Ian Isherwood, The Battalion and Digital History

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What do you do when a student brings you a collection of family papers in a Harrods tin?

This month, Chris, Angus and Jessica speak to Professor Ian Isherwood about his new book, The Battalion: Citizen Soldiers at War on the Western Front. Along the way we discuss developing digital humanities projects, the involvement of J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis in rambling and the proliferation of bad war poetry.

References

Ian Isherwood, The Battalion: Citizen Soldiers at War on the Western Front
Ian Isherwood, The First World War Letters of H.J.C. Peirs
Michael Roper, Afterlives of War: A Descendant’s History

Other episodes

My Soul, A Shining Tree

What does the First World War look like when it arrives not as a battle, but as an invasion of home, family,

A Very Long Engagement 

What does the First World War look like when the story is driven not by battles, but by loss, hope and unanswered

The Choral

Can a film about the First World War work without trenches or battles?