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Peace and War: Britain in 1914
A gripping portrait of life in Britain in a year that shook Europe to its foundations
1914 dawned with Britain at peace, albeit troubled by faultlines within and threats without: Ireland trembled on the brink of civil war; suffragette agitation was assuming an ever more violent hue; and suspicions of Germany's ambitions bred a paranoia expressed in a rash of "invasion scare" literature. Then when shots rang out in Sarajevo on June 28th, they set in motion a tumble of diplomatic dominos that led to Britain declaring war on Germany. Nigel Jones depicts every facet of a year that changed Britain for ever. From gun-running in Ulster to an attack by suffragettes on a Velasquez painting in the National Gallery; from the launch of HMHS Britannic to cricketer J.T. Hearne's 3,000th first-class wicket; from the opening of London's first nightclub to the embarking for Belgium of the BEF, he traces the events of a momentous year, its benign domestic beginnings to its descent into the nightmare of European war.
1914 dawned with Britain at peace, albeit troubled by faultlines within and threats without: Ireland trembled on the brink of civil war; suffragette agitation was assuming an ever more violent hue; and suspicions of Germany's ambitions bred a paranoia expressed in a rash of "invasion scare" literature. Then when shots rang out in Sarajevo on June 28th, they set in motion a tumble of diplomatic dominos that led to Britain declaring war on Germany. Nigel Jones depicts every facet of a year that changed Britain for ever. From gun-running in Ulster to an attack by suffragettes on a Velasquez painting in the National Gallery; from the launch of HMHS Britannic to cricketer J.T. Hearne's 3,000th first-class wicket; from the opening of London's first nightclub to the embarking for Belgium of the BEF, he traces the events of a momentous year, its benign domestic beginnings to its descent into the nightmare of European war.
272 pages, Paperback
First published December 16, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 18, 2020
“If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam…”
Rupert Brooke (1914)
The twenty-seven-year-old Rupert Brooke died in 1915.
Historian Nigel Jones gives an excellent overview of not only the year 1914, but the last few years leading to WWI. He touches on several topics:
* The Darkening Sky
* Ulster Will Fight
* Votes for Women
* Home Fires
* Liners
* Poets
* Painters
* Clubs and Coteries
* The Last Season
* Descent into Dark
* Now God be Thanked
* First Blood
* Epilogue: Christmas 1914
Although there is no in-depth discussion of any one topic (that is not within the scope of this book), the reader (this one anyway) is left with a strong impression of what life in Britain was like immediately before the Great War and in the years just before. What were the events of that time and their impact, what did politicians say or do, what did the populace think and do, what were the opinions of authors and poets and what did they write, how did painters express their feelings and opinions, etc.
The author describes how a whole genre of invasion literature sprung up, and mentions authors H.G. Wells as well as William Le Queux (born in England to an English mother and a French father). The latter was a prolific writer and "In The Invasion of 1910: With A Full Account of the Siege of London Le Queux foretells a full-blown invasion of England by Germany across the North Sea.” Also mentioned is H.H. Munro better known as Saki, who wrote wonderful short stories. Of Saki Nigel Jones says: “In an eerie way, Saki’s fiction foretells the reality of German occupation of France and French collaboration with the conquerors during the Second World War – a conflict he would not live to see. Saki famously died on the Somme in 1916, killed by a sniper after urgently hissing to a comrade – too late – ‘Put that bloody cigarette out!’” Invasion literature in turn encouraged spy fiction. "The newly popular Edwardian pastimes of cycling and photography aided the spy scare no end. Hitherto remote parts of the countryside were becoming used to the sight of young gentlemen in tweed caps and Norfolk jackets, swishing silently through their lanes on bicycles, often dismounting to photograph a particularly pleasing view.” Again le Queux cashed in on an opportunity and took it a bit further too with absurdist literature. Several other famous works of spy literature such as The Thirty-Nine Steps and The Riddle of the Sands are referenced too.
In the section on Votes for Women authors Austen, Eliot, Gaskell and the Brontë sisters are credited with changes wrought to the literary scene. However, women's lot in general had not changed, and a good overview is provided of the efforts of the suffragettes to gain the vote. The war of course intervened.
The years before the war were a period of dire poverty for a substantial percentage of the population, with multiple people living in single rooms. The dreaded workhouse loomed for those with little or no means. Strikes were the order of the day. But this was also a period of great reform, and I found it interesting to see what social reforms took place. The role of sport during this period is also discussed.
There is an interesting chapter on luxury liners that had become a popular means of travel. Of course there was the sinking of the Titanic, but there was also the sinking of another liner on which almost as many died. At around that time Robert Falcon Scott perished in his exploration of the South Pole. The potted history of these liners also includes the escape and arrest of notorious murderer Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen.
I enjoyed the discussion on the war poets, including Rupert Brooke who knew virtually every important politician and author in Britain. In addition: "And it must be borne in mind that the poets made famous by the war – Wilfred Owen, Robert Graves, Siegfried Sassoon, Edward Thomas, Charles Sorley, Edmund Blunden, Ivor Gurney – would also appear in the later Georgian anthologies. In its later incarnation, in fact, Georgian poetry was the iconic poetry of the Great War.” Author D.H. Lawrence and his recent marriage to a German aristocrat, Frieda von Richthofen, also feature in this discussion.
I'll resist the temptation to comment on each section. But I hope that I have given you some idea of the scope of this book. I have for example not touched on the politics, nor the interesting section on painters and how they were affected by current events and thought, and what impact they in turn made on their viewing public. It was also a time when the Russian Ballet dazzled their audiences on a tour of Britain. Impresario Diaghilev and dancer Vaslav Nijinsky both thrilled and shocked people. Also shocking was Igor Stravinsky’s music The Rite of Spring.
The shot that reverberated around the world and was a catalyst to the coming conflict is briefly discussed as are the first major battles and casualties. The book concludes with the well-known Christmas of 1914 story of how arch-enemies stopped killing each other for a brief period of time in order to celebrate Christmas together before continuing with the slaughter.
So then, we have a broad overview of what was happening in Britain and who the key players in their various fields were. This was a very good starting point for me before I tackle WWI in more depth. Oh, and let me not forget to mention that the book is chock-full of very interesting photographs. In addition there is a very good bibliography on each section with recommendations of what to read on any particular subject.
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam…”
Rupert Brooke (1914)
The twenty-seven-year-old Rupert Brooke died in 1915.
Historian Nigel Jones gives an excellent overview of not only the year 1914, but the last few years leading to WWI. He touches on several topics:
* The Darkening Sky
* Ulster Will Fight
* Votes for Women
* Home Fires
* Liners
* Poets
* Painters
* Clubs and Coteries
* The Last Season
* Descent into Dark
* Now God be Thanked
* First Blood
* Epilogue: Christmas 1914
Although there is no in-depth discussion of any one topic (that is not within the scope of this book), the reader (this one anyway) is left with a strong impression of what life in Britain was like immediately before the Great War and in the years just before. What were the events of that time and their impact, what did politicians say or do, what did the populace think and do, what were the opinions of authors and poets and what did they write, how did painters express their feelings and opinions, etc.
The author describes how a whole genre of invasion literature sprung up, and mentions authors H.G. Wells as well as William Le Queux (born in England to an English mother and a French father). The latter was a prolific writer and "In The Invasion of 1910: With A Full Account of the Siege of London Le Queux foretells a full-blown invasion of England by Germany across the North Sea.” Also mentioned is H.H. Munro better known as Saki, who wrote wonderful short stories. Of Saki Nigel Jones says: “In an eerie way, Saki’s fiction foretells the reality of German occupation of France and French collaboration with the conquerors during the Second World War – a conflict he would not live to see. Saki famously died on the Somme in 1916, killed by a sniper after urgently hissing to a comrade – too late – ‘Put that bloody cigarette out!’” Invasion literature in turn encouraged spy fiction. "The newly popular Edwardian pastimes of cycling and photography aided the spy scare no end. Hitherto remote parts of the countryside were becoming used to the sight of young gentlemen in tweed caps and Norfolk jackets, swishing silently through their lanes on bicycles, often dismounting to photograph a particularly pleasing view.” Again le Queux cashed in on an opportunity and took it a bit further too with absurdist literature. Several other famous works of spy literature such as The Thirty-Nine Steps and The Riddle of the Sands are referenced too.
In the section on Votes for Women authors Austen, Eliot, Gaskell and the Brontë sisters are credited with changes wrought to the literary scene. However, women's lot in general had not changed, and a good overview is provided of the efforts of the suffragettes to gain the vote. The war of course intervened.
The years before the war were a period of dire poverty for a substantial percentage of the population, with multiple people living in single rooms. The dreaded workhouse loomed for those with little or no means. Strikes were the order of the day. But this was also a period of great reform, and I found it interesting to see what social reforms took place. The role of sport during this period is also discussed.
There is an interesting chapter on luxury liners that had become a popular means of travel. Of course there was the sinking of the Titanic, but there was also the sinking of another liner on which almost as many died. At around that time Robert Falcon Scott perished in his exploration of the South Pole. The potted history of these liners also includes the escape and arrest of notorious murderer Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen.
I enjoyed the discussion on the war poets, including Rupert Brooke who knew virtually every important politician and author in Britain. In addition: "And it must be borne in mind that the poets made famous by the war – Wilfred Owen, Robert Graves, Siegfried Sassoon, Edward Thomas, Charles Sorley, Edmund Blunden, Ivor Gurney – would also appear in the later Georgian anthologies. In its later incarnation, in fact, Georgian poetry was the iconic poetry of the Great War.” Author D.H. Lawrence and his recent marriage to a German aristocrat, Frieda von Richthofen, also feature in this discussion.
I'll resist the temptation to comment on each section. But I hope that I have given you some idea of the scope of this book. I have for example not touched on the politics, nor the interesting section on painters and how they were affected by current events and thought, and what impact they in turn made on their viewing public. It was also a time when the Russian Ballet dazzled their audiences on a tour of Britain. Impresario Diaghilev and dancer Vaslav Nijinsky both thrilled and shocked people. Also shocking was Igor Stravinsky’s music The Rite of Spring.
The shot that reverberated around the world and was a catalyst to the coming conflict is briefly discussed as are the first major battles and casualties. The book concludes with the well-known Christmas of 1914 story of how arch-enemies stopped killing each other for a brief period of time in order to celebrate Christmas together before continuing with the slaughter.
So then, we have a broad overview of what was happening in Britain and who the key players in their various fields were. This was a very good starting point for me before I tackle WWI in more depth. Oh, and let me not forget to mention that the book is chock-full of very interesting photographs. In addition there is a very good bibliography on each section with recommendations of what to read on any particular subject.
October 16, 2021
An interesting look at various aspects of Britain in 1914. "Serbia" or "Servia"? How complicit was Sir Edward Grey in the rush to war? How was war greeted by the British public? Dissenting voices? Preparedness of the BEF? It is all here and it reads well too!
March 8, 2017
The author has tried to give an accurate picture of Britain in 1914. He covers several subjects: political, social and artistic, elitist and popular. He cannot give much depth to them, but it is good as an overview. I thought his description of the last-ditch attempts to prevent the war were both succinct and sufficient. He has covered most or all of the important concerns and movements of the time, but there will be subjects everyone who reads it will want to know more about. (They are probably different subjects, but he gives a list and recommendations for all of them.)
There are plenty of illustrations, including photographs of both important figures and ordinary, anonymous ones, posters and pamphlets for the causes of the time, advertisements, artwork and views which show what the country was like then. They are well chosen and add to the text.
It is written with the benefit of hindsight, but with a good attempt to show how people felt then, before the war changed everything and before the passage of time allowed historical consensus to cast its verdict.
There are plenty of illustrations, including photographs of both important figures and ordinary, anonymous ones, posters and pamphlets for the causes of the time, advertisements, artwork and views which show what the country was like then. They are well chosen and add to the text.
It is written with the benefit of hindsight, but with a good attempt to show how people felt then, before the war changed everything and before the passage of time allowed historical consensus to cast its verdict.
June 7, 2025
I listened to this in the car on a number of longer journeys. I liked the narrator although he pronounced quite a few words incorrectly. There was a lot of information but the author obviously picked parts which interested him more as there was a lot about poem writing bohemian who liked to cause trouble, a part of history which in my opinion could have been left out and the book would have been much better if it had!
April 2, 2023
Book at bedtime for a week or so, as an audiobook.
July 16, 2016
Listened to it on Audiobooks as I decorated my sitting room. Never quite gripped by the writing (nor the actor's voice) I nonetheless never wanted to turn it off and it adds to the background understanding of events of a hundred years ago. The story is one of the most important and gripping of the century. Better than many on the overall situation in England pre Sarajevo and with an interesting slant on the early battles and the animosity between John French and Smith-Dorrien and its effects on the fighting. Few historians have much time for French and Nigel Jones adds good reasons to share this view.
Poignant to be listening to the stories of the Christmas truce and the shelling of Scarborough, Whitby and the Hartlepools exactly a hundred years on.
* Note to producers of audiobooks: Get someone who has some understanding of the text , or, at least give them some decent director's notes.
Poignant to be listening to the stories of the Christmas truce and the shelling of Scarborough, Whitby and the Hartlepools exactly a hundred years on.
* Note to producers of audiobooks: Get someone who has some understanding of the text , or, at least give them some decent director's notes.
July 23, 2017
End of Peace
This is a good survey of life in Britain just prior to the start of the First World. Nigel Jones writes well and is not afraid of advancing his own opinions when necessary. Yes, the Edwardian Idyll was hyperbole, but what occurred was a savage contrast. The book has a useful annotated bibliography.
This is a good survey of life in Britain just prior to the start of the First World. Nigel Jones writes well and is not afraid of advancing his own opinions when necessary. Yes, the Edwardian Idyll was hyperbole, but what occurred was a savage contrast. The book has a useful annotated bibliography.
June 6, 2025
I enjoyed this book but I have to say I think some parts were repeated. No on purpose but some of the people he talked about had similar lives! He covers a lot of ground but personal opinion creeps in which is a little irritating. I enjoyed listening to this book in the car but doubt I'd have stuck with it if I had to read it.
November 17, 2024
Some interesting stories and characters here and there but it feels like it needs something to tie everything together. Not sure how the brief opening of Londons first nightclub had to do with anything. Or the start of a new art trend. There needed to be something to link all parts together.
November 13, 2017
Excellent Read. I really enjoy this author's work.Biography of Patrick Hamilton by Nigel Jones also worthwhile.
September 12, 2019
A brief but wide overview of the life in Britain on the brink of war. Broad topics were covered from literature to entertainment to social life onto how the war started.
Read
January 12, 2023Nice little cultural history that dives a bit deeper into British life and politics than a lot of books. Written with the coming war always in the background.
March 19, 2014
A great insight into life in Britain in the months leading up to the start of the Great War, and then the first few months of the conflict. I thoroughly enjoyed the quirky little facts and the often thought provoking moments in this highly readable and fascinating account of the historic and tumultuous year of 1914.
If you just want to understand the main events leading up to the First World War and the first key battles which led to to the four year stalemate called the western front, but don't want to wade through detailed blow by blow historic accounts, then this is the book for you! For a work of history it is a surprisingly easy read!
In this significant anniversary year I recommend that you must read this book!! It is your duty!
If you just want to understand the main events leading up to the First World War and the first key battles which led to to the four year stalemate called the western front, but don't want to wade through detailed blow by blow historic accounts, then this is the book for you! For a work of history it is a surprisingly easy read!
In this significant anniversary year I recommend that you must read this book!! It is your duty!
August 14, 2015
I enjoyed listening to this book. I was intrigued by the history and the references to the social upheavals in Britain at the time of the Great War. I did skip the chapters referencing the artists and night clubs after listening to the chapter about poets and finding no really useful historical information in it. I didn't feel like skipping them made any difference in the narrative, it actually made it flow better. They were an unnecessary diversion in my opinion.
July 13, 2014
This is a fascinating slice of life on the very edge of the apocalypse. Today, we know what the Guns of August will bring to Europe that fall but in 1914 those events had yet to bloom into tragedy. This tome tells the other stories which
might have won the headlines if not for the war. Here are tales of art, economics, music, culture and the rest. Engaging and full of detail.
might have won the headlines if not for the war. Here are tales of art, economics, music, culture and the rest. Engaging and full of detail.
March 16, 2015
This is well-trod ground and the book doesn't add anything new, though it's a perfectly good summation if you don't feel like digging through Tuchman's The Proud Tower or any of the other mammoth works on the subject.
August 17, 2025
Felt very scattered as an project which I guess is the natural consequence of deciding that your book is going to be about 1914, as a year, and that everything which took place in 1914 is fair game. The summary mentions all the disparate topics which are brought together under this umbrella..... I guess recommended if you simply have a wide ranging interest in the time period.
February 20, 2017
Fascinating topic; mediocre book. Some good anecdotes, but superficial treatment, particularly of economic and class divisions. Focus is mainly on individual personalities, even while the overall lesson is that no individual decisions seem to have had any influence on the course of events.
January 5, 2015
Wonderful book. Gives a sense of what was going on in Britain during 1914. It covers what was going on socially, culturally and economically, as well as in domestic and foreign policy. I highly recommend it, especially since it has lots of photos.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews