This is a scholarly yet immensely readable insight into life on the home front a century ago.

Cheshire Life Magazine

'Crewe in the Great War' by Peter Ollerhead arose from the keen local historian's interest in the history of the town, which he has been researching for the last fifty years. His book examines the ways in which the industrial community of south Cheshire coped with the numerous problems that were created by the war and includes biographical accounts of the young men of Crewe who were killed or wounded, along with dozens of photographs and illustrations.

'So Cheshire' website

Among the themes covered in 'Crewe in the Great War' is the frenzied response to the declaration of war along with the slow realisation that it was not going to be over by Christmas...From extracts of local soldiers' letters it can be gauged how men at the Front felt; rumours and reports of Zeppelin attacks from autobiographies of Crewe people alive at the time illustrate how local people dealt with the threat of air-raids. Always present is the cost of the war in human terms with the deaths of Crewe men in the many battles and trench warfare... The relief and joyous celebrations when the war was over are tempered with the continuing sadness of the long casualty list which caused some mothers and widows to turn to spiritualism and seances for comfort.

Crewe Chronicle