Intimate Voices from the First World War fills in the gaps in the history of the world's first global confrontation with excerpts from recently uncovered letters and diaries of those on the front lines and their friends at home. In their reflections on the vastness of the enterprise of war, these combatants, victims, and eyewitnesses re-create the scope of the conflict with immediacy and tenderness. Written with the frankness and intimacy of words not intended for public eyes -- full of private passions, prejudices, humor, and vivid insights -- these communiqués speak to us directly from within the war itself and from all sides of the conflict. These marvelous historical narratives not only immerse readers in an ongoing dialogue about the meaning of human conflict but also serve as reminders of the individual perspectives and beliefs that sometimes get overlooked during times of global strife.

    Dowager Lady Arndale presides over the smooth running of the house, whilst her son Charles manages the vast estate and Nanny Stone rules the roost in the nursery. Diana Arndale, just sixteen and back from finishing-school in Paris, looks forward with giddy excitement to her coming-out in London, as the protegee of her glamorous Aunt Selina. It is a well-ordered, comfortable, predictable existence, in which master and servant each knows his place. But the storm-clouds are gathering over Europe, and with the outbreak of 'The War To End Wars', the world of the Arndales and their servants is turned upside down. Life will never be the same again, for any of them...