The First World War in 100 Objects

By Peter Doyle

Objects allow us to reach out and touch the past and they play a living role in history today. Through them we can understand the experience of men and women during the First World War. They bear witness to the stories of men whose only morning comfort in the trenches was the rum ration, children who grew up with only one photograph of the father that they would never get to know, women who would sacrifice their girlhood in hospitals yards from the frontline, pinning a brooch on to remind themselves of a past life. Weapons like the machine gun and vehicles like the tank that transformed the battlefield; planes that had barely learnt to be flown entangled in dogfights far above the barbed wire of the frontline; German submarines that stalked shipping across the seas. Through these incredible artefacts, Peter Doyle tells the story of the First World War in a whole new light.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Mar 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9780750954938

Peter Doyle

Peter Doyle is a geologist and well known military historian specialising in the impact of terrain on the outcome of battle, particularly in the Great War, as well as the British experience of war. He is Secretary of the All Party Parliamentary War Heritage Group and visiting Professor at University College London. More details can be found at www.peterdoylemilitaryhistory.com.