Staring at God
  • Published: 16 September 2020
  • ISBN: 9781786090447
  • Imprint: Windmill Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 944
  • RRP: $45.00
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Staring at God

Britain in the Great War

Formats & editions
EBook
19 Sep 2019
Paperback
16 Sep 2020
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The latest volume in Simon Heffer's critically acclaimed history of modern Britain

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'A brilliant history: The first serious and really wide-ranging history of the Home Front during the Great War for decades. Scholarly, objective and extremely well-written. Filled with surprising revelations and empathy. Heffer’s eye for the telling detail is evident on almost every page. A remarkable intellectual and literary achievement.' – ANDREW ROBERTS, TELEGRAPH
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A major new work of history on the profound changes in British society during the First World War

The Great War saw millions of men volunteer for or be recruited into the Army, their lives either cut short or overturned. Women were bereaved, enlisted to work in agriculture, government and engineering, yet still expected to hold together homes and families. But while the conflict caused social, economic and political devastation, it also provoked revolutionary change on the home front.

Simon Heffer uses vivid portraits to present a nuanced picture of a pivotal era. While the Great War caused loss on an appalling scale, it also advanced the emancipation of women, brought notions of better health care and education, and pointed the way to a less deferential, more democratic future.
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'Staring at God is a vast compendium of atrocious political conduct. Refreshing. A trenchant history.' – GERARD DE GROOT, THE TIMES
'A magisterial history' – MELANIE MCDONAGH, DAILY MAIL

‘Gloriously rich and spirited […] it zips along, leavened by so many wonderful cultural and social details.’ – DOMINIC SOUTHBROOK, SUNDAY TIMES

‘Ambitious in its scope, content and approach. Masterly.’ – CHARLES VYVYAN, STANDPOINT

‘Fascinating stuff.’ – SPECTATOR

‘Possibly the finest, most comprehensive analysis of the home front in the Great War ever produced.’ – LITERARY REVIEW

‘Every bit as good as its two predecessors. Illuminating.’ – EXPRESS

‘Absorbing’ – NEW STATESMAN
  • Published: 16 September 2020
  • ISBN: 9781786090447
  • Imprint: Windmill Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 944
  • RRP: $45.00
Categories:
Share…

About the author

Simon Heffer

Simon Heffer was born in 1960. He read English at Cambridge and took a PhD in modern history at that university. His previous books include: Moral Desperado: A Life of Thomas Carlyle, Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell, Power and Place: The Political Consequences of King Edward VII, Nor Shall My Sword: The Reinvention of England, Vaughan Williams, Strictly English, A Short History of Power, Simply English and High Minds: The Victorians and the Birth of Modern Britain. In a thirty-year career in Fleet Street, he has held senior editorial positions on The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator, and is now a columnist for The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph.

Also by Simon Heffer

Strictly English
Sing As We Go
The Age of Decadence
Simply English
High Minds
See all

Praise for Staring at God

Simon Heffer’s latest hefty volume of 20th-century history tackles the high politics and muddy misery of the First World War.

The Times, 50 Best Books for Autumn

A brilliant history: The first serious and really wide-ranging history of the Home Front during the Great War for decades. Scholarly, objective and extremely well-written. A masterclass . . . that ought to be taught in schools. It is filled with surprising revelations . . . and empathy. Heffer's eye for the telling detail is evident on almost every page.

Professor Andrew Roberts, 5*, Telegraph

Staring at God is a vast compendium of atrocious political conduct. Refreshing . . . [The book]’s length is due to the author’s enormous enthusiasm. A trenchant history.

The Times

The book stands out for its humanity as well as its breadth and detail

Allan Mallinson, Books of the Year, The Spectator

The book I read with the most profit this year was the absorbing Staring at God: Britain in the Great War . . . A particular strength of the book is Heffer's understanding - as befits a former deputy editor of the Daily Telegraph - of the role of the press; this was the great age of newspaper proprietors

Brendan Simms, Books of the Year, The Spectator

Gloriously rich and spirited . . . colourful, character-driven history . . . it zips along, leavened by so many wonderful cultural and social details.

Dominic Sandbrook, The Sunday Times

An epic history of Britain. It is every bit as good as its two predecessors. Illuminating. *****

Daily Express

Enlightening . . . Robust opinion, an eye for telling detail and a gift for bringing historical figures alive . . . An epic, ambitious book.

History Books of the Year, Daily Mail

[An] admirable book . . . ambitious in its scope, content and approach . . . Heffer's understanding of the personalities and the issues is comprehensive

Charles Vyvyan, Standpoint

Fascinating stuff.

Spectator

A magisterial history.

Melanie McDonagh, Daily Mail

Fresh insights, vast scope and caustic judgement. Possibly the finest, most comprehensive analysis of the home front in the Great War ever produced. Compelling reading.

Literary Review

This is a very detailed and well-researched book about the First World War . . . The author graphically describes the austerity of life at home.

Country Life