The Soldiers' Peace - Book Review

The Soldiers' Peace

Michael Senior

Pen & Sword Books Ltd, £25

Just when you thought that there could not possibly be another book on the Great War that sheds new light on that awful conflict, along comes one that does. The Soldiers' Peace ticks all the boxes for me, every single one of them: 

• it covers a topic that has not been done to death
• it is written in an engaging and free-flowing style that is easy to read
• the events described follow a logical and chronological path
• there are useful appendices that augment the text that has gone before
• there are clear footnotes laid out by chapter
• there is a useful bibliography
• there is an index

You'd be surprised at how many of what I regard as these basic must-haves are missing from works of historical fact. Not in this book. Michael Senior has researched his topic well and he writes authoritatively about it. It's a fascinating subject too, dealing with the demobilization of the British Army at the end of the First World War. As the dustwrapper informs us, "In November 1918... the British Army numbered 3.75 million. One year later that number was reduced to 890,000." The Soldiers' Peace tells you how that was achieved.