Peace and War: Britain in 1914

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

1914 dawned with Britain at peace, albeit troubled by faultlines within and threats without: Ireland trembled on the brink of civil war; suffragette agitation was assuming an ever more violent hue; and suspicions of Germany's ambitions bred a paranoia expressed in a rash of 'invasion scare' literature.

Then when shots rang out in Sara-jevo on 28 June, they set in train a tumble of diplomatic dominos that led to Britain declaring war on Germany.

Nigel Jones depicts every facet of a year that changed Britain for ever. From gun-running in Ulster to an attack by suffragettes on a Velasquez painting in the National Gallery; from the launch of HMHS Britannic to cricketer J.T. Hearne's 3000th first-class wicket; from the opening of London's first nightclub to the embarking for Belgium of the BEF, he traces the events of a momentous year from its benign domestic beginnings to its descent into the nightmare of European war.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction (p. 8)
• 1 The Darkening Sky (p. 14)
• 2 Ulster Will Fight (p. 44)
• 3 Votes for Women (p. 70)
• 4 Home Fires (p. 90)
• 5 Liners (p. 104)
• 6 Poets (p. 120)
• 7 Painters (p. 138)
• 8 Clubs and Coteries (p. 158)
• 9 The Last Season (p. 176)
• 10 Descent into the Dark (p. 194)
• 11 How God be Thanked (p. 210)
• 12 First Blood (p. 228)
• Epilogue: Christmas 1914 (p. 246)
• Further Reading (p. 260)
• Index (p. 265)
• Acknowledgments (p. 272)
• Picture Credits (p. 272)