Changes

|title=Great Britain's Great War

|author=Jeremy Paxman

|publisher=Penguin/Viking

|date=October 2013

|website=http://www.jeremypaxman.net/

|video=ZeJFS1dplEA

|summary=An account of the First World War, not just the conflict itself, but also how it affected the British people back at home, and the changes it wrought

}}

Throughout the nineteenth century, Britain was regularly at war with one or more overseas nation, be it France, Russia, South Africa or elsewhere. These conflicts generally passed the public by, except for families who had loved ones serving overseas. When the declaration of war against Germany was announced to the crowds in London in August 1914, it was assumed that once again most people would not be affected, and that it would probably be over by Christmas. This was proved wrong on both counts. A weary conflict dragged on for four long years, and nobody in Britain escaped from the long shadow which it cast.

Paxman’s books are a joy to read. He has the knack of taking a British institution, or a subject from the past (or a combination of both), and writing about it in a lively way, full of wisdom and insight, always arousing our curiosity. There will inevitably be many books on the 1914-18 hostilities coming our way, but few if any are likely to improve on this one.

For a searching look at the country it left behind, [[The Great Silence: 1918-1920 Living in the Shadow of the Great War by Juliet Nicolson]]