The astonishing diaries of a WWI war hero from Lviv fighting in Italy, translated by his daughter. Sent to fetch a bandage for a comrade whose leg had just been blown off. Winning a medal for bravery for running up a hill under fire to deliver a message to his commander. Relishing ‘meals’ of potatoes and coffee. Studying Roman Law, Portuguese and double-entry bookkeeping in a PoW camp. Suffering anti-Semitic jibes and discrimination. These are some of the experiences recorded in the diaries and letters of a young Austro-Hungarian who enlisted in the army in 1916, aged 18, and fought in some of the fiercest battles of World War I in Italy, before being taken prisoner of war by the Italians after the Armistice. The diaries, transcribed from a now obsolete German shorthand, and other material originally written in German have been translated, compiled and edited by his daughter. Richly illustrated with photos, documents, letters and souvenirs and copiously provided with background information to set the scene, From Both Sides Now presents a picture of one man’s war and life and makes a unique and important contribution to the military and social history of the time, rarely seen from the Austro-Hungarian side. Endorsements The World War 1 campaigns in northern Italy in 1916-18 are little known in the English-speaking world, with our focus on the Western Front in France and the Low Countries. Yet more than 500,000 troops died and another million were wounded, for gains of 25 km, on the Isonzo River in northern Italy in two and a half years and 12 offensives. In 1918, the Italians attacked with 51 divisions and 5200 guns, and lost ground. These were major battles by any standard and the equal of any on the Western front. From these diaries from her father, Ingrid Cranfield covers the day-to-day life of a combatant infantry soldier on the Austrian side of the battles, his capture by the Italians and his subsequent life. They are an important contribution to our knowledge of the maelstrom that was central Europe in the first half of the 20th century. Barry Dreyer, NZ Artillery Colonel Commandant (Retired) From Both Sides Now is the touching and dramatic true story of a soldier who served with the Austro-Hungarians in Italy in WWI and then became a prisoner of war. This compilation of his diaries, as well as letters, documents and other mementoes, gives a vivid account, sometimes horrifying, sometimes warm and humorous, of this young man’s experiences of the cataclysm of war. The book will be of exceptional interest to readers who want to know more about the Austro-Hungarian war as seen ‘from both sides now’. Lt Col. Harish C. Kohli, VSM (Retired), author of Across the Frozen Himalaya Ingrid Cranfield's From Both Sides Now is a unique reading experience for English-speaking audiences. They might, like me, have only encountered the Austro-Hungarian Army through footnotes to the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein and the comedy of Jaroslav Hašek’s The Good Soldier Švejk. However, military historians and general readers alike will be fascinated by the accounts in this book of Austro-Hungarian participation in WWI as seen from the perspective of a Jewish recruit. Hitherto unpublished diaries, letters and documents show us not only the horrors and privations of war but also the minutiae of daily life, describing the many languages and ethnic mix in fighting units, the random anti-Semitism and discussions of Jewish resettlement in Palestine, the training and provisions, and even the price of suit fabric! Michael Brett, historian, poet, au