Echoes of the Great War

On August 2, 1914, Reverend Andrew Clark of rural Essex began to keep a diary of everything--news, views, gossip, letters, and circulars--pertaining to World War I.

His vast compilation, here condensed and published for the first time, conveys with extraordinary immediacy what the war meant to men and women from every walk of life.

This diary, written within earshot of the guns at the front, recounts the years of rationing and rampant xenophobia; of widespread resentment of the government; of grim rumors of German atrocities; of seemingly endless waiting for news from the battlefield; of hideous events that became everyday occurrences.

Clark's diary is a vivid testimony to how the war profoundly altered people's lives and outlooks.