Nominated for the Longman History Today Book of the Year Prize, 1995The first full-scale study of the rituals with which the British people commemorated three-quarters of a million war dead.Explains both the origins of the two minutes silence and the reasons for the success of the poppy appeal.This book examines how the British people came to terms with the massive trauma of the First World War. Although the literary memory of the war has often been discussed, little has been written on the public ceremonies on and around 11 November which dominated the public memory of the war in the inter-war years. This book aims to remedy the deficiency by showing the pre-eminence of Armistice Day, both in reflecting what people felt about the war and in shaping their memories of it. It shows that this memory was complex rather than simple and that it was continually contested. Finally it seeks to examine the impact of the Second World War on the memory of the First and to show how difficult it is to recapture the idealistic assumptions of a world that believed it had experienced 'the war to end all wars'.

The war of 1914-1918 was the first great general conflict to be fought between highly industrial societies able to manufacture and transport immense quantities of goods over land and sea. Yet the armies of the First World War were too vast in scale, their movements too complex, and the infrastructure upon which they depended too specialised to be operated by professional soldiers alone. In Civilian Expertise at War, Christopher Phillips examines the relationship between industrial society and industrial warfare through the lens of Britain's transport experts. He analyses the multiple connections between the army, the government, and the senior executives of some of pre-war Britain's largest industrial enterprises to illustrate the British army's evolving understanding both of industrial warfare's particular character and of the role to be played by non-military experts in the prosecution of such a conflict. This book reveals that Britain's transport experts were a key component of Britain's conduct of the First World War. It demonstrates that a pre-existing professional relationship between the army, government, and private enterprise existed before 1914, and that these bonds were strengthened by the outbreak of war. It charts the range of wartime roles into which Britain's transport experts were thrust in the opening years of the conflict, as both military and political leaders grasped with the challenges before them. It details the application of recognisably civilian technologies and methods to the prosecution of war and documents how - in the conflict's principal theatre, the western front - the freedom of action for Britain's transport experts was constrained by the political and military requirements of coalition warfare. Christopher Phillips is a lecturer in international security in the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University.

The war of 1914-1918 was the first great general conflict to be fought between highly industrial societies able to manufacture and transport immense quantities of goods over land and sea. Yet the armies of the First World War were too vast in scale, their movements too complex, and the infrastructure upon which they depended too specialised to be operated by professional soldiers alone. In Civilian Expertise at War, Christopher Phillips examines the relationship between industrial society and industrial warfare through the lens of Britain's transport experts. He analyses the multiple connections between the army, the government, and the senior executives of some of pre-war Britain's largest industrial enterprises to illustrate the British army's evolving understanding both of industrial warfare's particular character and of the role to be played by non-military experts in the prosecution of such a conflict. This book reveals that Britain's transport experts were a key component of Britain's conduct of the First World War. It demonstrates that a pre-existing professional relationship between the army, government, and private enterprise existed before 1914, and that these bonds were strengthened by the outbreak of war. It charts the range of wartime roles into which Britain's transport experts were thrust in the opening years of the conflict, as both military and political leaders grasped with the challenges before them. It details the application of recognisably civilian technologies and methods to the prosecution of war and documents how - in the conflict's principal theatre, the western front - the freedom of action for Britain's transport experts was constrained by the political and military requirements of coalition warfare. Christopher Phillips is a lecturer in international security in the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University.

What did British combatants wear on the western front in the First World War? From the idealized recruitment images to the coarse trousers and ill-fitting tunics, Jane Tynan retraces wartime culture through images and experiences of khaki. Photographs, newspapers, memoirs, war office documents and tailoring ephemera reveal the impact of the war on the tailoring trade. But the story of uniform also involves the wartime knitting projects, the issue of 'Kitchener Blue', Sikhs wearing khaki on the western front, and the punishments given to COs. Military uniforms were designed to make soldiers of civilian men and to rank them according to race and class, but Tynan argues that neat images of men in khaki concealed the reality that clothing an ever-expanding army involved compromise, resistance and improvisation. Uniforms transformed men and war changed British society. This book tells the story of British army clothing during wartime and offers insights into why khaki has endured as the symbol of modern militarism.

Three hundred and fifty-one men were executed by British Army firing-squads between September 1914 and November 1920. By far the greatest number were shot for desertion in the face of the enemy. Controversial even at the time, these executions of soldiers amid the horrors of the Western Front continue to haunt the history of war. This book provides a critical analysis of military law in the British army and other major armies during the First World War, with particular reference to the use of the death penalty. This study establishes a full cultural and legal framework for military discipline and compares British military law with French and German military law. It includes case studies of British troops on the Frontline.

Piero Gobetti was an astonishing figure. A radical liberal and fierce critic of Italian politics in the years after World War I, he was fascinated by the workers' struggles in his native Turin and by Gramsci's vision of a factory-based democracy. Gobetti proposed liberalism as an emancipatory theory grounded in social conflicts. "Revolutionary liberalism," as he called it, guided his opposition to Fascism and, following his untimely death at twenty-five, inspired key figures in the Italian Resistance. Accessible but critical, this volume is the first English-language study of Gobetti's political ideas and offers a balanced assessment of his enduring significance.

This book presents a unique insight into an extraordinary period of European history that had far-reaching significance for British cinema and for the way history itself is represented. The work collected in this volume draws from the best knowledge, enthusiasm and critical insight of leading scholars, archivists and historians specialising in British cinema. The editors are experts in the field of British silent cinema; in particular, its complex relationship to the Great War and its afterimage in popular culture. As the Great War continues to fade from living memory, it is a significant task to look back at how the cinema industry responded to that conflict as it unfolded, and how it shaped the war's memory through the 1910s and 1920s.

A woman in Iraq
This book of a woman's ordeal at the hands of Arabs in post First World War Mesopotamia (now modern day Iraq) is such a riveting account that to describe too much would be to spoil the experience for the reader. The young wife and mother, Zetton Buchanan, had joined her husband, Captain 'Billy' Buchanan of the RAF, on his eastern posting with a degree of expectation and sense of impending adventure. Nothing she could have imagined would have prepared her for the events that followed. This is a touching and inspirational first hand account of a young woman's ability to cope with tragedy and overcome astonishing difficulties. Although the narrative takes place in the 1920s there is much with the pages of Zetton Buchanan's book that resonates with the experiences of many in this still troubled land. A recommended read for those interested in women's issues.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.

Three invaluable and exciting accounts of the German U-Boats of the Great War
Following the success of the original Leonaur volume concerning the U-Boat War 1914-1918, the Leonaur editors have brought together three more interesting and vital accounts for the sake of good value and because, in view of their comparatively small size, they are unlikely to see individual re-publication in modern times. Here, in volume two, the first account is the journal of a U-Boat Commander at war and its author eloquently describes his patrols and his attacks on merchant shipping. K nig's account of the 'Deutschland' may be a revelation to many. K nig captained an unarmed commercial submarine until his vessel was eventually commissioned into the Imperial German Navy. It plied a highly successful and lucrative submersible merchant trade to the still neutral United States of America under the waters of a hostile Atlantic Ocean patrolled by the Royal Navy. The final piece in this trilogy of U-Boat accounts is an interesting and immediate account which draws the reader inside the close community of the submariners and contains much vital detail, dialogue and inevitable humour. A tour-de-force for submarine enthusiasts, this special Leonaur edition is available in softcover and hardcover with dust jacket.

British Images of Germany: Admiration, Antagonism & Ambivalence, 1860-1914 is the first full-length cultural history of Britain's relationship with Germany and the Germans in the key period before the First World War. Representing a recent about-face in scholarly appreciations of Anglo-German relations, Richard Scully reassesses the assumption that the relationship in the lead up to 1914 was increasingly fraught and reveals a more complex picture: that a longstanding sense of kinship felt by Britons for Germany and the Germans persisted right up to the outbreak of war, even surviving times of acute diplomatic tension. This innovative re-examination incorporates the reading of British images of Germany in maps, travel literature, fiction and political cartoons: forms which have never before been appreciated for the light they shed on this fascinating period of history

The twelve essays in this book explore in depth for the first time the publishing and reading practices which were formed and changed by the First World War. Ranging from an exploration of British and Australian trench journals and the reading practices of Indian soldiers to the impact of war on the literary figures of the home front in Britain, these essays provide crucial new historical information about the production, circulation and reception of reading matter during a period of international crisis.

Far from the battlefront, hundreds of thousands of workers toiled in Bohemian factories over the course of World War I, and their lives were inescapably shaped by the conflict. In particular, they faced new and dramatic forms of material hardship that strained social ties and placed in sharp relief the most mundane aspects of daily life, such as when, what, and with whom to eat. This study reconstructs the experience of the Bohemian working class during the Great War through explorations of four basic spheres-food, labor, gender, and protest-that comprise a fascinating case study in early twentieth-century social history.

The experiences of American soldiers in World War I differed enormously from those of European combatants. With the U. S. emerging from its previous isolation, soldiers arrived in the European theater late, fought briefly, and soon found themselves among the victors. Exposed for the first time to a foreign culture and bombarded by the messages of America's first concerted propaganda campaign, doughboys and other American participants struggled to make sense of their role and participation in the war.

Mark Meigs here juxtaposes more official views--as expressed in speeches and in The Stars and Stripes, army handbooks, and unit histories--with informal, widely disseminated sources, such as popular songs, jokes, and postwar fiction, together with the soldiers' own letters and journals. Optimism at Armageddon begins with an exploration of how Americans rationalized their involvement and goes on to examine the effects of veterans' experiences during the war, focusing on combat, cultural and sexual contact with their European hosts, and death and concludes with the doughboys' account of their return to American society.

A comprehensive reference work containing all the essential facts and figures for anyone needing a quick, easy to use guide to the First World War.

The Great War traumatized a generation and shaped the whole of the twentieth century. This book covers all aspects of the First World War from its origins and the course of the war, to the peace settlements and the crises it generated. Alongside the political events, Colin Nicolson also considers the social, cultural, and economic consequences of the war. He explores the battle fronts as well as the home fronts, emergent nations, and the settlement & costs of the conflicts. He has also included a section of biographical sketches of key protagonists and participants.

The first battles of the skies
The author of this overview and analysis of the Allied air campaign during the years of the First World War was eminently qualified for the task. He was one of the first aviators on the 'British List, ' had been a balloonist before the war and, although he was not a combatant in the truest sense, flew during the conflict on reconnaissance over the battle lines of the Western Front and took part in night raiding with the Handley Page bombers of the RAF. His work considers the development and capabilities of aircraft in a military role and the early theories for their application in the Great War. This thorough history examines air to air combat as it progressed in each year of the conflict. Zeppelin and other air raids on England are considered together with the measures employed to counter them. Bomber operations at night and the roles of reconnaissance, artillery and balloon observation and the of the newly formed Royal Naval Air Service and the aircraft's role at sea are also given consideration here. This is a fine perspective from one who was at the heart of the events he has written about. An essential total view for all those interested in the early days of the war in the air. Available in softcover and hardcover with dust jacket.