Behind The Front: British Soldiers And French Civilians, 1914-1918 by Craig Gibson

Until now scholars have looked for the source of the indomitable Tommy morale on the Western Front in innate British bloody-mindedness and irony, not to mention material concerns such as leave, food, rum, brothels, regimental pride, and male bonding. However, re-examining previously used sources alongside never-before consulted archives, Craig Gibson shifts the focus away from battle and the trenches to times behind the front, where the British intermingled with a vast population of allied civilians, whom Lord Kitchener had instructed the troops to 'avoid'. Besides providing a comprehensive examination of soldiers' encounters with local French and Belgian inhabitants which were not only unavoidable but also challenging, symbiotic and uplifting in equal measure, Gibson contends that such relationships were crucial to how the war was fought on the Western Front and, ultimately, to British victory in 1918. What emerges is a novel interpretation of the British and Dominion soldier at war.

Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Year:	2014
Binding:	Paperback
ISBN:	9781316612217
Condition:	Very Good
Description:	Heavy.

Note: This image is from a stock photo and may differ from the actual cover.

SKU: 1602435
Location: War