All Roads Lead to France: Bath and The Great War - Hardcover

Swift, Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 095461383X ISBN 13: 9780954613839

Publisher: AKEMAN PRESS, 2005

Synopsis

"All Roads Lead to France" describes the Great War's impact on one English community - Bath. The city, dedicated to health, and famed for its architecture, was surrounded by villages devoted to farming or coal-mining. The Great War had a devastating effect on the entire community. Over 1,800 men from the Bath area died in the Great War - more than 2 per cent of the population. Their average age was 27. Abroad, Somerset men fought battles not only on the Western Front, but in Mesopotamia and Palestine. At home, there were battles between jingoists and conscientious objectors. There was industrial unrest, with strikes continuing throughout the war. There were fears of a breakdown of public order- bigamy reached record levels. Illegitimate births led to tragic tales of infanticide, divorce, and even murder. While soldiers struggled against terrible odds in the mud of Flanders, their families battled against poverty and hunger caused by rising prices and rationing. Bath's men went to war - and the war came to the city. There were three aircraft factories in Bath, as well as factories turning out shells, torpedoes, and experimental tanks for the war effort.Tens of thousands of soldiers were billeted in the city; tens of thousands more were cared for at a purpose-built war hospital. Many people lived in constant fear of Zeppelin raids, and a strict blackout was observed. Temperance supporters, however, fought a different campaign against what they saw as a greater enemy than the Kaiser - drink. And after the war came peace - but it was not the time of prosperity which the Tommies had dreamt of as they lay listening to "Whizz-bangs" and thinking of their families. They came back to a land where nothing would ever be the same again. Interweaving letters from the front with stories of life at home, and illustrated with over 300 photographs, many published for the first time, the book creates a vivid picture of what it was like to live through that terrible conflict. It is a story of grief, suffering, and anger - but there is laughter too. And although Dr. Swift has told the story of one community, this is the story, with minor variations, of hundreds of other British towns and cities as they lived through the time when all roads led to France.

About this title

Review:

Andrew Swift has produced a fascinating study of the effects of the Great War on the inhabitants and the city of Bath. The book also serves as a memorial to the 1,808 men from the city and from Bath Rural District who died during the conflict. Dr Swift's opinions may not wholly appeal to revisionist historians, but this does not detract from the quality or the content of the book. Dr Swift explores in great detail the impact that the war had on Bath, and also on England. Taking each year as a separate subject, he examines not only the major events taking place in various theatres of war, but on the home front as well, with case histories of soldiers and individuals at home in Bath; for example the sons of the Mayor were killed within weeks of each other in 1916. Not only is recruiting dealt with in detail, but the cases of Conscientious Objectors are examined, probably for the first time, many make very sad reading, as do the stories of soldier's wives and individuals who committed suicide owing to the pressures of the war. The book is very well illustrated with many unseen photographs and postcards, and produced on fine quality paper, which is probably reflected in the price. Notes appear at the foot of each page which I always find pleasing. There are ten very interesting appendices, and a complete roll of honour. Highly recommended. Michelle Young Western Front association One of the principal strengths of this book is the way it is lavishly illustrated throughout. Swift has marshalled his material confidently. I was impressed by the variety of illustrations: they ranged from postcards, newspaper photographs, advertisements and photographs of memorials and cemeteries, to poetry published in local newspapers, cartoons, commemorative postcards and memorial ephemera. Many of these examples have not been seen before. Sonia Batten Centre for First World War Studies

About the Author:

Dr Andrew Swift was educated at Barnstaple Grammar School, Exeter College, Oxford, and at the Shakespeare and Barber Institutes at Birmingham University. He has written extensively on the Victorian and Edwardian periods, and is the co-author of Bath Pubs and Awash With Ale: Two Thousand Years of Imbibing in Bath. He is also a dealer in early photographs, picture postcards and ephemera.

About this edition

• Publisher: AKEMAN PRESS
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 095461383X
• ISBN 13: 9780954613839
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 512