Trench Talk, Trench Life (Hardcover)

Festooned with more than 200 original black-and-white illustrations by author, designer and artist Fredric Winkowski, this concise, handsomely illustrated, boots-on-the-ground guide provides a unique introduction to life on the Western Front during World War I. Readers will learn about the drastic living circumstances of the widely known archetypal foot soldiers of, respectively, Britain, France and the United States: Tommy Atkins, Poilu, and Doughboy. We all know something of how these men existed in muddy trenches, subject to shelling, snipers and waiting for the next Big Push; but it is through the unique vocabulary of those troops, with their newly-coined words, slang, and euphemisms that we can most easily enter their world. Readers will learn the meaning behind the long lost wartime language of these soldiers, with such words and phrases as: Black Hand Gang, Ace, Crummy, Barker, Dud, Come-alongs, Hush-hush, and Over the top.