World War I In Postcards

The Great War has been recorded in many ways but in this book John Laffin illustrates a very specific one - the extraordinary phenomenon of the war postcard - reflecting as it does the full range of response to this most murderous and ghastly war. Sent from the battle front in much the same way as holiday postcards, thousands of these cards made their way back and forth between the soldiers and their families. In this book almost three hundred of these postcards are reproduced, together with some of the poignant messages which their authors wrote from the Front. Grouped into sections - the cards highlight the contrasts in individual outlook and between nationalistic tendencies to understatement, exaggeration or sentimentality.