Killing Time: Archaeology and the First World War

This was an excellent book, full of information and very readable. Unfortunately, I had the kindle book so there were no illustrations and most annoyingly - no access to the reference section at the end!

a intreasting book

We talk about the archaeology of the First World War all the time, all the more so now during the years of its centenary, and yet we rarely talk or think about it as archaeology. Barely a week or month goes by without some story of remnants of the War emerging from the soil of France and Belgium - unexploded ordinance, remains of soldiers, shell casings, helmets and boots and personal belongings. And yet what is the investigation and recovery of these things from the earth if not archaeology?We tend not to think of recent history as worthy of archaeology. Archaeological digs look for ancient history, Egyptian tombs and medieval villages and so on, history unrecoverable by any other means. The First World War is so well-documented, in military records and newspaper articles, diaries and poetry and memoirs, war memorials and ceremonies, interviews and television documentaries, that for many years there was little thought of what the earth could tell us. What was there to find out that we didn't already know?And yet as Nicholas Saunders points out in this book, history is more than just what we can learn from the pages of books and papers. Hands-on archaeological digs can lend a new perspective on the written history; an opportunity to rediscover trenches, to remap the layout of a battlefield, to discover new burial sites and long-forgotten bunkers and redoubts. Very often this kind of battlefield or conflict archaeology, as he calls it, overlaps with anthropology, and gives us fresh insight into the way soldiers, medical personnel, civilians all interacted with this landscape, both during and after the war.I found the chapter on trench art particularly interesting - the way so many individuals from soldiers and prisoners-of-war, farmers and budding entrepreneurs catering to the post-war tourist trade, used the detritus of war to create artwork - making vases from shell casings, crucifixes from bullets, matchbox covers from scrap metal. The human impulse to create beauty from destruction is fascinating, both from a cultural and anthropological point of view.War tourism has driven a lot of this new interest in recovering the War from the mud of Belgium and France - that desire to see a place with one's own eyes, to stand where something momentous happened, to walk along a real trench. It started in the years almost immediately after the War, with grieving wives and mothers and sisters wanting to visit the places where their men fell, and it has only grown since then. I myself went on a school trip to Flanders, where we visited many of the places mentioned in this book, and it does make it all somehow more real, less distant.It is probably no coincidence too that the push to formalise archaeological digs and shift the emphasis away from amateur diggers and those looking for souvenirs to sell, only really started taking off once the veterans of the War began to die. We never consider events taking place in our own lifetimes as history - history is what happens before we are born. There is no-one left now to whom the First World War happened as a personal event, it has receded into the mists of history - and archaeology is now seen as a vital tool in recovering it. This book was one of the first to consider the War from an archaeological perspective, but it will almost certainly not be the last.

When I opened the package to look at this book for the first time and saw a rather anthropological looking chapter on memories - and a picture of modern Native Americans in a ceremonial wreath laying - I was concerned that I had let myself in for one of those highly abstract books of archaeological theory that so often frustrate rather than enlighten.Happily this impression lasted no longer than page 30. For, with the theoretical constructs dealt with, Nicholas Saunders plunges into what he does best - a thoroughly competent examination of trench art and battlefront locations. Moreover what is new here, and very much up to date, is a review of recent digs and archaeological organisations with an interest in the Western Front or Gallipoli. Included are sections on the work of the 'Diggers' and 'No Man's Land', as well as longer established bodies. There are also good sections on museums.Recommended for everyone with Western Front, archaeological or museological interests, collectors of trench art, and also battlefield visitors.

I found this book dry and difficult to wade through. It isn't complicated to read but as a non archaeologist, I found it boring. Some details were interesting, and written from a different perspective this could have been a great book.

In the new and revised (Paperback) edition of 'Killing Time', Nicholas J Saunders has updated his book on archaeology and the First World War. It is good to see the addition of sections on the very recent excavations taking place in London, Norfolk, Jordan and the Western Front sites of Plugstreet and Fromelles enhancing what was already a comprehensive book on the subject.Saunders' introduces the reader to a different view of military archaeology. Complementing his other publications on Trench Art* and Conflict ** it is an accessible introduction to the new discipline of Modern Conflict Archaeology. He shows that there is more to the discipline than counting graves, plotting the position of bullets and measuring block houses and by applying anthropology and other disciplines it is possible to understand more about the wider contexts and legacies of conflict. With the passing of the last survivors of the First World War this is all that is now available to us and this book leads the way forward. It will appeal to both students and others with an interest in the archaeology of modern conflict and the comprehensive bibliography will guide those who wish to explore this multidisciplinary subject further.The book is not a guide book, however, it does make an informed travelling companion for any tour of the Western Front and beyond.*  Trench Art: Materialities and Memories of War ** Matters of Conflict: Material Culture, Memory and the First World War