How, in 1919, could nations come together to begin rebuilding a world shattered by war? The answer seemed to be the Paris Peace Conference, which put together a plan which led to the Treaty of Versailles and what turned out to be a flawed and fragile peace. Flora Johnston’s great-aunt was a typist there, and […]
The fight for our battlefields
“Have you forgotten yet?” (Aftermath, Siegfried Sassoon) Even before the guns fell silent across the Western Front a century ago, staff at the Michelin Touring Office in London were busy preparing guidebooks for motorists intending to go see the trenches for themselves (see images above and below). By the early 1920s battlefield tourism had become big […]
The Great Pandemic
As we commemorate Armistice Day, Vanessa Lafaye looks back on the devastating fallout of the First World War – and the unseen enemy waiting in the wings. With the cruelest of ironies, even as the Armistice bells were ringing in every town and village, another attack was under way. The enemy wore no uniform, was invisible […]