Book of Remembrance
A signature in a collection of autographs reveals a story of Indigenous service that extends from Australia to Canada and Trinidad.
First World War
Meeting an Urgent Need
The First World War threw widows and their brothers-in-law together, but their marriages were considered incestuous.
The Invisible
The sobering story of the Indian Labour Corps.
Angels Ever Bright and Fair
The ‘Angels of Mons’, a short story written in the earliest days of the First World War, became an enduring symbol of British providence.
The Lessons of Shell Shock
The global crisis wrought by the First World War prompted the birth of free mental health care.
A Hospital ‘Manned by Women’
The First World War offered new opportunities for enterprising female doctors.
Policing the Ploughs
As Britain faced the prospect of food shortages in 1917, panic mounted. One solution was to redeploy policemen to plough the land.
The Poet Who Saw Edith Cavell Die
How did the executed English nurse Edith Cavell become the unlikely protector of the German poet who pronounced her dead?
Beyond Good and Evil
As a frontline soldier in the First World War, the German artist Otto Dix fell under the spell of the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche and his assault on Christian morality.
It Can't Happen Here
A personal interpretation of France under two occupations, reissued as a Modern Classic.