Shire Library
9 primary works
Book 471
The familiar pictures of the First World War show soldiers in their trenches: hellish images of mud. But there is another dimension not depicted by these frightening representations of battle: the mundane everyday routine of the majority of the soldier's life that was spent away from the Front. This book explores the life of the average British 'Tommy' of the Great War, in battle and at rest, in training, and on his return home. Illustrated with evocative images of the war, and items of the soldier's kit, it provides an answer to the question: What was it like to be a soldier in the trenches on the front line?
Book 473
During World War II, German prison camps swelled with Allied Prisoners of War, captured during fierce conflicts, from the Battle of France in 1940 to the bomber offensives over Germany from 1943. This book looks in intimate detail at the life of average private soldiers, beginning with their capture, through the long days as prisoners and hard labourers, to the readjustment to home life after their release. Illustrated with original materials, postcards, and photographs, the author reveals their personal experiences in this intriguing account, including letters to and from home, which disclose some surprising attitudes towards the POWs.
Book 474
The fossil-bearing rocks of the British Isles represent life from the last 2,900 million years and the UK is seen by many as the cradle of modern geology. Using the geological map of Britain, expert palaeontologist Peter Doyle offers a comprehensive guide to fossils in the UK, plotting the main fossil groups around the country, and relating them to the different ages of the rock in which they are found. With photographs of the fossils that can be discovered, and tips on how to find them yourself, "British Fossils" is the perfect companion for the novice fossil hunter or enthusiast.
Book 566
The history of the British home in the 1940s is dominated by the Second World War. In the first five years of the decade homes were adapted to better survive the affects of bombing. The 1930s home became the wartime home with the addition of anti-blast tape to the windows, sandbags round the door, and a Morrison shelter in the kitchen. In the garden, lawn and shrubs gave way to vegetable plots and chicken coops. For those whose houses were damaged or destroyed, or those moved out of their homes by post-war rehousing schemes, the picture was very different. For many the pre-fab became home, and new designs of furniture made under the utility scheme furnished rooms cheaply and stylishly. And new estates, different from anything tried before the war, rose from the bomb sites, offering state-of-the-art sanitisation and modern facilities to thousands.
Book 569
The story of the British soldier in the Second World War, of endurance through six long years of conflict, in theatres as diverse as Europe, the Western Desert, the Arctic and the Far East has so far not been adequately told. This small book will redress the balance. The book unfolds the story of the road to Dunkirk, the development of Fortress Britain and the rearming of the army to open the 'Second Front' in Europe. It explains what it was like to serve in the desert, on the long road that led to victory in Alamein, and of the battles against the Japanese in the Far East. It does so by reference to the military equipment, literature, art and ephemera, helping to conjure up a flavour of the British Tommy's experience that has not been touched upon in other books dealing with the period, and assisting the family historian with a greater understanding of the activities of their relatives in this hard-fought war.
Book 581
In the late 1930s, when war seemed inevitable and it was realised that aerial attack would be the greatest threat posed by any coming conflict, the government established a volunteer organisation - Air Raid Precautions or ARP - that would stand at the centre of the wartime civil defence. Members of the ARP distributed gasmasks to the population, and policed the blackout. Once raids started they played a vital role in shepherding people to shelter, reporting on damage, and rescuing people from wrecked buildings. Alongside the ARP the Auxiliary Fire Service (later the NFS), Police, Fire Guard and Women's Voluntary Service worked to deal with the effects of bombing raids and to minimise the suffering of the British people. Together they formed the Civil Defence Services, and this book is their history.
Book 582
Postcards sent by men on the front, and to them by their families, are among the most numerous, and most telling, surviving artefacts of the Great War. They tell us much about attitudes towards the war, and provide a great insight into men's lives, and into the thoughts and emotions of those left behind. Very different in their illustration, and in their writing, between the beginning of the war and the end, postcards provide a social history of the war in microcosm. Illustrated with a wide range of postcards, this is a fascinating look into the response of the British people to the horrors of the war.
Book 606
It's May 1941: over 43,000 civilians had been killed, and over a million houses destroyed following endless nights of bombing raids. Yet London, and other cities that had been targeted survived, their spirit undaunted, their people resilient. Revisionist historians have sought to dampen the notion of the 'Blitz spirit', but the writings and surviving records all point to a resilience that would remain unbroken, despite the death toll rising to almost 52,000 from bombing alone. Illustrated with archive photographs and other materials, and illuminated by first hand recollections of the "Blitz", this human history of the bombing raids on Britain is the perfect introduction to this dark episode in British history.
Book 664
As Britain emerged from the Second World War, the armed forces desperately needed extra manpower to face new threats from old allies and to meet the considerable obligations of its Empire. Between 1947 and 1960, more than 1.1 million men were conscripted for a oneor two-year stint as national servicemen to help the Army, RAF, and, to a lesser extent, the Navy, cope with the demands placed on them. After basic training of bull, blanco and square-bashing, recruits would quickly be turned into soldiers, airmen and sailors and posted all over the globe – many of them to fight guerillas, cope with riots and civil war, or even serve on the front line in such theatres as Korea, Malaya, Suez and Aden. Peter Doyle and Paul Evans here explain what life was like for these recruits, from training to demob, and how they were affected by their experiences.