Volunteers: The Incredible Story of Kitchener's Army Through Soldiers' and Civilians' Own Words and Photographs

In August 1914, many young men enlisted in the army with their friends, colleagues, and mates, drawn from the local community and various industries. The Somme battle eviscerated these battalions, but the raising of the New Army, a volunteer army, lives on in the public consciousness. This book explores the motivations and experiences of these volunteers, many of whom were just boys, through an unparalleled collection of soldiers' photographs taken on their privately-held cameras.

Format: Hardback
Length: 376 pages
Publication date: 23 October 2023
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Ltd

A young man's greatest honor is to fight side by side with his friends in times of war. To enlist in the army with his friends, chums, mates, filling the ranks of battalions that drew their strength from the local community, from amongst factory workers, miners, shop-workers and tradesmen. In August 1914, what more fitting role was there to play than to answer the country's call to arms? Of course, the past is another country: the world in which these men grew up and the mores that took them to the Western Front may appear innocent and naive today. The Somme battle eviscerated many of these free-spirited battalions. But the raising of this New Army – a purely volunteer army – lives on in the public consciousness, their collective story part of our heritage. Who were these volunteers who poured into recruiting offices, overwhelming the staff? What motivated these men – too often just boys – to join up? How did they feel about one another and the new military regime into which so many ran with enthusiasm, without much thought as to the future?

After the success of his previous books, The Somme, The Road to Passchendaele, and 1918, best-selling Great War historian Richard van Emden returns to the beginning of the War with this, his latest volume, including an unparalleled collection of soldiers' own photographs taken on their privately-held cameras. Drawing on long-forgotten memoirs, diaries and letters written by the men who enlisted, Richard tells the riveting story of Kitchener's volunteers, before they went to fight.

Weight: 1094g
Dimension: 180 x 243 x 33 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781473891869