Napoleon Bonaparte is often credited with saying that æan army marches on its stomachÆ. A hundred years after his time, the soldiers of the Great War would do little marching. Instead, they would fight their battles from cold, muddy trenches, looking out across No ManÆs Land towards another set of trenches that housed the enemy. It is one of the remarkable successes of the war that they rarely went hungry. - - During the war, the army grew from its peace-time numbers of 250,000 to well over 3 million. They needed three meals a day and, using the menÆs own letters and diaries, John Hartley tells the story of the food they ate, how it got to them in those trenches and what they thought of it. ItÆs the story of eating bully beef and army ædog biscuitsÆ under fire and itÆs the story of the enjoyment of food parcels from home or eating egg and chips in a cafÚ on a rare off-duty evening. ItÆs also the story of the lives of loved ones at home û how they coped with rationing and how women changed their place in society, taking on jobs previously held by men, many working as farm labourers in the WomenÆs Land Army. This is a book which will appeal to food lovers as well as those with an interest in military and social history.
| ISBN: | 9781473827455 |
| Publication date: | 28th February 2015 |
| Author: | John Hartley |
| Publisher: | Pen & Sword Military |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 376 pages |
| Genres: |
European history |