Research Catalog

Title

Behind the front : British soldiers and French civilians, 1914-1918 / Craig Gibson.

Author

Gibson, Craig, 1964-

Publication

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Supplementary Content

• Cover image
• Table of contents

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xxi, 453 pages; 24 cm.

Summary

"Until now scholars have looked for the source of the indomitable Tommy morale on the Western Front in innate British bloody-mindedness and irony, not to mention material concerns such as leave, food, rum, brothels, regimental pride, and male bonding. However, re-examining previously used sources alongside never-before consulted archives, Craig Gibson shifts the focus away from battle and the trenches to times behind the front, where the British intermingled with a vast population of allied civilians, whom Lord Kitchener had instructed the troops to 'avoid'. Besides providing a comprehensive examination of soldiers' encounters with local French and Belgian inhabitants which were not only unavoidable but also challenging, symbiotic and uplifting in equal measure, Gibson contends that such relationships were crucial to how the war was fought on the Western Front and, ultimately, to British victory in 1918. What emerges is a novel interpretation of the British and Dominion soldier at war"--

Series Statement

Studies in the social and cultural history of modern warfare

Uniform Title

Studies in the social and cultural history of modern warfare.

Subjects

• World War, 1914-1918 > Campaigns > Western Front
• World War, 1914-1918 > Social aspects > France
• Great Britain > Army > History > World War, 1914-1918
• Civilians in war > France > History > 20th century

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Machine generated contents note: Introduction; Part I. Mobile Warfare, 1914: 1. The first campaign; Part II. Trench Warfare, 1914-1917: 2. Land; 3. Administration; 4. Billet; 5. Communication; 6. Friction; 7. Farms; 8. Damages; 9. Money; 10. Discipline; 11. Sex; Part III. Mobile Warfare, 1918: 12. The final campaign; Conclusion; Epilogue; Appendices; Bibliography.

Call Number

JFE 14-3227

ISBN

• 9780521837613 (hardback)
• 0521837618 (hardback)

LCCN

2013027348

OCLC

861496962

Author

Gibson, Craig, 1964- author.

Title

Behind the front : British soldiers and French civilians, 1914-1918 / Craig Gibson.

Publisher

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Studies in the social and cultural history of modern warfare

Studies in the social and cultural history of modern warfare.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Connect to:

Cover image

Table of contents

Research Call Number

JFE 14-3227