Love, Tommy: Letters Home from the Great War to the Present Day,

Andrew Roberts, Osprey Publishing, Oxford. 2012, 255pp. £20.

ISBN: 978-1-84908-791-9.

Andrew Roberts has already published award winning books with a military theme. Here, he tackles conflict in the 20^th and 21^st Centuries from the point of view of the ordinary British soldier - the ‘Tommy', as he was known for much of the time. His emphasis is on the large collection of soldiers' letters home from the front held by the Imperial War Museum. He has chosen selected letters which reveal thoughts about a soldier's life and experiences from World War I trenches to the current duties in Helmand province in Afghanistan. From 1916, British losses saw conscription take away the voluntary aspect of soldiering, an experience repeated in World War II and, to some extent in Korea and Malaysia in the 1950s. As a result, far more men were involved and, hence, there were more letters. Censorship by the authorities obviously controlled what was written, but most letters dwell on the human experience of being in the fighting Forces, with its deprivations, such as poor food supplies and personal discomfort. The author points out that, since Roman times, soldiers have always grumbled and don't have much faith in their commanders. For obvious reasons, they don't want to make their loved ones at home depressed, so there are often cheerful passages, looking forward to the next home leave, for instance. They do not write about the ever-present danger that they might not return home. This has always been the news most dreaded at home. In World War I, for the first time, with the whole nation involved, large numbers of British households received news of dead, or missing, men. So, it could be that the letter received was the last ever contact with a beloved husband, son, father or brother. In World War II, the armed forces were spread all over the globe, as war in the Far East accompanied that in Europe and North Africa and the letters reflect this. The book is well illustrated, with many contemporary photographs. Roberts has done careful and painstaking research into letters which are often surprisingly humorous, despite adverse conditions and often very moving. Summaries link each section, so you often learn the fate of the writer. This is a fascinating account, based on actual words used at the time and is thoroughly recommended.