Topic description and stories

USA sexually ‘teased’ its troops in WWI to make them fight harder

07 Nov 2022

The United States Government sought to sexually stimulate then frustrate its soldiers to prepare them for an unpopular conflict in Europe, a...

Read more

Diaries of Captain Scott's widow secured by Cambridge University Library

26 Apr 2016

The diaries of Captain Scott’s widow – and the papers of her second husband, Lord Kennet – will be made accessible to researchers at Cambridge...

Read more
General Sir Edmund Allenby enters Jerusalem in December 1917. The widely-circulated image of him entering the Old City on foot conjured up images of Christ-like humility in the Bible in a calculated attempt to win over hearts and minds.

A conflict of Biblical proportions: How the Bible was used to turn the First World War into a Holy War

08 Nov 2015

The significance of the Bible in the war, and anti-war efforts, of both Allied and Central powers in the First World War are to be examined in a new...

Read more
Figure from Mothercare, published by Truby King's daughter, Mary

Too big to cry: when war ended, the damage began

07 Nov 2015

A collection of essays edited by Drs Trudi Tate and Kate Kennedy looks at the legacy of the First World War through the lens of the creative arts. As...

Read more
Russian troops entering Lviv

World War One: a Russian perspective

13 May 2015

Professor Dominic Lieven's new book provides a unique view of World War One gleaned from Russian archive material.

Read more
Rupert Brooke and Rugby Cadet Corps c.1906

“When you are in it, war is hateful and utterly horrible.” A major Rupert Brooke collection comes to Cambridge

23 Apr 2015

On the centenary of the death of Rupert Brooke, King’s College announces the acquisition of a major collection of materials relating to one of the...

Read more
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Black & White poster (aka Boxers), 1911

Gaudier-Brzeska show marks centenary of his death

05 Mar 2015

From March 17, Kettle’s Yard will present a major exhibition to mark the centenary of the death in the First World War of the French-born sculptor...

Read more

Rivers beyond Regeneration

04 Nov 2014

Best-known for his treatment of shell-shock victims in World War I, a new study examines William Rivers’ crucial, but often overlooked contributions...

Read more
Great St Mary's church

Service to commemorate the start of the First World War

02 Aug 2014

The University will be marking the centenary of British entry to the First World War by attending a Service of Commemoration in Great St Mary's...

Read more
The Soul of an Officer, a sketch from one of Siegfried Sassoon’s journals. 1916

‘A sunlit picture of hell’: Sassoon’s war diaries go online for first time

01 Aug 2014

Siegfried Sassoon’s First World War diaries – some bearing traces of mud from the Somme – are among 4,100 pages from his personal archive being made...

Read more

From the Front to the Backs: Story of the First Eastern Hospital

01 Jul 2014

One hundred years since the start of the First World War, few Cambridge residents are likely to be aware that the University Library stands on the...

Read more

Innocent landscape or coded message? Artists under suspicion in the First World War

22 Apr 2014

During the First World War artists were widely believed to be spies and, around much of the country, painting became illegal. Research by art...

Read more

Pages