Members of the Gateways to the First World War team have contributed to a free, interactive Ebook now available from the BBC. The ‘World War One at Home’ interactive Ebook uses original journalism, digital technology and archival film, sound, images and documents from Imperial War Museums (IWM) to reflect the lives of many people caught up in the conflict, and the many communities from which they came.
Building on the success of the World War One at Home campaign which ran in partnership with IWM across all 39 of the BBC’s local radio stations last year, the WW1 At Home interactive Ebook compiles the very best features made by local BBC journalists who worked closely with IWM and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), as well as many museums and individuals around the country. Gateways team members Professor Mark Connelly and Dr Dan Todman, and network members Professor Ian Beckett, Dr Tim Bowman and DrJessica Meyer all advised on the project.
The book includes films such as the young men from the Grimsby Chums as they prepare for the battlefield, moving archive audio from “eyewitnesses” including Manchester war widow Kitty Eckersley, and among the many photographs, the tale of Lizzie the elephant who toiled for the war effort on the streets of Sheffield.
Says Craig Henderson, Executive Editor at the BBC: “Digital Technology has played a huge part in allowing us to illustrate these stories in such an accessible and vivid way. This book is a tribute to those who fought, struggled and triumphed in this great conflict. We hope it preserves some of the memories of those whose lives were caught up in extraordinary events – and who sacrificed so much.”
Nigel Steel, Principal Historian First World War Centenary Programme Imperial War Museum adds: “Working with the BBC, IWM has been able to draw from its archive stories of people and places from across the breadth of Britain. Hundreds of lives have been renewed in their telling, and, collected in this Ebook they will continue to offer up fragments of distant memories to keep alive the essence of those who lived through the challenging years of World War One.”
To download this free interactive Ebook - compatible for use on iOS, Android and Kindle Fire tablets - and discover more about the home front of Britain and Ireland visit www.bbc.co.uk/ww1.
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