15 March 2019
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After a long and bloody war, the weary troops wanted nothing more than to come home and return things to how they were.
Author:SIMON FOWLER & DANIEL WEINBREN
Reviewed by: Duncan Evans
After a long and bloody war, the weary troops wanted nothing more than to come home and return things to how they were. However, everything at home had changed. Many women now had the vote and employment in previously male-dominated enterprises, workers were striking over conditions, the working classes no longer paid immediate deference to their supposed betters. Revolution was in the air, with the Bolsheviks causing mayhem in Russia and communists trouble in the ruins of Europe. This book then, looks at the political, economic and social unrest as soldiers and workers sought to forget the war.
The first question asked is why, given that revolution was setting Europe aflame again, there was no revolution in Britain? The answer was combination of a lack of central co-ordination, a belief that problems were local issues and that once given a few assurances and concessions, the British public were happy to go back home. Possibly the most interest chapter is on the social change, as gang warfare erupted, cocaine use became widespread, dance crazes swept the nation, corsets were ditched and hemlines shortened. They weren’t called the Roaring 20s for nothing you know.
• Pen & Sword
• 204 pages • Hardback • £19.99
As reviewed in The Armourer March 2019
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