France at War: On the Frontier of Civilization

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Rudyard Kipling. France at War: On the Frontier of Civilization

FRANCE1 BY RUDYARD KIPLING

I. ON THE FRONTIER OF CIVILIZATION

AN OBSERVATION POST

"THE BARBARIAN"

SOLDIERS IN CAVES

THE SENTINEL HOUNDS

WORK IN THE FIELDS

A WRECKED TOWN

IN THE CATHEDRAL

II. THE NATION'S SPIRIT AND A NEW INHERITANCE

THE LINE THAT NEVER SLEEPS

LESSON FROM THE "BOCHE"

TRAGEDY OF RHEIMS

IRON NERVE AND FAITH

III. BATTLE SPECTACLE AND A REVIEW

FARM LIFE AMIDST WAR

WATCHING THE GUN-FIRE

BEHIND THE GERMAN LINES

VETERANS OF THE WAR

AN ARMY IN MOTION

ARTILLERY AND CAVALRY

THE BOCHE AS MR. SMITH

IV. THE SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE

A CITY AND WOMAN

FRENCH OFFICERS

FRONT THAT NEVER SLEEPS

THE BUSINESS OF WAR

A CONTRAST IN TYPES

V. LIFE IN TRENCHES ON THE MOUNTAIN SIDE

TRENCHES

IN THE FRONT LINE

FRONT LINE PROFESSIONALS

HANDY TRENCH-SWEEPERS

A BOMBARDED TOWN

CASES FOR HOSPITAL

VI. THE COMMON TASK OF A GREAT PEOPLE

SUPPORTS AND RESERVES

PARIS – AND NO FOREIGNERS

A PEOPLE TRANSFIGURED

THE NEW WAR

A NATION'S CONFIDENCE

Отрывок из книги

"It's a pretty park," said the French artillery officer. "We've done a lot for it since the owner left. I hope he'll appreciate it when he comes back."

The car traversed a winding drive through woods, between banks embellished with little chalets of a rustic nature. At first, the chalets stood their full height above ground, suggesting tea-gardens in England. Further on they sank into the earth till, at the top of the ascent, only their solid brown roofs showed. Torn branches drooping across the driveway, with here and there a scorched patch of undergrowth, explained the reason of their modesty.

.....

"It's better than that," said another. "It's the eating-up of a people. They come and they fill the trenches and they die, and they die; and they send more and those die. We do the same, of course, but – look!"

He pointed to the large deliberate smoke-heads renewing themselves along that yellowed beach. "That is the frontier of civilization. They have all civilization against them – those brutes yonder. It's not the local victories of the old wars that we're after. It's the barbarian – all the barbarian. Now, you've seen the whole thing in little. Come and look at our children."

.....