Descriere
A vivid, original, and intimate hour-by-hour account of Armistice Day 1918, to mark its centenary this year
November 11, 2018, marks the centenary of the armistice signed between the Allies and Germany ending World War I. While the events of the war and its legacy are much discussed, this is the first book to focus solely on the day itself, examining how the people of Britain, and the wider world, reacted to the news of peace.
In this rich portrait of Armistice Day, which ranges from midnight to midnight, Guy Cuthbertson brings together news reports, literature, memoirs, and letters to show how the people on the street, as well as soldiers and prominent figures like D. H. Lawrence and Lloyd George, experienced a strange, singular day of great joy, relief, and optimism.
"Absorbing and well-researched. . . a pleasure to read and full of fascinating tidbits."--Brendan Simms, Wall Street Journal
"A novel and wide-ranging examination of the conclusion of the war once solemnly declared to be the one to end all wars."--Kirkus
"A timely contribution to our understanding of the First World War through the lens of its final day, Peace at Last chronicles a range of voices and experiences that have not been brought together before. It is a fascinating read."--Jane Potter, author of Boys in Khaki, Girls in Print: Women's Literary Responses to the Great War 1914-1918
"Peace at Last offers a fresh, vivid, and deeply researched analysis of the British experience on Armistice Day 1918. The book is a delight to read: full of perceptive commentary and arresting detail."--David Stevenson, author of With Our Backs to the Wall: Victory and Defeat in 1918
"Cuthbertson is a superb biographer, and his panoramic new book gives us the biography---so to speak---of Armistice Day. It is the most complete account so far of a day that, even a century later, shows no sign of loosening its hold on our cultural memory."--Tim Kendall, author of Modern English War Poetry
"Cuthbertson combines the curiosity of the biographer and the delicacy of the literary historian to recover the life-story of a single day. Imaginative, moving and brilliantly researched, Peace at Last brings together ordinary men, women and children as well as artists and writers in a novel way to help us better understand an extraordinary day in world history."--Santanu Das, author of Touch and Intimacy in First World War Literature
