overview of the war from its beginnings, including the attempts to avert war, through the brutal battles and the repercussions following.

• “The Guns of August” by Barbara Tuchman. One of the best popular historians wrote the best book about that critical year of 1914 and the people and events that led to this tragic conflict.

• “Cataclysm” by David Stevenson. Stevenson’s re-examination of the war’s causes puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of political and military leaders and their decisions, discounting other cultural and socio-economic causes.

• “A Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway’s classic novel about an American ambulance driver and an English nurse caught up in the war that is recognized as one of his greatest works.

• “Ghost Road” by Pat Barker. The Man Booker Award-winning culmination of Parker’s outstanding World War I trilogy that can be equally enjoyed on its own or with its predecessors, “Regeneration” and “The Eye in the Door.”

• “Flanders” by Patricia Anthony. This is a wonderful, speculative novel by an underrated writer that blends history and magical realism into a moving story about the war and those who experienced it.

•  “Woodrow Wilson” by John Milton Cooper. A noted Wilson expert has written an excellent biography that should give readers an updated view of the man who led our nation into the war and whose career and life ended trying to guarantee it would never happen again.

Chris Skaugset is the director of the Longview Public Library. You can contact him at chris.skaugset@ci.longview.wa.us