The Great Silence - Couverture rigide

'This masterful book collects random details and somehow manages to orchestrate them into a symphony. Nicolson is particularly brilliant at plucking out the significant detail within the apparently ephemeral. The Great Silence works beautifully as a mosaic of a country at a particular time, artfully constructed from ... extraordinary details ... truly poignant ... piercingly beautiful ' (Mail on Sunday)

'Juliet Nicolson's second book of social history confirms her as one of those writers...who can spin straw into gold...she takes us on a cacophonous journey across the British landscape with the volume turned up high...an intoxicating peep-show of post-war society' (Evening Standard)

'Nicolson writes with such admirable pace and fluency that it would be easy to suppose it had been effortlessly scribbled down. It is, on the contrary, a triumph of balance and organisation; a study which comprehends the cultural and the intellectual, the political and the social, and weaves them all into a lively and convincing narrative' (The Spectator)

'Juliet Nicolson, a sensitive chronicler of the era' (Literary Review)

'Overlaying many testimonies, Nicolson builds a nuanced portrait of a nation facing a changed world' (Books Quarterly)

'A book that is so full of feeling and intelligence and interest: the densely detailed, overwhelmingly sad story of a country with a broken heart' (Daily Mail)

'Nicolson is adept at evoking the atmosphere of a fleeting historical phase...her narrative is a kaleidoscope of different voices...the result is a poignant slice of miscro-history' (Daily Express)

'Filled with anecdote and human detail, The Great Silence is a moving study of Britons finding ways to recover from the terrible wounds the War had inflicted.' (The Sunday Times)

'Nicolson has opened the door onto a time of misery, introspection and change' (Lancashire Evening Post)

'Nicolson writes well and thoughtfully' (Sunday Telegraph)

'The strength of the book lies in the sensitivity and skill with which the private lives and relationships of the protagonists are recounted. Nicolson writes fluently and paces her narrative expertly' (BBC History Magazine)

'This detailed account of that period is both fascinating and lucidly written' (The Daily Telegraph)

Peace at last, after Lloyd George declared it had been 'the war to end all wars', would surely bring relief and a renewed sense of optimism? But this assumption turned out to be deeply misplaced as people began to realise that the men they loved were never coming home.

The Great Silence is the story of the pause between 1918 and 1920. A two-minute silence to celebrate those who died was underpinned by a more enduring silence born out of national grief. Those who had danced through settled Edwardian times, now faced a changed world. Some struggled to come to terms with the last four years, while others were anxious to move towards a new future.

Change came to women, who were given the vote only five years after Emily Davidson had thrown herself on the ground at Ascot race course, to the poor, determined to tolerate their condition no longer, and to those permanently scarred, mentally and physically, by the conflict. The British Monarchy feared for its survival as monarchies around Europe collapsed and Eric Horne, one time butler to the gentry, found himself working in a way he considered unseemly for a servant of his calibre. Whether it was embraced or rejected, change had arrived as the impact of a tragic war was gradually absorbed.

With her trademark focus on daily life, Juliet Nicolson evokes what England was like during this fascinating hinge in history.