The Great Silence

"Slowly, slowly the wound to the soul begins to make itself felt, like a bruise which only slowly deepens in its terrible ache, till it fills all the psyche. And when we think we have recovered and forgotten, it is then that the terrible after-effects have to be encountered at their worst."

— D.H. Lawrence

. . .

 

Juliet Nicolson's last book looked at "The Perfect Summer:" England in 1911 just before WWI. Her latest work, "The Great Silence," looks at life in Britain in the first years immediately after the war when most of the country seemed to be coping with life by not talking about the war or mentioning those who didn't come home. 

The war officially ended at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. She focuses on the moment of silence that has been observed annually since 11/11/1919 (noting only Americans were too busy to stop and remember) and the unveiling of the Cenotaph memorial along with the interment of the Unknown Solider on 11/11/1920. It's the period between the "falling silent of the guns and the roaring of the 1920." 

But what makes this such a fascinating read is that Nicolson weaves together hundreds of stories and statistics into a complex tapestry whose strands never become tangled. The cast includes everyone from the Royal family to Vera Brittain, from the doctor who virtually invented plastic surgery to Nellie Melba, from T.E. Lawrence  to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. 

What is noteworthy is that there are so many women in NIcolson's tale — war widows, the first woman MP, university graduates, war workers and domestics — all make numerous appearances. Nicolson is one of the few writing about the war who recognizes that it affected and involved women as deeply as men. Women, as a whole, were one of the few groups for whom the war actually changed things for the better — ultimately bringing them the vote and wide job opportunities. 

Soldiers at Roehampton Hospital in London, which was a center for prosthetic limbs. Over 41,000 men lost at least one limb during the war. The amount of compensation by the British government depended on which limb was lost. Nicolson includes a significant amount of information about post-war medicine in the book. Photo from "The Great Silence."

Comments

[gretchen]

linda, have you read any of jacqueline winspear's 'maisie dobbs' mysteries? they are set beginning a few years after the end of world war l. they have dealt with the aftermath of the war, in injuries to the body and spirit of those who survived and also to the emerging role of women. they are an excellent and sometimes heartbreaking read.

[Altoon]

The photograph of those injured men is heartbreaking, more so because of their natty attire.
My WW1 reading was Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy, especially the first novel. Very powerful, very emotional.

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

I have read all the Maisie Dobbs novels and also the Ian Rutledge mysteries which deal with the same period. He is a WWI veteran who returns to his job as a Scotland Yard detective but is plagued by what is essentially post-traumatic stress.

If you haven't read them, you might enjoy them. The author is Charles Todd.

[Martha B.]

Linda-

My grandfather fought in WW1...but never spoke of his experiences there. I've often wondered what happened to him. The Ian Rutledge books are very good...especially when the authors (son & mother team) describe life on the battle field. I'll have to check to see if our library has this book...thanks for posting about it.