This ambitious volume marks a huge step in our understanding of the social history of the Great War. Jay Winter and Jean-Louis Robert have gathered a group of scholars of London, Paris and Berlin, who collectively have drawn a coherent and original study of cities at war. The contributors explore notions of well-being in wartime cities - relating to the economy and the question of whether the state of the capitals contributed to victory or defeat. Expert contributors in fields stretching from history, demography, anthropology, economics, and sociology to the history of medicine, bring an interdisciplinary approach to the book, as well as representing the best of recent research in their own fields. Capital Cities at War, one of the few truly comparative works on the Great War, will transform studies of the conflict, and is likely to become a paradigm for research on other wars.
Part I. Premises: 1. Paris, London, Berlin, 1914-1919: capital cities at war Jay Winter; 2. Paris, London, Berlin on the eve of the war Jean-Louis Robert; Part II. The Social Relations of Sacrifice: 3. Lost generations: the impact of military casualties on Paris, London and Berlin Adrian Gregory; 4. The image of the profiteer Jean-Louis Robert; Part III. The Social Relations of Labour: 5. The transition to war in 1914 Jon Lawrence; 6. Labour market and industrial mobilization, 1915-1917 Thierry Bonzon; 7. The transition to peace, 1918-1919 Joshua Cole; Part IV. The Social Relations of Incomes: 8. Material pressures on the middle classes 1914-1918 Jon Lawrence; 9. Wages and purchasing power Jonathan Manning; 10. Transfer payments and social policy Thierry Bonzon; Part V. The Social Relations of Consumption: 11. Feeding the cities Thierry Bonzon; 12. Surviving the war: life expectation, illness, and mortality rates in Paris, London, and Berlin, 1914-1919: coal and the metropolis Armin Triebel; 13. Housing Susanna Magri; Part VI. Urban Demography in Wartime: 14. The 'other war' I: protecting public health Catherine Rollet; 15. The 'other war' II: setbacks in public health Catherine Rollet; 16. Surviving the war Jay Winter; 17. Conclusion: towards a social history of capital cities at war Jay Winter and Jean-Louis Robert; Statistical appendices; Tables; Bibliography.
