After the war : returned soldiers and the mental and physical scars of World War I
Straw, Leigh2017
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Of the 330,000 Australian men who enlisted and served in World War I, close to 60,000 never returned home. As much as it is important to commemorate the war dead, it is also imperative that we remember the survivors as they moved into peacetime. Of the 32,000 West Australian men who enlisted, 23,700 returned from the war. These men tried to create a semblance of a civilian life following the traumas of war. War receded from immediate view as these men readjusted to civilian life, but its impacts endured. Many returned with disabilities, mental health problems and a lowered sense of self-worth that led some to take their own lives. This book charts the emergence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a diagnosable condition in an Australian context. In this deeply personal account, historian and writer Leigh Straw seeks a better understanding of what soldiers experienced once the fighting stopped. After the War uses the personal struggles of soldiers and their families to increase public understanding of the legacies of World War I in Western Australia and across the nation. The scars of war-mental and physical-can be lifelong for soldiers who serve their country. This is a story of surviving life after war.
Main title:
Author:
Imprint:
Crawley, Western Australia : UWA Publishing, 2017.
Collation:
x, 226 pages ; 24 cm.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages [209]-219) and index.
Contents:
'When the call was given': A nation at war -- 'Did his turn at the war': War experiences -- Returning to civilian life -- Isolated: Tubercular soldiers -- 'Unbalanced': The 'mental soldiers' of the war -- 'A ruined man': Postwar suicide -- War's aftermath: Family stories -- Conclusion: The men who came home -- Epilogue: 'A disordered brain'
ISBN:
9781742589497
Dewey class:
940.30869709941940.308697
Language:
English
Added title:
Subject:
BRN:
312311
More Information:
| Location | Collection | Call number | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beaumaris Library | Adult Non Fiction - History | 940.308697 STR | Available |