British Postcards of the First World War: No. 582 (Shire Library)

Postcards sent by men on the front, and to them by their families, are among the most numerous, and most telling, surviving artifacts of World War I. They tell us much about attitudes towards the war, and provide a great insight into men's lives, and into the thoughts and emotions of those left behind. Very different in their illustration, and in their writing, between the beginning of the war and the end, the postcard provides a social history of the war in microcosm. Illustrated with a wide range of postcards, this book is a perfect introduction to the subject for the collector, and will help any family or social historian to gain a better understanding of the postcards in his possession.

Peter Doyle is a scientist and military historian specializing in the role of terrain in warfare. In addition to numerous scientific books and papers, he has written: Tommy's War 1914-1918 (Crowood 2008), The Home Front: 1939-45 (Crowood, 2007, with Paul Evans); Beneath Flanders Fields: The Underground War 1914-18 (Spellmount, 2004, with Peter Barton and Johan Vandewalle) and Grasping Gallipoli (Spellmount, 2005, with Peter Chasseaud). He has written several books for Shire, including The British Soldier of the First World War.