Book description
The twentieth century saw two world wars and countless other
conflicts whose effects on society have been well documented. Here you
will find the less familiar story of how these international struggles
managed to reach into the quietest corners of the British countryside.
From Battle of Britain vapour trails looping over summer cornfields
and affecting local hawks and waterfowl to the lone ringed bird who
limped in from invaded Czechoslovakia, diarists note down and discuss
the momentous changes wrought by wars on British country life.
- Women and children fetching in the harvest as their menfolk fight
in Flanders.
- Italian prisoners of war singing opera in Herefordshire orchards
- Mobilising the Women's Institute to make jam for the war effort
Beautifully written and subtly observed, these rediscovered
treasures reveal how for all its soft beauty, Britain's rural
landscape has been shaped, in part, by man at war with man.
Martin Wainwright in Northern Editor of the
Guardian
and a regular broadcaster. He has edited two previous collections of
the
Guardian
Country Diary and is the author of
The Guardian Book of April Fool's
Day
and
Morris Minor - the Biography
.
