Working Class Culture, Women, and Britain, 1914-1921

Claire A. Culleton has written a history "from below," a study of the cultural and social consequences of British working-class women's practical engagement in the First World War. As such, it aims to transform our understanding of the nature and scope of "war" as a cultural and social category, one that constructs myths of class and gender solidarity, while manipulating class loyalties, and fueling class distinctions and divisions. Culleton's book both investigates a wide array of cultural materials hitherto ignored and explores in detail the material culture of women workers during the First World War. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in women's participation in and discussions of war.