Enduring war: grief, grit and humour

Nice exhibition at the British Library looking at the First World War.

The blurb said it set out to look at how individuals coped with war, where support came from and why people joined. I am not sure it fulfilled this brief I thought it was a broader social history of the war but there were some fascinating things in it.

It was wonderful to see a copy of “The Soldier” by Rupert Brooke which he had copied out for Edward Marsh, who later became his literary executor. I had not come across the Women’s Emergency Canteen in Paris before and want to find out more.

Living as I do on the Old Woolwich Arsenal site I loved seeing a romance novel called “The Shell Girl” set in a munitions factory. It was also very moving to see prayer books for Jewish soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

All in all a good selection of material which told a story well even if it wasn’t quite the one it purported to tell.

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