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

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

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Gibson, Craig, 1964- author.
Imprint:	Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2014.
Description:	xxi, 453 pages ; 24 cm.
Language:	English
Series:	Studies in the social and cultural history of modern warfare Studies in the social and cultural history of modern warfare.
Subject:	Great Britain. -- Army -- History -- World War, 1914-1918. Great Britain. -- Army. World War (1914-1918) Civilians in war -- France -- History -- 20th century. World War, 1914-1918 -- Social aspects -- France. World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Western Front. Civilians in war. Military campaigns. Social aspects. France. Western Front (World War (1914-1918)) History.
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/9959542

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9780521837613 (hardback) 0521837618 (hardback)
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
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"--

Table of Contents:

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