Read more
The soldiers on the front line in the First World War endured appalling conditions in the trenches and suffered unprecedented casualties in battle. Drawing on a variety of contemporary sources, including over a hundred magazines produced by soldiers themselves, this is the first scholarly analysis of the trench journalism which played an important role in the lives of the ordinary soldiers. Other themes that are explored include the nature of patriotism, discipline, living conditions, and leisure activities such as sport, concert parties, and the music hall. Fuller's vivid and detailed study throws new light on the question of what sustained men through the ordeal of trench warfare, and in particular how the British and Dominion armies differed from those of their allies and opponents, which were wracked by mutiny or defeat as the war went on.
List of contents
Introduction; Trench journalism; Morale; Patriotism and the place of the army in British society; Organization of the British and Dominion forces; Discipline and relationships between the ranks; Life in the line; Behind the lines; Leisure; Continuity in the soldiers' lives; Homogeneity of the British and Dominion forces; conclusion; Appendix A. Troop journals; Appendix B. Concert parties and cinemas; Bibliography; Index
Summary
The front-line soldiers of the First World War endured appalling conditions in the trenches and suffered unprecedented slaughter in battle. Their morale, as much as the strategy of their commanders, played the crucial part in determining the outcome of `the war to end all wars'. J. G. Fuller examines the experience of the soldiers of the British and Dominion armies. How did the troops regard their plight? What did they think they were fighting for?
Dr Fuller draws on a variety of contemporary sources, including over a hundred magazines produced by the soldiers themselves. This is the first scholarly analysis of the trench journalism which played an important role in the lives of the ordinary soldiers. Other themes explored include the nature of patriotism, discipline, living conditions, and leisure activities such as sport, concert parties, and the music hall. Dr Fuller's vivid and detailed study throws new light on the question of warfare, and in particular how the British and Dominion armies differed from those of their allies and opponents, which were wracked by mutiny or defeat as the war went on.
Additional text
a stimulating new perspective ... He has a previously untapped and important source - trench newspapers ... There is certainly more to explore here, but Dr Fuller has both set up a sign-post and started to clear the brush from the path.
