AUNTIE MABEL'S WAR: AN ACCOUNT OF HER PART IN THE HOSTILITIES OF 1914-18. by Wenzel, Marian and Cornish, John, compilers - 1980

London: Allen Lane, 1980. 128 pp, oblong 8vo (7 3/4" H x 10 1/4" D). Profusely illustrated with b&w reproductions of photographs, postcards, newspaper clipping, maps, etc. "There have been many books of the experiences of men and women in the First World War. (This one) is different. It is the story of a nurse who served in Northern France and the Balkans with the Scottish Women's Hospital - a suffragette organization. Turning the pages, the reader has a vivid impression of actually being present as Mabel lives and copes with the war. The undoubted oddities of Mabel's character and her frequent lapses in taste are a major delight of the book. Coming from a solid middle-class family, makers of the famous Fox's umbrellas in Stocksbridge, the war is a liberation for her and she displays no interest in returning to England and her family. It is a most most unusual book and Mabel an unlikely heroine. Its charm lies in the sense of immediacy and period with which it illuminates one tiny corner of the Great War." Previous owner's initials, place and date in pen on free front endpaper, very light edge wear, small light stain on bottom of text block, very light wrinkling at top/bottom of spine, tiny bump at corners of boards. Dust jacket has light edge wrinkling, light rubbing, 2" taped tear with multiple creases on rear panel. very small round label on rear flap. . First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Good-.