Hell's Foundations: A Social History of the Town of Bury in the Aftermath of the Gallipoli Campaign

by Geoffrey Moorhouse

Relates how a small English town was affected by the loss of two thousand of its men at Gallipoli

Genres: World War I, History, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1992

About the author

Geoffrey Moorhouse, FRGS, FRSL, D.Litt, was an English journalist and author. He was born Geoffrey Heald in Bolton and took his stepfather's surname. He attended Bury Grammar School. He began writing as a journalist on the Bolton Evening News. At the age of 27, he joined the Manchester Guardian where he eventually became chief feature writer and combined writing book with journalism.

Many of his books were largely based on his travels. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society in 1972, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1982, and received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Warwick. His book To The Frontier won the Thomas Cook Award for the best travel book of its year in 1984. He had recently concentrated on Tudor history, with The Pilgrimage of Grace and Great Harry's Navy. He lived in a hill village in North Yorkshire. In an interview given at the University of Tuebingen in 1999, he described his approach to his writing.

All three of Moorhouse's marriages ended in divorce. He had two sons and two daughters, one of whom died of cancer in 1981. He died aged 77 of a stroke on 26 November 2009 and is survived by both sons and one daughter.

Reviews

[Bfisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this book on my to-be-read list for almost two decades. I finally got around to reading it, and was so glad that I did.

This is not a book about how WW1 was fought or why it was fought, although there is enough detail here to leave you in no doubt about how it was for the combatants. It is the story of the effects of WW1, during and after the war, on the mill town of Bury, the regimental depot town of the Lancashire Fusiliers, and it describes the terrible human costs of what was a distant war on the soldiers and on those not actually fighting, the families and the community, both initially as the war was fought, and the lingering aftershocks in the long years after the Armistice.

The quality of the writing is quite good, Moorhouse has a very readable style.

[Steve Dempsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely engrossing book about the town of Bury and its contribution to the Lancashire Fusiliers. The Lancashire Fusiliers were the first unit to land st Gallipoli in WWI and suffered more casualties than any other regiment. The book focuses more on Bury and the effects of the war on the people who lost so many menfolk

[Stephen Mc · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is more background for my research about my grandfather. The book focuses on bury and the impact the First World War and in particular Gallipoli had on the town.Some-interesting social history here.The last few chapters could have been reduced to a paragraph each.Also interesting though is the revalations about the landed gentry and military’s links to political control.

[Book Club of One · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geoffrey Moorehouse's study Hell's Foundation blends the history of Bury with the history the Lancashire Fusiliers from their arrival in the town, to the units eventual dissolution following the second world war. Moorehouse is less focused on a militaristic history, though one gets a clear description of the living conditions of the soldiers. Instead, their is a greater emphasis on the home front, especially in how communal memory of conflict can change over time. In latter sections the loss of veterans through old age shows an evolution of Remembrance Day or Gallipoli Sunday from honoring the the deceased and veterans of the First World War to a more general honoring of war deceased and veterans.