The British Home Front and the First World War

The fullest account yet of the British home front in the First World War and how war changed Britain forever.

Hew Strachan (Edited by)

9781009012324, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 March 2023

495 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 3.6 cm, 1.006 kg

'Hew Strachan's edited volume adds a strong scholarly voice to the chorus of commemoration still echoing from the centenary of the Great War.  Here is a book which respects local identities and imperial loyalties, and shows how British initiatives in the management of manpower, production and finance underwrote victory in the 1914-18 war.' Jay Winter, author of Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning: The Great War in European Cultural History

The First World War required the mobilisation of entire societies, regardless of age or gender. The phrase 'home front' was itself a product of the war with parts of Britain literally a war front, coming under enemy attack from the sea and increasingly the air. However, the home front also conveyed the war's impact on almost every aspect of British life, economic, social and domestic. In the fullest account to-date, leading historians show how the war blurred the division between what was military and not, and how it made many conscious of their national identities for the first time. They reveal how its impact changed Britain for ever, transforming the monarchy, promoting systematic cabinet government, and prompting state intervention in a country which prided itself on its liberalism and its support for free trade. In many respects we still live with the consequences.

Introduction Hew Strachan
1. The United Kingdom in 1914 Catriona Pennell
Part I. Government: 2. The monarchy Heather Jones
3. The growth of cabinet government George Peden
4. The defence of the realm act G. R. Rubin
5. Local Government: The experience of Essex Stuart Hallifax
6. The clergy and cultural mobilisation Edward Madigan
Part II. Resources: 7. Iron and steel Peter Claughton
8. Timber Rob Newman
9. Fishing Robb Robinson
10. Agriculture Keith Grieves
11. Coal David Howell
12. Finance Jonathan Boff
Part III. People: 13. Labour, the labour party and the trades unions Chris Wrigley
14. Enlistment and conscription Ian Beckett
15. Charities Peter Grant
16. Refugees Pierre Purseigle
17. Prisoners of war and internees Panikos Panayi
Part IV. Production: 18. Munitions Gerard Charmley
19. Clothing and uniforms Krisztina Robert
20. Shipbuilding and ship repair Hugh Murphy
21. Railways Christopher Phillips
22. Seaborne trade and merchant shipping Martin Wilcox and David J. Starkey
23. Food Mary Elisabeth Cox
Part V. Social Impacts: 24. Press and propaganda David Monger
25. Pacifism Martin Ceadel
26. Homes and families Maggie Andrews
27. Crime and policing Louise A. Jackson
28. Children Rosie Kennedy
29. The home front as war front Susan R. Grayzel
30. The United Kingdom in 1919 Martin Daunton.

Subject Areas: First World War [HBWN], British & Irish history [HBJD1]