Tommy's War

The First World War has left an almost indelible mark on history, with battles such as the Somme and Passchendaele becoming watchwords for suffering unsurpassed. The dreadful fighting on the Western Front, and elsewhere in the world, remains vivid in the public imagination. Over the years dozens of books have been published dealing with the soldier's experience, the military history and the weapons and vehicles of the war, but there has been little devoted to the objects associated with those hard years in the trenches. This book readdresses that balance.

Peter Doyle is a scientist and military historian specializing in the role of terrain in warfare, with particular reference to the Great War. Secretary of the Parliamentary All Party War Graves and Battlefield Heritage Group, and a member of the British Commission for Military History, he has been collecting objects relating to the role of Britain in both world wars all his life. This is his second book on military memorabilia, the first was The Home Front [Crowood 2007]. He is a resident of Greater London, England.