devon’s world war i harrowing survival

This book examines the experiences and impact of wartime mobilization in the county of Devon. It argues that a crucial role was played by the county’s elites who became the self-appointed intermediaries of the war experience on a local level and who took an explicitly exhortative role, attempting to educate Devonians in the codes of ideal conduct in wartime. These armchair patriots, defined by the local commentator Stephen Reynolds as ’provincial patriots’, superintended the patriotism of Devon’s population, evaluating that patriotism against the strength of their own. Through a critical exploration of Reynolds’ definition of Devon’s elite as the police-men and women of patriotism, this book reveals the ambiguities, constraints and complexities surrounding mobilization and remobilization in Devon.