Redoubt Military History Series: Tommy's War with Richard van Emden

Popular historian Richard Van Emden returns with stories from his latest work - what life was like for the ordinary soldier, what mattered to him, and how he survived, both physically and mentally told through the words and images of soldiers on the ground.

In Tommy's War, he gathers some of the very best first-hand material written about the War, some of it published at the time and forgotten, some of it previously unpublished, but all of it wonderfully descriptive and immediate, and often wickedly funny. 

Tommy humour, frequently very dark, played a vital part in men's mental survival, particularly in times of great stress. Illustrating these eyewitness accounts with soldiers' own photographs taken on privately owned cameras, often tiny Vest Pocket Kodak's - the smart phones of their day - van Emden has created an entirely new and fresh history of the Great War, giving us a glimpse of 'Tommy Atkins' as he has never been seen before.

£12 / £10 concessions. Tea and coffee served during the interval.