The Great War : through picture postcards / Guus de Vries.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

De Vries, Guus, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World War, 1914-1918--Collectibles.

World War, 1914-1918.

World War, 1914-1918--Art and the war.

World War, 1914-1918--Pictorial works.

Postcards.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (657 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

South Yorkshire, [England] : Pen and Sword Military, 2016.

Summary:

During World War I, the picture postcard was the most important means of communication for the soldiers in the field and their loved ones at home, with an estimated 30 billion of them sent between 1914 and 1918. A Postcard from home offered the soldier in the trenches a short escape from their daily hell, while receiving a postcard from the man on the front-line was literally a sign of life. These postcards create a vivid record of life at home and abroad during the Great War, both from the messages they carries and the pictures on the cards themselves. The dipiction of war on the contemporary postcards is extremely diverse: The ways in which the postcards depict the war differs greatly; from simple enthusiasm, patriotism and propaganda to humour, satire and bitter hatred. Other portray the wishes and dreams (nostalgia, homesickness and pin-ups) of the soldiers, the technological developments of the armies, not to mention the daily life and death on the battlefield, including the horrific reality of piles of bodied and mass-graves Altogether, this extraordinarily vivid contemporary record of the Great War offers a unique and details insight on the minds and mentality of the soldiers and their families who lived and died in the war to end all wars.

Contents:

Intro

Front Cover

Half-Title Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Introduction

Chapter I: War and Picture Postcards

Chapter II: Themes: From Hatred to Love

Chapter III: The First World War

Chapter IV: Countries and Armies

Chapter V: The Western Front

Chapter VI: The Other Theatres of War

Chapter VII: Old and New Weapons

Chapter VIII: The War in the Air

Chapter IX: Transport and Communication

Chapter X: In the Trenches and Behind the Lines

Chapter XI: Dead, Wounded, Taken Prisoner or Missing

Chapter XII: The Home Front and the Neutral States

Further Reading.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781473856714

147385671X

9781473856691

1473856698