Publisher Description

This ambitious volume marks a huge step in our understanding of the social history of the Great War. The authors have compiled a vast array of data and have drawn an original and coherent portrait of European cities at war. Contributors from several fields bring an interdisciplinary approach to the book, and represent the best of recent scholarship. One of the few truly comparative works on the Great War, this volume will transform social studies of the conflict and is likely to become a model for research.

Table of Contents

Part I. Premises: 1. Paris, London, Berlin, 1914-1919: capital cities at war Jay Winter; 2. Paris, London, Berlin on the eve of the war Jean-Louis Robert; Part II. The Social Relations of Sacrifice: 3. Lost generations: the impact of military casualties on Paris, London and Berlin Adrian Gregory; 4. The image of the profiteer Jean-Louis Robert; Part III. The Social Relations of Labour: 5. The transition to war in 1914 Jon Lawrence; 6. Labour market and industrial mobilization, 1915-1917 Thierry Bonzon; 7. The transition to peace, 1918-1919 Joshua Cole; Part IV. The Social Relations of Incomes: 8. Material pressures on the middle classes 1914-1918 Jon Lawrence; 9. Wages and purchasing power Jonathan Manning; 10. Transfer payments and social policy Thierry Bonzon; Part V. The Social Relations of Consumption: 11. Feeding the cities Thierry Bonzon; 12. Surviving the war: life expectation, illness, and mortality rates in Paris, London, and Berlin, 1914-1919: coal and the metropolis Armin Triebel; 13. Housing Susanna Magri; Part VI. Urban Demography in Wartime: 14. The 'other war' I: protecting public health Catherine Rollet; 15. The 'other war' II: setbacks in public health Catherine Rollet; 16. Surviving the war Jay Winter; 17. Conclusion: towards a social history of capital cities at war Jay Winter and Jean-Louis Robert; Statistical appendices; Tables; Bibliography.

Review

'In this volume, the first of two, eleven historians from Britain, France, Germany and the US have undertaken a major exercise in 'the social and cultural history of modern warfare'. Teamwork permits a range of research in the archives of three nations almost impossible for an individual, and the vast amount of information contained here will be a constant recourse for future enquirers.' London Review of Books '... the most powerful, distinguished and innovative work of recent social history to be published in the last twenty years ... to undertake a comparative, historical analysis of three of the world's most challenging capital cities and to complete it to this standard is unprecedented to the knowledge of this reviewer ... the European historiography of the future is already with us - in the form of multilingual pioneers like Winter and Robert, and their associates.' Anthony Sutcliffe, Reviews in History

Long Description

In Nazi-occupied Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen is called upon for a selfless act of bravery to help save her best friend from a terrible fate. Winner of the Newbery Medal, newly reissued in the Essential Modern Classics range. "They plan to arrest all the Danish Jews. They plan to take them away. And we have been told that they may come tonight." It is 1943 and life in Copenhagen is becoming complicated for Annemarie. There are food shortages and curfews, and soldiers on every corner. But it is even worse for her Jewish best friend, Ellen, as the Nazis continue their brutal campaign. With Ellen's life in danger, Annemarie must summon all her courage to help stage a daring escape. Inspired by true events of the Second World War, this gripping novel brings the past vividly to life for today's readers.

Review Quote

"Winter, Robert, and their collaborators are to be congratulated for the intellectual rigor and the sharp focus of this volume. This is a model of what a collaborative historical enterprise should be." American Historical Review

Promotional "Headline"

One of the few interdisciplinary studies of wartime available and a model for research in social history.

Description for Bookstore

A benchmark in our understanding of the social aspects of World War I, this is one of the few truly comparative studies of that conflict. Expert contributors from several fields, stretching from history to economics, bring an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Europe's great wartime cities.

Description for Library

A benchmark in our understanding of the social aspects of World War I, this is one of the few truly comparative studies of that conflict. Expert contributors from several fields, stretching from history to economics, bring an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Europe's great wartime cities.

Details