Lengthening War: The Great War Diary of Mabel Goode by Michael Goode

Lengthening War: The Great War Diary of Mabel Goode by Michael Goode

The First World War was an event so important, so catalytic, so transformative that it still hangs in the public memory and still compels the Historian's pen. It was a conflict which, by the end of the struggle, had created a world unfamiliar to the one in existence before it and brought levels of destruction and loss all too unimaginable to the generation of minds which created it. Despite this, we still find it hard to picture what it was like to live through this war. Right from its start, Mabel Goode realised that the First World War would be the biggest event to take place in her lifetime. Knowing this, she took to recording it, taking us day by day through what living in wartime Britain was like. The diary shows us how the war came to the Home Front, from enrolment, rationing, the collapse of domestic service and growth of war work, to Zeppelin attacks over Yorkshire, and the ever mounting casualty lists. Above all else, Mabel's diary captures a growing disillusionment with a lengthening war, as the costs and the sacrifices mount.Starting with great excitement and expecting a short struggle, the entries gradually give way to a more critical tone, and eventually to total disengagement. The blank pages marked for 1917 and 1918 are almost as informative as the fearful excitement captured at the onset of that tremendous conflict. This is a strong narrative of the war, easy to read, mixing news with personal feelings and events (often revealing gap between official news and reality). Also included are several poems written by Mabel and a love story in the appendix, giving a complete insight into the life of the diarist. Of note is the fact that Mabel and her brothers (the main serving protagonists in the diary) lived in Germany for some time, meaning they could all speak German and knew 'the enemy nation' as many Britons did not.

In the preface to the second volume of his World War Two diary, James Lees-Milne, arguably the greatest British diarist of his time, laid down the ground rules for diary-keeping"A diary", he wrote, " ...is necessarily spasmodic and prosaic. But it must be spontaneous. It must not be doctored...it will be full of inconsistencies and contradictions. It reflects the author's shifting moods, tastes, prejudices and even beliefs, to few of which he remains constant for long." The First World War diary of Mabel Goode meets all these criteria and more. It offers a superb contemporary portrait of a nation coming to terms with the demands of total war. To the historian it offers fresh evidence of how life was lived on the home front during the First World War, complete with the most extraordinary rumours and misplaced optimism. Thus on the 12th September 1914, we read that "...one really does not see how the War can go on much longer. The French say it will be over Christmas. It seems quite likely." The diary also offers readers the not only the minutiae of Britain at war including the rise in food and fuel prices, but vivid accounts of the Zeppelin raids. Personally, one has only two regrets. The first, that diary stops in December 1916, with news the fall of Romania to the Central Powers and the accession of Lloyd George, ( " I don't trust LG but he has great energy& will probably get things done..."),to the premiership. The second, that Mabel's diary was not available to me when I was writing my history of the British home front, 1914-1918. Extracts from it would have undoubtedly enhanced my own account. But at least it is now available to the historian and to the general reader alike, both of whom will delight in it. And I have no doubt that it it will have an honourable place on the history.shelves alongside the diaries of Ethel Bilbrough and Georgina Lee and the works of Constance Peel and Caroline Playne in giving us such a splendidly readable picture of Britain at war a century ago." - Terry Charman, Former Senior Historian at the Imperial War Museum and author of The First World War on the Home Front

Goode, Michael: - Mabel Goode (1870-1954) was the youngest of three. She was principally raised by her step-mother, both her parents having died before she was ten. From 1881-7 the family lived in Heidelberg, Germany, meaning she knew the people that became Britain's great enemy in her lifetime. In later life, Mabel lived quietly, as a slightly eccentric vegetarian in the Lake District and funded holidays to Italy with paintings, never marrying (although a love story exists). Mabel recognised the Great War as the most important event of her life and recorded it from 1914-16. The editor of this diary, Michael Goode, is the Great-Great Nephew of Mabel Goode. Michael read History at Gonville & Caius College, University of Cambridge and worked on projects for the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781473851511
ISBN 10	1473851513
Title	Lengthening War: The Great War Diary of Mabel Goode
Author	Michael Goode
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Pen & Sword Books Ltd
Year published	2016-09-01
Number of pages	192
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.