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    Kitchener's Lost Boys: From the Playing Fields to the Killing Fields
    Unavailable
    Kitchener's Lost Boys: From the Playing Fields to the Killing Fields
    Unavailable
    Kitchener's Lost Boys: From the Playing Fields to the Killing Fields
    Ebook253 pages4 hours

    Kitchener's Lost Boys: From the Playing Fields to the Killing Fields

    By John Oakes

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    In the early days of the First World War, Lord Kitchener made his famous appeal for volunteers to join the New Army. Men flocked to recruiting offices to enlist, and on some days tens of thousands of potential soldiers responded to his call. Men had to be at least eighteen years old to join up, and nineteen to serve overseas, but in the flurry of activity many younger boys came to enlist: some were only thirteen or fourteen. Many were turned away, but a lot were illegally conscripted, and as many as 250,000 underage boys found themselves fighting for King and Country in the First World War. Over half would never return home. In this groundbreaking new book, John Oakes - whose own father-in-law walked out of the Welsh valleys to join the Royal Navy at the age of fourteen - delves into the complex history of Britain's youngest Great War recruits. Focusing on the recruitment crisis of 1914, he reveals why boys joined up, what their experiences were and how they survived to endure a lifetime of memories. For those who didn't, an unknown grave awaited, and in some cases their mothers never knew what had become of their children.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe History Press
    Release dateNov 8, 2011
    ISBN9780752475769
    Unavailable
    Kitchener's Lost Boys: From the Playing Fields to the Killing Fields
    Author

    John Oakes

    John Oakes is publisher of The Evergreen Review. He is editor-at-large for OR Books, which he cofounded in 2009. Oakes has written for a variety of publications, among them The Oxford Handbook of Publishing, Publishers Weekly, the Review of Contemporary Fiction, Associated Press, and The Journal of Electronic Publishing. Oakes is a cum laude graduate of Princeton University, where he earned the English Department undergraduate thesis prize for an essay on Samuel Beckett. He was born and raised in New York City, where he lives, and is the father of three adult children. While working on The Fast, he was awarded residencies at Yaddo (New York) and Jentel (Wyoming). The Fast is his first book.

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    Reviews for Kitchener's Lost Boys

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    • 4/5
      Interesting book covering how and why the British forces in WWI had so many 'boy soldiers'. These are defined to be soldiers, volunteers, who were underaged. Even though there was an official age limit on volunteering for the army, this regulation was blatantly overlooked. There were numerous reasons for this violation: manpower needs, economic reasons, social pressure,public school traditions, and general patriotism. Thils book delves into each of these and more. I found it a worthwhile read.The reason I gave it only 3 1/2 stars is that on occasion the author goes in tangents which are not really related to the topic. Also, I question some of the assertions he makes regarding the war in general. However, these do not seriously detract from the work. It remains in my opinoin a worthwhile study. Recommended for those with an interest in the Great War, particularly with a view to the British forces.One question came to mind......Germany also tended to conscript 'boy soldiers', particularly toward the end of the war. I would be interested in hearing about any books on that subject........