Lucinda Gosling has put together one of the most fascinating books about the Great War that you are likely to find,Brushes & Bayonets.

When most people conjure up images of the Great War, what usually springs to mind is the mud-encrusted soldier in his narrow strip of trench. To the people at home in England during the war, however, images in editorial cartoons and illustrations were the primary means of processing the events as they unfolded in France and Belgium. These images were meant to inspire national pride or paint a thin veneer of humour over what was really a filthy, horrible business.

The Illustrated London News employed numerous artists to convey the war in a manner appropriate to its readers. Brushes & Bayonets reproduces many of these illustrations for the first time in 90 years.

Many of the images in the book provide a glimpse of how media can create its own version of the past. History doesn't get more interesting than this.