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Postcards from the Trenches

Images from the First World War

Andrew Roberts editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Bodleian Library

Published:1st May '08

Should be back in stock very soon

Postcards from the Trenches cover

The First World War was unique in being fought largely in trenches. Men ate, slept, fought, played, sang, prayed, and died in the trenches. This book brings together a collection of postcards which portray this strange subterranean world in its various manifestations.

The cards have been selected to show how life progressed from day to day in and out of the trenches. We see wounded men smiling obligingly for the camera; others appear to be suffering from the onslaught of boredom. Some take part in a mock party with very meagre provisions. One image shows a group of men kneeling to receive communion before going into battle.

The tone of postcards encompasses the range of human experience, from sombre realism to light-hearted humour. There is also the soldier’s good-natured lightly smutty card.

This is a fascinating insight into the everyday lives and behaviour of the men who fought one of the most gruesome wars in history.

ISBN: 9781851243914

Dimensions: 126mm x 170mm x 16mm

Weight: 312g

112 pages