This book seeks to place children and young people centrally within the study of the contemporary British home front, its cultural representations and its place in the historical memory of the First World War. This edited collection interrogates not only war and its effects on children and young people, but how understandings of this conflict have shaped or been shaped by historical memories of the Great War, which have only allowed for several tropes of childhood during the conflict to emerge. It brings together new research by emerging and established scholars who, through a series of tightly focussed case studies, introduce a range of new histories to both explore the experience of being young during the First World War, and interrogate the memories and representations of the conflict produced for children. Taken together the chapters in this volume shed light on the multiple ways in which the Great War shaped, disrupted and interrupted childhood in Britain, and illuminatesimultaneously the selectivity of the portrayal of the conflict within the more typical national narratives.

About the Author
Maggie Andrews is Professor of Cultural History at the University of Worcester, UK.
Marcus Morris is Senior Lecturer in Modern European History at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
N.C. Fleming is Principal Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Worcester, UK.

Reviews

"The contributors should be commended for put ting a notable dent in the historiography. ... this collection provides a wealth of insight into the experiences of young people in World War I. Melanie Tebbutt's analysis of how children experienced the darkened space of the cinemas is especially innovative." (Ashley Henrickson, The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, Vol. 15 (3), 2022)

Book Information
ISBN 9783030499389
Author Maggie Andrews
Format Hardback
Page Count 257
Imprint Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Publisher Springer Nature Switzerland AG