ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book demonstrates that in a static war of attrition time was just as imperative as in a war of manoeuvre where speed decides battles, such as the Battle of France. It examines the role of temporal pressures in the strategies of attrition pursued by the major belligerents. The book analyses attempts to coordinate civilian and military timescales through an examination of the Italian neuropsychiatric service during the war. It provides new insights into a hitherto overlooked aspect of the role of Britain's dominions in the war: material contributions from the home front. The book draws on renewed historiographical interest in print culture – especially the trench press – and complicates the relationship between the activities and the experience of time during the conflict.
