Overview

Disabled veterans were the First World War's most conspicuous legacy. Nearly eight million men in Europe returned from the First World War permanently disabled by injury or disease. In The War Come Home, Deborah Cohen offers a comparative analysis of the very different ways in which two belligerent nations--Germany and Britain--cared for their disabled. At the heart of this book is an apparent paradox. Although postwar Germany provided its disabled veterans with generous benefits, they came to despise the state that favored them. Disabled men proved susceptible to the Nazi cause. By contrast, British ex-servicemen remained loyal subjects, though they received only meager material compensation. Cohen explores the meaning of this paradox by focusing on the interplay between state agencies and private philanthropies on one hand, and the evolving relationship between disabled men and the general public on the other. Written with verve and compassion, The War Come Home describes in affecting detail disabled veterans' lives and their treatment at the hands of government agencies and private charities in Britain and Germany. Cohen's study moves from the intimate confines of veterans' homes to the offices of high-level bureaucrats; she tells of veterans' protests, of disabled men's families, and of the well-heeled philanthropists who made a cause of the war's victims. This superbly researched book provides an important new perspective on the ways in which states and societies confront the consequences of industrialized warfare.

Full Product Details

Author:   Deborah Cohen
Publisher:   University of California Press
Imprint:   University of California Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.635kg
ISBN:  

9780520220089

ISBN 10:   0520220080
Pages:   297
Publication Date:   30 October 2001
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: Reconciliation and Stability PART I: CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE GREAT WAR'S AFTERMATH 1. A Voluntary Peace: British Veterans, Philanthropy, and the State A Land Fit for Heroes The Voluntarists Take Charge Service, Not Self 2. The Nation Accused: German Veterans and the State Regulation of Charity The Thanks of the Fatherland Benevolence Regulated Veterans versus the Public PART II: THE WAR'S RETURNS 3. Life as a Memorial: Ex-Servicemen at the Margins of British Society Seeking Work The Objects of Charity Shattered Soldier Laughs at Fate 4. Life Reconstructed: The Reintegration of German Veterans The Iron Will to Work The Subjects of Welfare For Wounded and Unconquered Soldiers Conclusion Appendix Notes Bibliography Index

Reviews

A valuable study that vividly presents the social and political ramifications of modern warfare. It is highly recommended to social historians of interwar Europe. * H-Net Reviews * A thoughtful and thought-provoking book. * Historical Journal *

Powerful. She has identified an historical paradox and, with ruthless efficiency, sets out to solve the mystery. The way Cohen develops [her] argument is riveting, demonstrating all that is best in the 'new cultural history of war.' -- History Today (UK)

Author Information

Deborah Cohen is Assistant Professor of History at Brown University.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Countries Available

All regions