Aurora Borealis – By Marco Ottobelli – Own work, [CC BY-SA 4.0] What does “Iceland” mean to you? To me the name conjures up the distinctive Icelandic style of knitting very cosy jumpers, Magnus and Sally Magnusson, long dark nights with the Northern Lights putting on a show, and nervously watching the latest up-dates on […]
Tag: First World War
Somme : Into the Breach
One hundred years after the Battle of the Somme, it is difficult to imagine that anything new could be added to the history of this conflict. Yet, Hugh Sebag-Montefiore has written a fantastically detailed reappraisal of the battle at a time when the focus has once again returned to the fields of France a century […]
The Iolaire disaster
It has been described as the blackest day in the history of the Western Isles when more than 200 servicemen returning from the First World War died as their ship went down in sight of Stornoway harbour. Despite being Britain’s worst maritime disaster since the Titanic, the loss of the Iolaire remains little known beyond […]
When the Office Went to War : War Letters from Men of the Great Western Railway
A recent arrival into the Library’s collections gives us a rare insight into soldiers’ experiences in the First World War. ‘When the Office Went to War’ contains letters between colleagues from the Great Western Railway Audit Office. It is suggested that these letters between colleagues are often more honest and open than those which were […]
A Broken World : Letters, Diaries and Memories of the Great War
Much has been written about the First World War and yet, such was the scale of the conflict that still, a century later, unique stories and experiences continue to be discovered. Published to mark the Centenary of the outbreak of War, this latest anthology provides us with a diverse selection of letters, diaries and memoirs […]