Reality TV shows are all the rage. They place people, who by
their very willingness to go on the shows are exhibitionists and attention
seekers. They are placed in fictitious settings and forced to 'survive' by
undergoing a series of competitions or tests - and they are heralded as heroes
for being willing to eat worms, endure difficult living situations, and for
risking the 'dangers' associated with the various shows. Humbug! These people
are not heroes, they are play actors who know that after a set period of time,
they will be returning to their old way of life.
The men and women who have faced war and the horrific
conditions that it can impose upon a civilian population are the real heroes.
These men and women were placed in situations beyond their choosing and forced
to endure privations of every ilk. Worse, they had no way of knowing when the
conflict would end, and when, if ever, life would return to normal. In All
Quiet on the Home Front: An Oral History of Life in Britain During the First
World War, Richard Van Emden and Steve Humphries have compiled a fascinating
collection of first person narratives from men and women who endured the
horrors of life on 'the home front' in England during World War I. The modern
day 'reality heroes' can never hope to compare to these real life heroes who
lived through the first world war!
All Quiet on the Home Front presents readers with an intimate
glimpse of what life was really like on the home front. Most histories of this
period deal with the military and political aspects of the war, few however,
deal with the social changes that the war wrought and how life changed for
those who waited for the soldiers to return. Often the long awaited soldiers
did not return. Others came home shell-shocked, or blinded from mustard gas
attacks, or simply ill from diseases caught on the battle field. The impact of
these deaths, and the returning injured, quickly denuded the population of the
notion that this would be a glorious, and quickly won war. War is hell on
earth, and this fact was quickly driven home to both those that fought on the
battlefields, and those that waited at home. The civilian population in Britain
faced food rationing, bombings carried out by Zeppelins, the mass induction of
women into the work force, and the decline of the servant class as household
servants entered the military or took on war work.
In constructing this book, the authors had the difficult task
of finding survivors of the Great War, which ended in 1918, who still had vivid
memories of their experiences. In the end, the authors interviewed about 100
people, from all walks of life, for this book. These interviews are intertwined
with diary and letter excerpts, as well as historical facts gleaned from
official records, newspaper accounts, and previously documented interviews to
paint a mesmerizing account of what life was like on the home front throughout
the prelude to war, and through the entire course of the war itself.
Many of the events surrounding the Great War are well known.
The principal participants, the major battles, the use of chemical weapons, and
the effect of influenza on the course of the war. Many of the 'smaller' aspects
of the war are, however, overshadowed by the main conflict. The stories
contained in All Quiet on the Home Front help to highlight some of these
important issues. For example, the fact that in 1917 food shortages in Britain
resulted in massive malnutrition of children and numerous deaths from
starvation. As in World War II, German Zeppelins and aircraft rained down
terror on a vulnerable, civilian population. Worse, many German immigrants in
Britain, as well as those with German sounding names were beaten and killed,
and 'German' shops were boycotted and sometimes destroyed. Also, often
overlooked, is the use of children as laborers in munitions factories and other
dangerous locations.
