At the dawn of the twentieth century Liverpool had 8 miles of docks thronged with cargo ships loading or discharging goods. When Britain declared war on Germany in the summer of 1914, Liverpool's geographical position demanded it be one of the chief home bases for wartime operations. It was a challenge the city accepted with relish and went on to become one of the most significant home-front contributors to the Allied victory. Justifiable, the city cenotaph proudly declares 'out of the north parts came a great company and a mighty army', but there is a forgotten army of patriotic civilians whose endeavours played a key role in the Allied victory. Despite an acute shortage of skilled labour, Liverpool led the way in the construction of munition factories and developed the required skills to 'feed the guns'. Inititally, men who were too old for military service produced shells, but a local factory became the first in the country to introduce women shell-makers, and this initiative was replicated throughout the nation As the men made the transition from street to trench, Liverpool and district developed into a vast arsenal employing approximately 30,000 women and producing a million shells a month. Civilians were also actively involved in tending the wounded, fund-raising for hospital equipment and ambulances and the provisions of home comforts for those at the front. When the German submarine onslaught almost severed Britain's maritime trade routes food rationing was introduced. Damaged ships limped into Liverpool were ploughed up as the nation 'dug for victory'. The city was also a portal through which thousands of American troops passed; they stayed briefly at Springfield Park Rest Camp before entraining south. This is the fascinating but largely forgotten story of how Liverpool provided the sinews of war.

The First World War claimed over 995,000 British lives, and its legacy continues to be remembered today. Great War Britain: Liverpool offers a detailed insight into this great city and its people facing the challenges of wartime. This highly accessible volume explores the city's regiments, and includes many individual stories of men on the frontline and the vital role of women against the background of the changing face of industry, attitudes to conscientious objectors, hospitals for the wounded and their rehabilitation, peace celebrations, the fallen heroes and how they are commemorated. Liverpool Central Library & Record Office have generously made available illustrative and other material from their extensive archives.

The Territorial Force is the forgotten army of the First World War. Between the pre-war Regular Army, which attempted to stem the German advance in 1914, and the New Armies who took to the field with such disastrous consequences on the Somme in 1916, stood the Territorial Army. Liverpool's Territorials could be found on the Western Front before the famous Christmas truce of 1914, fighting in Gallipoli, and supporting the Canadians. Throughout 1916 and 1917, they succeeded and failed in some of the most brutal battles of the war. During the German 1918 Spring Offensive, Liverpool Territorials in the 55th (West Lancashire) Division halted the German advance, effectively ending Germany's final bid to win the war.Amazingly, the Territorials were never intended, trained, or equipped for overseas service; their role was to defend the UK mainland against invasion. Yet men across Liverpool's diverse communities volunteered for the Territorials in the thousands, forming the core of two divisions during the war.Formed in 1908, but building on the Volunteer tradition of the 1850s, the Territorials remain in Liverpool to this day. Renamed the Army Reserve, they are still training and volunteering for operations.Offering a fresh, integrated perspective on the Territorial Army during the First World War, this is the remarkable story of the Liverpool Territorials.

Liverpool Pals, is a record of duty, courage and endeavour of a group of men who, before war broke out in 1914, were the backbone of Liverpool's commerce. Fired with patriotism, over 4,000 of these businessmen volunteered in 1914 and were formed into the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th (Service) Battalions of the King's (Liverpool Regiment); they were the first of all the Pals battalions to be raised, and they were the last to be stood down. It is commonly held that the North of England's Pals battalions were wiped out on the 1st July, 1916, certainly this befell a number of units, but the Liverpool Pals took all their objectives on that day. From then on they fought all through the Somme Battle, The Battle of Arras and the muddy hell of Passchendaele in 1917, and the desperate defence against the German offensive of March 1918.

The popular image of the British soldier in the First World War is of a passive victim, caught up in events beyond his control, and isolated from civilian society. This book offers a different vision of the soldier's experience of war. Using letters and official sources relating to Liverpool units, Helen McCartney shows how ordinary men were able to retain their civilian outlook and use it to influence their experience in the trenches. These citizen soldiers came to rely on local, civilian loyalties and strong links with home to bolster their morale, whilst their civilian backgrounds helped them challenge those in command if they felt they were being treated unfairly. The book examines the soldier not only in his military context but in terms of his social and cultural life. It will appeal to anyone wishing to understand how the British soldier thought and behaved during the First World War.

From a bestselling historian, a daringly revisionist history of World War I The Pity of War makes a simple and provocative argument: the human atrocity known as the Great War was entirely England's fault. According to Niall Ferguson, England entered into war based on naive assumptions of German aims, thereby transforming a Continental conflict into a world war, which it then badly mishandled, necessitating American involvement. The war was not inevitable, Ferguson argues, but rather was the result of the mistaken decisions of individuals who would later claim to have been in the grip of huge impersonal forces. That the war was wicked, horrific, and inhuman is memorialized in part by the poetry of men like Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, but also by cold statistics. Indeed, more British soldiers were killed in the first day of the Battle of the Somme than Americans in the Vietnam War. And yet, as Ferguson writes, while the war itself was a disastrous folly, the great majority of men who fought it did so with little reluctance and with some enthusiasm. For anyone wanting to understand why wars are fought, why men are willing to fight them and why the world is as it is today, there is no sharper or more stimulating guide than Niall Ferguson's The Pity of War.

Number One bestseller Maureen Lee's first novel of the hugely popular Pearl Street series. 'With her talent for storytelling, queen of saga-writing Maureen Lee weaves intrigue, love and warmth into every page' My Weekly As Britain stands alone against a monstrous enemy, the inhabitants of Pearl Street, in Liverpool, face hardship and heartbreak with courage and humour. The war touches each of them in a different way: for Annie Poulson, a widow, it means never-ending worry when her twin boys are called up and sent to France; Sheila Reilly's husband, Cal, faces the terror of U-Boat attacks; Eileen Costello is liberated from a bitter, loveless marriage when her husband is sent to Egypt and she goes to work in a munitions factory - and falls in love. And Jessica Fleming, down on her luck, is forced to return to the street she'd hoped never to see again.