This is the compelling story of West Belfast's involvement fighting on the Western Front throughout the First World War. This is the story of men from either side of West Belfast's sectarian divide during the Great War. This dramatic book tells the story of the volunteers of the 36th and 16th divisions who fought on the Somme and side-by-side at Messines. Grayson also brings in forgotten West Belfast men from throughout the armed forces, from the retreat at Mons to the defeat of Germany and life post-war. In so doing, he tells a new story which challenges popular perceptions of the war and explains why remembrance remains so controversial in Belfast today.

Author Biography

Dr. Richard S. Grayson is Head of the Politics Department at Goldsmiths, University of London, UK, where he is also Senior Lecturer in British and Irish Politics. A former Director of Policy of the Liberal Democrats, he has written two books on interwar British political history. His great-uncle, from Lurgan, Co Armagh, served and died (in September 1915) on the Western Front in the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles.