The truth about the sacrifice and suffering on the home front during World War I is rarely discussed. In this book, some of the oldest men and women in the country speak about experiences and events that have remained buried for 85 years. Their testimony shows the same candor and courage we have become accustomed to hearing from veterans of the western front. Those interviewed include a survivor of a Zeppelin raid on Hull in 1915, a Welsh munitions worker recruited as a girl, and a woman rescued from a bombed school after five days. There are also accounts of rural famine, bereavement and the effects on families back home, and even the story of a woman who planned to kill her family to save them further suffering.

"The home front in WW2 is immortalised forever in Dads' Army - nothing similar for WW1, and yet the people left behind faced even bigger challenges, especially when so many men failed to return home after the hostilities. Noted WW1 historian sets the records straight in this fasinating account of what went on back home."

This book covers every aspect of social history and the effects military decisions had on citizens back home. The line "At 11am on the 11th of November 1918 the country went wild with joy" in the final chapter sums up the spirit of all the contributors.

“This reviewer has read a number of histories of the home fronts of Britain, the U.S., and France, and this oral history is by far the most fascinating… These oral histories are powerful enough to stand on their own, in addition to the fact that the interviewees often also recounted their parents’ perspectives on these events. If you’re going to buy only one book on the British home front, it should be this one.”