In the 4th volume of the series The Home Front, the author looks at the
main events that happened at home in Britain and in other countries,
Allied or enemy as well as the neutral nations during 1917. The text
provides an overview of the year and sets out to show the effects of war
on the civilian population, how it impacted on their daily lives and how
they coped with it. Each book is international in scope and draws
parallels between the warring nations in their experiences. As in the
previous books the focus is on images in order to best understand how
they represented themselves and how their world was portrayed to them
and with little censorship - bomb damage was freely shown even though it
was obvious that the Germans would get hold of the images. With the text
are over 200 photographs and illustrations that are divided into
discrete sections of the civilian experience of the war. Readers will be
familiar with but a few of the illustrations as most have not been used
since they were taken in 1917.
For those on the Home Front, 1917 was a year when Total War started to
become an actuality. The U-boat campaign meant that food did not get
through resulting in shortages. As a result, more land was worked and
people started an allotment. With army's demands for men and material
seemingly never ending, there were even fewer men about. The majority of
those still working were involved in some form of war work and during
the year they were joined by thousands more women keen to do their bit.
Women replaced men in many traditional male roles. It was a new world.
1917 was a year of belt-tightening, increasing hard work and strain. It
would once again, not be over by Christmas, no matter how much they
wished.
