Unflinching, provocative, and brilliantly written, this work of stunning reportage addresses the full complexity of recent history and political events in the Middle East.
A critically acclaimed historian describes the first World War in terms of its lasting impact on politics, diplomacy and economics as well as art and literature across the 20th century and not just as a precursor to World War II. 20,000 first printing.
The modern idea that the Great War was regarded as a futile waste of life by British society in the disillusioned 1920s and 1930s is here called into question by Mark Connelly. Through a detailed local study of a district containing a wide variety of religious, economic and social variations, he shows how both the survivors and the bereaved came to terms with the losses and implications of the Great War. His study illustrates the ways in which communities as diverse as the Irish Catholics of Wapping, the Jews of Stepney and the Presbyterian ex-patriate Scots of Ilford, thanks to the actions of the local agents of authority and influence - clergymen, rabbis, councillors, teachers and employers - shaped the memory of their dead and created a very definite history of the war. Close focus on the planning of, fund-raising for, and erection of war memorials expands to a wider examination of how those memorials became a focus for a continuing need to remember, particularly each year on Armistice Day. Mark Connelly is Professor of Modern British Military History, University of Kent.
Geoff Bridgers The Great War Handbook answers many of the basic questions newcomers ask when confronted by this enormous and challenging subject not only what happened and why, but what was the Great War like for ordinary soldiers who were caught up in it. He describes the conditions the soldiers endured, the deadly risks they ran, their daily routines and the small roles they played in the complex military machine they were part of. His comprehensive survey of every aspect of the soldiers life, from recruitment and training, through the experience of battle and its appalling aftermath, is an essential guide for students, family historians, teachers and anyone who is eager to gain an all-round understanding of the nature of the conflict. His authoritative handbook gives a fascinating insight into the world of the Great War - it is a basic book that no student of the subject can afford to be without.
The Great War in Irish Poetry explores the impact of the First World War on the work of W. B. Yeats, Robert Graves, and Louis MacNeice in the period 1914-45, and on three contemporary Northern Irish poets, Derek Mahon, Seamus Heaney, and Michael Longley. Its concern is to place their work, andmemory of the Great War, in the context of Irish politics and culture in the twentieth century. The historical background to Irish involvement in the Great War is explained, as are the ways in which issues raised in 1912-20 still reverberate in the politics of remembrance in Northern Ireland,particularly through such events as the Home Rule cause, the loss of the Titanic, the Battle of the Somme, the Easter Rising. While the Great War is perceived as central to English culture, and its literature holds a privileged position in the English literary canon, the centrality of the Great War to Irish writing has seldom been recognised. This book shows first, that despite complications in Irish domestic politicswhich led to the repression of memory of the Great War, Irish poets have been drawn throughout the century to the events and images of 1914-18. This engagement is particularly true of those writing in the 'troubled' Northern Ireland of the last thirty years. The second main concern is the extent towhich recognition of the importance of the Great War in Irish writing has itself become a casualty of competing versions of the literary canon.
As the hundredth anniversary approaches, it is timely to reflect not only upon the Great War itself and on the memorials which were erected to ensure it did not slip from national consciousness, but also to reflect upon its rich and substantial cultural legacy. This book examines the heritage of the Great War in contemporary Britain. It addresses how the war maintains a place and value within British society through the usage of phrases, references, metaphors and imagery within popular, media, heritage and political discourse. Whilst the representation of the war within historiography, literature, art, television and film has been examined by scholars seeking to understand the origins of the 'popular memory' of the conflict, these analyses have neglected how and why wider popular debate draws upon a war fought nearly a century ago to express ideas about identity, place and politics. By examining the history, usage and meanings of references to the Great War within local and national newspapers, historical societies, political publications and manifestos, the heritage sector, popular expressions, blogs and internet chat rooms, an analysis of the discourses which structure the remembrance of the war can be created. The book acknowledges the diversity within Britain as different regional and national identities draw upon the war as a means of expression. Whilst utilising the substantial field of heritage studies, this book puts forward a new methodology for assessing cultural heritage and creates an original perspective on the place of the Great War across contemporary British society.
In Hertfordshire Soldiers of The First World War the authors explore a series of individual case studies of Hertfordshire men who served in various theaters during the First World War, all of which had been uncovered as part of the Herts At War community project. This unique collection of largely unknown accounts includes stories from the Western Front, Gallipoli, Salonika, Mesopotamia, East Africa, Egypt and even Russia in the fight against the Bolsheviks in 1919. The Herts At War team uncovered many letters and objects in the course of their research, including men who were Victoria Cross winners to those whose courage or bravery went unrecognized, as well as stoicism on the Home Front. One of the most moving of these surrounds a photograph which was found in the hands of Sergeant Percy Buck as he lay fatally wounded in a shell hole in 1917. On the back of the photograph of his wife and young son he had written his address and asked for whoever found the image to post it to his loved ones in the event of his death. Sergeant Buck would have assumed it would be a British comrade who would find the photograph, but the person who recovered it was a German soldier who subsequently sent it on to the grieving, but grateful, family. The war memorials of Hertfordshire contain the names of over 23,000 men and women who gave their lives whilst in the service of their country during the Great War; some of their tales are uncovered here. Indeed, the poignant collection of stories, anecdotes and artifacts revealed in this book bring the First World War to life in an unusual and highly moving fashion.
On 4 August 1914 Britain declared war on Germany. Originally perceived as a short campaign to curtail Germanic imperialism, it developed into a four-year long war of attrition. The Great War is justifiably associated with the horrors of trench warfare and the death of a generation but history has overlooked the home fronts' colossal contribution to victory.??On the outbreak of war thousands of troops arrived in Wirral to defend the coast from invasion and guard the docks and shipyards under the watchful eyes of the gunners of the Bidston Hill artillery batteries. The transition to a military garrison also led to the conversion of schools to military hospitals, predominately financed by the community. Thousands of wounded service men arriving at Woodside station were dispersed and administered to by a plethora of military or auxiliary hospitals. Voluntary organizations also procured funds for ambulances and comforts for those at the front. ??At the beginning of hostilities, the Government swiftly introduced draconian regulations to restrict liberty, particularly for those of foreign extraction. Following the 1915 sinking of the Lusitania, the xenophobia vented itself in Wallasey and Birkenhead where riots resulted in the destruction of German owned business premises. The resentment was further fueled by the German submarines attempt to destroy the British merchant fleet and starve Britain into submission _ they almost succeeded. As vital cargoes plunged to the sea bed, food became the latest rationed commodity; consequently unused tracts of Wirral land were turned over to food production and German prisoners of war helped clear the river Birkett. ??The local shipyards and factories came under the control of the Ministry of Munitions and unlikely companies were involved in the national preoccupation of producing artillery shells. Following the 1916 introduction of compulsory military service, female workers increasingly replaced the men thereby making undreamed of advances in female emancipation. Also involved in the war effort were school children who collected food for wounded soldiers, boy scouts patrolled the coastline, 'sister Susie famously sewed shirts for soldiers' and a Dad's Army was established to repel invaders. Their activities and others are generally overlooked by twentieth century chroniclers.??This is the fascinating, but forgotten story of how Wirral provided the sinews for war, and made a significant contribution to the comprehensive defeat of Germany.
Bruccoli Great War Collection at the University of South Carolina: An Illustrated Catalogue provides a reference tool for the study of one of the great watershed moments in history on both sides of the Atlantic serving historians, researchers, and collectors.