Drawing on an eclectic array of historical and cultural studies, this collection seeks to move the perspectives that are marginal to mainstream war stories, namely those of non-combatants, to center stage. It does so through analyzing the ways in which wars, real and imagined, impact (and have impacted) individuals all over the western world. This book illustrates the ever-present reality of war since the late nineteenth century, affecting adults and children alike, regardless of whether they are the participants in, or the witnesses of, theatres of conflict.

This collection seeks to move noncombatant perspectives to center stage, acknowledging their importance, destabilizing the primacy of the combatant, and explaining or undermining the staging of warfare as a singular and acontextual production.