Night in the Front Line

The Second World War sparked the writing of hundreds of short stories, by servicemen and women as well as civilians. They appeared in magazines and collections during and after the war, and addressed all areas of the conflict, from the home front to service abroad. Short stories offer a wonderful insight into everyday concerns on the various front lines, and illustrate the humour that kept up morale, as well as the despair and confusion felt by so many. Some authors who captured the experience of the Second World War in short fiction are still very well known today. But given how central a place the War holds in Britain's national memory, relatively few short stories from the period are readily available in print. This anthology introduces a selection of stories that are both unique representations of individual war experience and representative of larger trends.