The 'eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month' of
1918 was supposed to be the conclusion of the 'war to end all
wars'. Just twenty-one years after the armistice was signed,
Barnsley, its borough and the world braced itself for a global
conflict that history would eventually testify to be deadlier than
the war that destroyed a generation of Barnsley men and boys. After
the Great War, the famous market town stumbled into a new era that
promised social change, including universal suffrage, economic and
political stability and establishments of new international
organisations such as the League of Nations to steer the masses. In
reality, the town suffered in poverty, endured pit disasters,
countless industrial deaths all the while still lamenting its lost
generation, mercilessly butchered on The Somme. The books narrative
explains in detail Barnsley's transition from its interwar years,
to the euphoria of victory in 1945, supported by a timeline of
national events that helped shape the town. It steers away from the
common two-dimensional viewpoints some people had on the Home Front
and the endless reusing of the same themes - 'the Great British
spirit', Churchillian greatness, D-Day, Dunkirk and VE day.
Although one cannot dismiss those remarkable qualities the town
developed during the war, it also explores controversial topics
such as social impacts, the rise in juvenile delinquency, misplaced
optimism, increase in crime and the acceptance of the status quo by
some members of the ruling council. Indeed, Barnsley rose to the
challenge as it did years earlier, women once again revealed their
rightful place in society as equals, miners smashed productivity
records, men and women took up arms in anticipation of invasion.
The Second World War had arguably the same impacts on Barnsley as
the Great War, further local names etched on the memorials as a
timeless reminder of the men, women and children who died or gave
their life for their town, county and country. Never to be
forgotten.
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