Saturday, July 25, 2015

500 of the Best Cockney War Stories

500 of the Best Cockney War Stories (1920)

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I've only skimmed this but while the overall tone leans towards the comic (these were reprinted from the London Evening News) it does have the feel of military life presented by countless memoirs - boring, confusing, sometimes funny, sometimes frightening.  Of course a memoir is pretty much what this is, only collectively authored and cleaned up for a home audience.  They aren't vague Reader's Digest anecdotes but are usually quite specific, at times even using unexplained references.  It doesn't have an introduction but an "opening yarn".