New Book - Great War Towns: Bradford

First I must apologise for the lack of updates to the blog and the website. There is a reason for this, I have been asked by The HistoryPress to write a book as part of their Great War Towns Series. So much more is known about the home front during the Second World War but not so much about the First, for example many people are unaware that rationing was first introduced in 1918.

The book will be scrapbook style that readers can dip in and out of it as well as read cover to cover. It is based on my 3 years of research on life at home in Bradford during the First World War and covers a wide range of subjects including new and previously untold stories of life in Bradford. I hope that it will be used for educational purposes in schools, be informative to those with an interest in Bradford and WW1 history, as well as make a great gift for a wider audience.

The main theme of the book as it takes you chronologically through from the outbreak of the war to attempts to return to life as normal, is how increasingly hard life became for those living back at home. For example difficulties conscripting an older generation and the impact on trade, food shortages resulting in every scrap of land being cultivated and increasing industrial unrest.

The draft of the book should be completed by the end of January ready for publishing later in 2014. I will try to provide more regular updates on the book and other projects I am involved with via this blog and will overhaul and add to the BradfordWW1 website in January once the book is written.