Adrian Gregory Pembroke College, Oxford

This book examines how the British people came to terms with the massive trauma of the First World War. Although the literary memory of the war has often been discussed, little has been written on the public ceremonies on and around 11 November which dominated the public memory of the war in the inter-war years. This book aims to remedy the deficiency by showing the pre-eminence of Armistice Day, both in reflecting what people felt about the war and in shaping their memories of it. It shows that this memory was complex rather than simple and that it was continually contested. Finally it seeks to examine the impact of the Second World War on the memory of the First and to show how difficult it is to recapture the idealistic assumptions of a world that believed it had experienced 'the war to end all wars'.

Introduction
1. Lest We Forget: The Invention and Reception of Armistice Day
2. Unknown Soldiers: The Marginality of Veterans on 11 November
3. And Men Like Flowers are Cut: The Haig Poppy Appeal 1919-39
4. The Undertones of War: Armistice Day in the Thirties
5. The Irony of History: Armistice Day from Peace to War
6. God Our Help: The Churches, Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday
7. The Restoration of Tradition?
Conclusion
Selected Bibliography
Index