Welcome to the website that expands on the book featured on this home page.  Using family trees and photographs, it tells you more about the Gilmores and the Mannings, the two families whose stories intertwine in:

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Family Life, Trauma and Loss in the Twentieth Century

The Legacy of War

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To purchase a copy (either hardback or e-book) click on the title above.

 

We wrote this personal memoir to examine links between private trauma and the socio- cultural approach to death and memory developed within Death Studies. Core to the book are the stories that constitute our family lives. Each story bears witness to the experiences of men who were either killed or traumatised during World Wars One and Two and shows the ongoing implications of these events for those left behind. The book illustrates how the rich oral history and material culture legacy bequeathed by these wars raises issues for everyone alive today. Belonging to a generation who grew up in the shadow of war, we ask how best to convey unimaginable events to later generations, and what practical, moral and ethical demands this brings.

 

While we were writing this book we realised that there were things we would want to include that were really outside the scope of the publication. These included photos of our families at different stages of their lives, plus the Gilmore and the Manning family trees. You will also find brief biographies of the key characters – James, Nellie, Pauline and Carol from the Gilmore family and Bert, Ella, Arthur, David, Lorna and Jenny from the Manning family. If you are new to the book, find out more by reading the synopsis of chapters. What do our families make of this account? Take a look at the two family reactions pages.  And on the personal responses page there are also messages about and to the characters in the book and finally the sources of information page where we provide links to organisations who helped us trace key events in our family members’ lives.

 

We hope you will enjoy dipping in and out of our thoughts and memories – and if you haven’t done so already – will want to read the book.

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DO MAKE USE OF THE CONTACT PAGE TO SEND US YOUR RESPONSES TO THE BOOK.

WHERE POSSIBLE WE WILL POST THEM ON THE RELEVANT PAGE.