The Secret Battle Emotional Survival in the Great War

What did home mean to British soldiers and how did it help them to cope with the psychological strains of the Great War? Family relationships lie at the heart of this book. It explores the contribution letters and parcels from home played in maintaining the morale of this largely young, amateur army. And it shows how soldiers, in their turn, sought to adapt domestic habits to the trenches. Pursuing the unconscious clues within a rich collection of letters and memoirs with the help of psychoanalytical ideas, including those formulated by the veteran tank commander Wilfred Bion, this study asks fundamental questions about the psychological resources of this generation of young men. It reveals how the extremities of battle exposed the deepest emotional ties of childhood, and went on marking the post-war domestic lives of those who returned.

Michael Roper is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Essex.

Preface * Introduction * PART I: MOTHERS AND SONS * Keeping in touch * Separation and support * PART II: MOTHERING MEN * Staying alive * Learning to care *  Love and loss * PART III: FALLING APART * Nameless dread * The return of the soldier * Epilogue * Bibliography * Index