A PROSE ANTHOLOGY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Firsthand accounts, grouped topically—``Ordinary People,'' ``Soldiers,'' ``At Sea and in the Air,'' ``Looking After the Wounded and Dying,'' etc.—with a few sentences to set the stage for each selection and identify its author. The pieces themselves, whether a few lines or a full page, are excellent- -vividly telling glimpses from countries on both sides, men and women, military and civilian. Accompanying photos are adequate if often small and dark; and though they're well placed, the lack of specific captions lessens their value. In the notes, sources are mostly secondary (e.g., ``Quoted in Peter Vansittart, Voices from the Great War''). Hull's A Prose Anthology of the Second World War (ISBN 1-56294-223-9), also sampling just seven topics, is less adequate as an overview of the wider conflict, but the choices, again, have an immediacy that brings the period to life. Rich, authentic supplementary resources. Each has a chronology; perfunctory glossary and ``Further Reading''; a skimpy, oddly arranged index. Binding is exasperatingly tight. (Nonfiction. 9+)