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Steve Lewis
Location: Boston Joined: 27 Sep 2006
Posts: 11
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 Posted: Mon 19 Mar, 2007 11:58 am Post subject: autoBiographies and memoirs of those who fought |
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I was wondering if anyone could help me find first person, historical account of duels, street fights and battlefield combat? Oh and does anyone know what the difference is between an autobiography and a memoir?
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Sean Flynt
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Edward Hitchens
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| Posted: Mon 19 Mar, 2007 4:41 pm Post subject: Re: autoBiographies and memoirs of those who fought |
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| Steve Lewis wrote: | | I was wondering if anyone could help me find first person, historical account of duels, street fights and battlefield combat? Oh and does anyone know what the difference is between an autobiography and a memoir? |
First person accounts? You might want to check out Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings. That's the first (and so far the only) one that comes to my mind. A memoir is like a diary; personal notes meant for recollection or reminiscing. For the most part, the writer of a memoir has no intention of the information being made public. It's kept to him/herself and kin. By contrast, an autobiography is intended to be published for a large audience of readers. 
"The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest." Thomas Jefferson
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William C Champlin
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| Posted: Mon 19 Mar, 2007 9:02 pm Post subject: |
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One of my favorites is The Oxford Book Of Military Anecdotes edited by Max Hastings( Oxford University Press 1985). Many (384) anecdotes on military actions from the Battle of Jericho in Joshua to Mr. Hastings' own account of action in the Falklands in 1982. Great Napoleonic, Crimean, WWI and WWII with many first hand descriptions of great and obscure battles in these and many other conflicts. I've seen it in remainder/discount sections of some of the big chains. W.
tweetchris
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Lafayette C Curtis
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| Posted: Tue 20 Mar, 2007 8:42 am Post subject: |
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Hm. Really? I thought memoirs tend to be focused on a specific epoch or series or events, while autobiographies are broader in scope and often start all the way from the autobiographer's birth.
I'm not very good at finding out accounts of duels and streetfights, but for battles and military campaigns there are many repositories of primary sources available whether on the web or in print. If you wish to focus on the medieval period, then De Re Militari ( http://www.deremilitari.org) would be an excellent place to start, especially its collections of primary sources hosted internally ( http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/articles/sources.htm ) and externally ( http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/externalsources.htm ).
On the other hand, this place: http://www.hillsdale.edu/personal/stewart/war/ covers a broader range of periods, from ancient to (nearly) modern, although it still focuses mostly on European military history.
Your best bet, of course, would be printed sources, for which purpose you would be best served by the various bibliographies on the web. One would be the ARMA Research & Reading section ( http://www.thearma.org/reading.htm ). Another favorite of mine is the bibliography of Barry Siler's series on Renaissance siege warfare, since the books contained within are not restricted to either the Renaissance or siege warfare ( http://www.renaissancesoldier.com/features/si...raphy.html ). Last but not leat, you're missing a great deal if you're not using this site's library ( http://www.myArmoury.com/books/ )!
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This is a standard topic