Description
Book SynopsisDuring WWI hundreds of thousands of Germans faced incarceration in hundreds of camps on the British mainland. This is the first book on these German prisoners, and covers 3 different types of internees in Britain: civilians already present in the country in August 1914; civilians brought to Britain from all over the world; and combatants.
Trade ReviewPanayi’s work is more than a long-overdue study of a neglected topic ... By linking wartime internment with the wider history of the persecution and incarceration of minorities, Panayi restates the importance of the war.'
Fiona Reid, BBC History Magazine, 01/05/2013
'Thus, almost 100 years after the outbreak of the First World War, with a century’s worth of scholarship produced about the conflict, covering every conceivable topic, Panayi has achieved what many would think impossible. He has provided something new; he has illuminated an under-researched First World War topic, and, thereby, he has contributed to the liberation of hundreds of thousands of captives by adding them to the historical record.'
Reviews in History, July 2013
This thoroughly researched, well-presented book is to be welcomed.
'With this book, Panikos Panayi has produced a valuable contribution to the scholarship growing up around a hitherto neglected corner of World War I. It is well written, clearly organized, and easy to read. Advanced students who pick up Panayi [...] will gain a well-rounded view of the treatment of prisoners and of how that fits into total war narratives of the twentieth century.'
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Table of Contents1. Forgetting, remembering and the beginnings of a history
2. Arrest, transportation and capture
3. The camp system
4. Barbed wire disease and the grim realities of internment
5. Prison camp societies
6. Employment
7. Public opinion
8. Escape, release and return
9. The meaning of internment in Britain during the First World War
Bibliography
Index
