—Rosie Neal on the outbreak of war, 1914 —Lawrence Gameson at the Battle of the Somme 1916 —Kit Caslon, the Battle of Jutland, 1916 World War I was arguably the defining event of the twentieth century. Claiming the lives of over sixteen million people across the globe, it had an enormous impact on every country, city, and person who experienced it. No nation in Europe was left untouched—even neutral states felt its devastating impact. Yet as reveals, it was truly the ordinary people who were most affected by the war, such as citizens like Flora Sandes, the only British woman to serve in the military; Captain V.D. Siddons, who served with the RFC in Arabia supporting T.E. Lawrence; and Sidney Lewis, who, at twelve, was the youngest boy soldier in the army. offers a gripping, poignant collection of memories that tell the story of World War I from the perspective of those who were there, using letters, diaries, and memoirs from the Imperial War Museum’s unparalleled archives.